If you often feel rushed, tired and anxious, you probably look forward to relaxing in bed at the end of a long day. What you might not realize is that your habits at bedtime could be the reason your day was so disappointing in the first place. Here’s how your nighttime routine could be sabotaging other areas of your life.

 1. Resolving conflicts with your partner

 It’s more productive to hash out disagreements in the morning. The old adage “never go to bed angry” might not be so wise after all. Staying up to hash out an argument could not only cut into your sleep time but also leave you feeling too worked up to doze off.

 A better alternative: “Agreeing to disagree for the time being,” said Sara Stanizai, a licensed therapist and owner of Prospect Therapy in Long Beach, California. “I guarantee you won’t solve anything if you’re exhausted and activated by anger, stress and hurt feelings.”

 Rather, focus on calming yourself and getting rest; you’ll have a much more productive conversation in the morning.

 2. Failing to follow a proper skin care routine ― or just using face wipes

 Wash your face every night to avoid breakouts. There are few fates worse than waking up to a major breakout, especially the morning before a big meeting or date night. Yet more than half of Americans risk that outcome every day by going to bed without washing their faces.

 Even if you don’t wear makeup, you still need to cleanse your skin of the sweat, oils and pollution that builds up throughout the day. “If you’re too tired or depressed to wash your face, something is up,” Stanizai said. “It might be a sign that you’re not getting enough sleep, or your mood is out of sync.”

 Fortunately, a proper skincare routine is just as good for your mental health as it is for your complexion. Set aside 10 minutes in the evening to take care of your face. Just be sure to toss your face wipes ― they actually make your skin worse.

 3. Working out

 Exercising earlier in the day can help you fall asleep sooner.

 Some of us can’t even be paid to work out. So if you’re one of the admirable few who exercises on a regular basis, you certainly shouldn’t quit. Just know that if you exercise too late in the evening, you might not get as much sleep as you need.

 “Exercising is a healthy habit, but the timing of exercise is very important; exercising too late in the day can disrupt your sleep,” said Leslie Fischer, founder of Sustainable Slumber, a website dedicated to helping eco-minded people get a good night’s sleep. The reason, she says, is that it disrupts your circadian rhythm.

 “If you exercise too late in the day, this is a tacit signal to our bodies that it is time to be awake and active. This can make it difficult to fall asleep at night,” Fischer said.

 So if you can, schedule workouts for the afternoon instead. Even better, try working out in the morning for an added boost to your mood and productivity.

 4. Lighting up

 Nicotine before bed can keep you up.

 We don’t have to tell you how bad smoking is for your health; that’s your own personal choice. But if you’re going to do it, try to avoid lighting up close to bedtime.

 Nicotine is a stimulant, Stanizai noted. Smoking before bed could make it difficult to fall asleep, which means you’ll feel groggy and irritable the next day if you don’t allow enough time before you hit the hay. “Give yourself at least two hours if you can,” she said.

 5. Relying on a glass of wine to wind down

 Alcohol has a negative effect on the quality of your sleep.

 The same goes for your nightcap. “Alcohol may help you feel drowsy, but it actually negatively affects how you sleep,” said Dr. Dawn Dore-Stites, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Sleep Disorder Center at the University of Michigan.

 Specifically, she said, alcohol affects how you cycle through sleep, causing you to wake up more often and experience less deep sleep. So instead of relying on alcohol, consider drinking herbal tea or warm milk to relax.

 6. Checking out what’s trending and tweeting

 Viewing social media causes your body to release stress hormones.

 A final scroll through your social media feed before bed might seem harmless, but catching up on those posts could make it tougher to get a restful night’s sleep.

 “Research has shown that people experience hormonal changes in the brain when they look at social media,” said Beatrice Tauber Prior, a clinical psychologist and the founder of Harborside Wellbeing in Cornelius, North Carolina. “The brain signals the adrenal gland to secrete cortisol and adrenaline.”

 Triggering the release of these “stress hormones” will boost your energy levels ― the last thing you want when going to bed. “In the long run, elevations of these hormones impair cognition and can increase depression and anxiety,” Prior said. You’re better off saving that status update for the morning.

 7. Using your phone in bed, period

 Your bed should be for rest and &%! only.

 The blue light produced from screens such as your smartphone has been proven to keep you awake and contribute to the development of serious diseases such as obesity and breast cancer.

 Plus, according to Gray, you give your co-workers the green light to keep emailing you at 11:30 p.m. “If you’re super busy, you could set an ‘out of office’ message at night, letting people know when they can expect to hear from you the next day. They’ll still feel taken care of while you take the space you need to rest and have fun,” Gray said.

 8. Eating late-night snacks

 You can’t fall asleep if your body is busy digesting.

 Late-night snackers might want to put down the Doritos. Regularly munching on something salty or sweet before bed means those calories are more likely to be stored as fat, rather than burned for energy. That’s a fast track to weight gain, which can cause bigger issues such as diabetes and other chronic diseases down the road.

But even in the short term, eating too close to bedtime can disrupt your sleep. “When the body is working on digesting food, it’s not able to rest properly. This can lead to a night of poor-quality sleep plus digestive cycles that are thrown off the next day,” Gray said.

Instead, try to give yourself a few hours between eating and bedtime. And if you find that you’re ravenous after dinner, try adding more protein and healthy fats to your meal.

