Trouble Sleeping? Read on.....

It doesn’t matter where you live; in a house, flat, cottage or on a narrow boat, if you have trouble sleeping it’s just no fun.

Lying awake hour after hour staring at the ceiling is not only lonely, but it also means the next day you are suffering from sleep deprivation, and here starts the vicious circle of sleepless nights and tiredness throughout the day.

There are many different remedies you can try to rectify this problem, but let’s cut to the chase: don’t go on the internet! Yep it’s that simple.

What The Survey Exposed:

A new survey out has exposed that 9 out of 10 people are sacrificing a good night’s sleep due to the fact they are using the internet to stay in touch with friends and family.

More than half of 2,000 people in the survey said they went online while in bed before trying to go to sleep.

One in five admitted they needed to check their Twitter, Facebook or email accounts because they have a "fear of missing out".


Just 1 in 10 described their quality of sleep as "good".

A spokesman for Nytol said: "Never before in history have we faced such an overload of information, causing people in the UK to suffer from a rising tide of sleep problems."

Solution:

If you do have trouble sleeping there is a scientific explanation as to why you should stop using your laptop, tablet or smart phone before bed time. The research shows that the blue light emitted from these devices mimics daylight and therefore suppresses the production of the brain chemical melatonin.

Melatonin helps us sleep!

The advice from the experts is to avoid using these devices at least an hour before bed time.

Other ideas to help aid a good night’s sleep include:

• Use a Worry Diary – Writing down your worries before you go to sleep is said to not solve your problems, but it allows you to park the problems until tomorrow.
• Take a bath – apparently water tends to be soothing psychologically and therefore relaxes us from the day’s stresses. Unable to take a bath, then sipping warm non caffeine drinks will have the same effect.
• Talk an evening walk – perfect if you live on a narrow boat in a beautiful location. Taking a leisurely walk a couple of hours before bed time helps clear the mind and distresses you.
• Meditation - In order to meditate in a very effective way, you've got to let go of those things in life that keep you from sleeping.
• Cuddling - with your partner before bed time stimulates the kind of emotions that are by nature, calming and can result in a better night’s sleep.

Do you find that there is a difference in your sleep pattern whether you are on land or water?