Research

The power of the lights

As you may know, light can interfere with your sleep. However, there's a difference between natural light and artificial light. While artificial light is so bright at an instant, natural light lights up the place slowly so you can wake up in a decent way.

Just imagine that you're waking up for school or work with the lights of your bedroom. Your eyes may not resist so much light, right? On the other hand, imagine that you have your curtains open and the sunlight is slowly rising. Your eyes are starting to open very effectively and can resist that light at first. Then more light is coming and it's still doable. See? natural light can help you wake up properly during the morning.

But, at night, there's a whole different story. It's recommended to not look at bright screens within 1-2 hours of bedtime. They are disruptive and will make it harder to fall asleep. Moreover, don't leave a single light on while it's sleep time because it's like watching on your phone or tablet at the littlest light possible. Just be brave, and face the dark of the night.

What you eat or drink, that's how much you sleep

You may not know this, but what you eat can affect your sleep time, too. If you're eating some junk food or a big meal this night, don't eat too much. If you do, that food will be harder to digest when going to sleep since the body slows down its functions when it's bed time, making it weight gain. Also, sodas and energy  drinks can keep you awake for hours, due to the high amount of sugar in them.

Nicotine, caffeine and alcohol cause this, too. Its simulating effects last for hours and wreak havoc on good sleep.

The good and bad side of napping

Sometimes, we take naps, which is important if you didn't get enough sleep in the night. However, they can also interfere in your nighttime sleep and make things worse. So, when you want to take a nap, put a limit of 15-20 minutes, so you still can sleep in the night for a suitable amount of hours.