What To Do When You Can’t Sleep Because Of Nerves

What to do when you can't sleep because of nerves

There are many reasons why a person may have difficulty sleeping. However, it could be said that the most common is due to nerves. These can be caused by something that worries us, but also by something that excites us that will happen the next day. In both cases, the brain is highly active and the body is prepared to act, and therefore, sleeping can become a complicated task.

Surely you have ever been tossing and turning, thinking that I wish you would fall asleep, then you looked at your cell phone, then you got up to go to the bathroom, you turned on the television, etc. You can’t fall asleep until several hours have passed. In the PsychologyFor article, we tell you what to do when you can’t sleep because of nerves. We give you 10 tips so that you can fall asleep much faster in this type of situation.

Suitable environment

I’m sleepy but I can’t sleep, what could it be? A fundamental aspect is that the place where you are going to sleep is a quiet, dark place and with a proper temperature, neither cold nor hot. Therefore, it is important to turn off the lights, choose blankets, pajamas and sheets appropriate to the temperature and even ask your family members to be quiet during your rest hours.

Creating a suitable environment is essential to be able to sleep well. The use of earplugs or a mask can help. The importance of this is that if there are noises and, especially light, our brain could interpret that it is not the time to sleep.

In this article we tell you what to do when you can’t sleep.

Technologies

What to do when you can’t sleep because of nerves? It is important to avoid using new technologies before going to sleep. One option is turn off the television and phone an hour before going to bed. The blue light from screens, in addition to how stimulating the activities we carry out through new technologies are, alter the sleep cycle, making it difficult for us to fall asleep. Therefore, a remedy for insomnia and nerves is not to use technology.

Ritual

What to do when you are nervous and can’t sleep? During that hour in which we will not use new technologies, it is a good time to do some activity or ritual that prepares us for sleep.

Read a book, relax/meditate, take a bath or have a nice chat or do a self care routine Facial and oral hygiene may be options for this. These rituals will calm our body and brain and prepare it for the moment of rest. In this article we provide you with other remedies for anxiety and nerves.

Don’t make plans

If you often find yourself saying to yourself “I’m sleepy and I can’t sleep”, here’s some advice: don’t make plans for the next day or week. Many people have the habit of organizing the next day shortly before going to sleep. The problem with this is that it can get us excited and while we try to sleep we are expectant, excited or stressed – depending on the type of day that awaits us.

It is best to find a different time in the day to do it. The ideal would be when we get up, but if you need to plan it further in advance you can plan each day the morning before or in the early afternoon of the previous day. Not making plans before bed will help you rest better. In this article we tell you what happens if you don’t sleep.

Schedules

What to do when you can’t sleep because of nerves? Try as much as possible have a regular sleep schedule. The body works by habits and it is very stressful for it that some days bedtime is 11 at night and the next day it is 3 in the morning.

Maintaining the same schedules, both for going to sleep and getting up, will make our body’s work much easier. If you need a certain variation depending on your days off and your work days, try to keep this variation slight and, if this is not possible, apply the rest of the tips that we present in the article with more emphasis.

present moment

Has it ever happened to you that you are nervous and can’t sleep? As we mentioned, the cause of not sleeping is because we are thinking about something past or something future. Therefore, learning to live in the present moment is key to falling asleep. Mindfulness exercises are excellent for achieving this.

Examples of this are, at the time of sleeping, focus on what your breathing is like: What rhythm does it have? Does the temperature vary during inhalations and exhalations? What part of your body swells? Do you notice how the air passes through your entire body?

Another mindfulness exercise is known as Progressive Muscle Relaxation. This consists of, muscle by muscle of the body, contracting it and then relaxing it. For example, closing your hand into a very strong fist and then relaxing it, wrinkle your forehead, flex your foot, among others. In addition to focusing our mind on it, this exercise helps us relax the body. We give you more proposals in the following article: Mindfulness exercises for beginners.

Feeding

In Spain it is very common to have dinner very late. However, this is a big mistake, since at the time of going to sleep, our body is having a high level of activity digesting food. The same happens with very heavy foods. By not giving the body the time needed to digest food, a feeling of discomfort occurs at bedtime that makes it difficult to sleep. The body is focused on finishing the previous task and until it achieves this it will not be able to relax and allow you to sleep. Food is a very important factor to take into account when going to sleep.

Exercise

What to do when your nerves won’t let you sleep? Doing regular physical activity helps a lot when sleeping. However, this can be a problem if we do this physical activity shortly before going to sleep.

Linked to what was mentioned in the previous points, the body wakes up and interprets that it is not the time to rest. The heart accelerates and the blood flows quickly because the same mechanisms are awakened when there is danger. Thus, the body and brain do not allow themselves to rest until after a long period of time. If you want to exercise in the afternoon/evening, try to do some relaxing activity like gentle yoga or stretching.

Naps

Why can’t I sleep at night? If you take a two-hour nap, your body and brain won’t feel the need to rest when it’s nighttime. So it will be difficult for you to get to sleep. try eliminate or reduce naps.

If you suffer from insomnia due to nerves, at times when you are tired during the day, a nap of 15-30 minutes is usually enough. In addition, if you take a nap, try to do it early in the day and not in the afternoon, otherwise the body can get confused and not understand when it is time to rest, thus deregulating circadian rhythms. .

Find more information about why you can’t sleep in the following article: I’m sleepy but I can’t sleep, why and what to do?

Caffeine

We love coffee and it is good to drink it. However, on many occasions, the person who complains about sleeping explains that they drink 3 or more coffees a day, some even in the afternoon. So, what to do when you can’t sleep because of nerves?

Reduce the amount of coffee, as well as energy drinks, caffeine, etc. They will help a lot so that your body can be relaxed to sleep. Make sure the coffee you drink is less intense and in the morning. You can replace it with a decaf in the afternoon if you feel like having a coffee.

You must keep in mind that has an addictive effect, so it may be difficult at first. You can do it little by little, if necessary, to make it easier for you.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What to do when you can’t sleep because of nerves we recommend that you enter our Clinical Psychology category.

Bibliography

  • Idzikowski, C. (2019) How to sleep well? Barcelona: Omega Editions.

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