 9. Neglecting your hair

 Tying up your hair leads to breakage.

 If you’re a nighttime bather, taking the time to dry your hair after a shower might seem like a giant pain. But flopping into bed with wet hair only makes your morning routine tougher.

 “Rubbing wet hair against a pillow while you toss and turn at night causes issues like breakage. It also means you’re likely to wake up with a wild, frizzy mess,” said Brandie Flores, a licensed stylist and senior district leader for Supercuts in the San Antonio, Texas, area.

 And while that messy bun might have given you the perfect bedhead look for daytime, be sure to take it down before actually getting into bed. “Leaving that hair tie in causes a lot of tension on your hair overnight. That results in breakage and usually a kink in your hair the next day,” Flores said.

 If you don’t want to leave your hair down, Flores recommends braiding it instead, which can give your hair a nice wave and cut down on styling time the next day. 

Lastly, there’s no substitute for the right Mattress and Foundation. Visit any of our Perfect Sleep Centers located within each of our stores in Liberty, Lee’s Summit and Overland Park and our Mattress Specialists will help match you to the perfect Mattress and Foundation combo that will help you get a great night’s sleep.

At Crowley Furniture we are dedicated to helping the communities we serve get a better night’s sleep. That’s why we have a Perfect Sleep Center located in each of our stores in Liberty, Lee’s Summit and Overland Park. Our Sales Associates undergo extensive training so that they are the very best Mattress Specialists to assist you in finding the perfect Mattress and Foundation combination for your body type, sleep style and relaxation needs.

Serta, our manufacturing partner of the iComfort Hybrid and Memory Foam Series’, is also committed to better understanding quality sleep patterns and triggers. They’ve shared this article on potential causes of sleep disruption because the more you know the better you’ll sleep and better sleep often means a better life.

There are a lot of things that can disrupt your sleep, but these are some of the most common mistakes you may be making, and how to fix them.  

By Elizabeth Grace Saunders 

Getting a good night’s sleep can change everything: your mental function goes up, your negativity goes down, and your productivity skyrockets. All this is yours for the low price of free. But taking advantage of this special sleep offer can feel surprisingly difficult. As a time management coach, I’ve seen that getting to bed on time and falling asleep are an art and a science. These are five of the top reasons that people don’t get enough sleep, and what you can do about it.

Problem: You Don’t Know When To Go To Bed
Solution: Set A Bedtime Goal

Many people haven’t stopped to think about when they need to go to bed to get enough hours of sleep. If you fall into that camp, simply count back from the time when you want to get up to figure out your ideal bedtime. For most adults, the average hours of sleep they need is in the six- to eight-hour zone. If you’re not sure how many you need, you can try out different lengths of time until you settle on what makes you feel well-rested. If you have young children who will likely wake up in the middle of the night, you’ll want to tack on an extra hour or two to give yourself a margin.

 Problem: You Try To Go T Bed As Soon As You Get Home                                                                                                                              Solution: Give Yourself Time To Decompress                                  

Most of us need some time between when we come home and when we go to bed. Individuals vary of course, but in my observation, most people need at least an hour between coming home from a social event and falling asleep, or at least two hours between arriving home from work and falling asleep. The time spent at home is for eating dinner, getting the house in order, connecting with people, and decompressing. Getting home earlier has a high probability of making it easier for you to get to bed earlier.

 Problem: Stealing Time From Sleep To Decompress
Solution: Set Aside 30-60 Minutes of Unstructured Time

Because many individuals don’t acknowledge the importance of decompression time, they end up “stealing” it from sleep time instead of factoring it into their evening routines. This can lead to behaviors like staying up later than you want to watch Netflix. We all need time for our brains to unwind. Instead of denying that need, own up to it and factor it into your evening. If possible, set aside 30-60 minutes of intentional decompression time to watch TV, read, journal, exercise, mess around on your phone, or do whatever else that makes you happy. Wanting unstructured time is valid. You’ll increase your overall productivity by giving yourself permission to have downtime during normal waking hours instead of paying for it when you “sneak it in” late.

Problem: Doing Things Before Bed That Make You Too Hyped Up
Solution: Shut Down Those Things At Least One Hour Before Bed

Planning an intentional chill time earlier in the evening serves two purposes: It gets you to bed earlier and reduces stimulation late in the evening so that you can fall asleep faster once you do get to bed. Pay attention to what causes you to become more alert, and then consciously reduce those activities as you get closer to the time when you want to count sheep. Here are a few common culprits that you’ll do best disengaging with at least 60 minutes before you want to call it a night:

• Highly engaging TV programs and movies
• Email
• Loud,  upbeat music
• Bright lights
• Screens in general, including computer, TV, and phone
• Phone conversations
• Eating or drinking

Increase Calm

You may be thinking, Everything you just told me not to do is what I typically do in the hour before bed. That may be exactly why you’re reading this article about getting to bed on time and falling to sleep quickly. You need help. The good news is there are alternatives that can assist you in getting to bed on time and sleeping better:

• Start getting ready for bed early. This gives you ample time to follow all of your dentist’s instructions. As a bonus, if you get tired before bedtime, you can immediately roll into bed and get some extra quality time with your pillow.
• Take a warm bath or shower to calm down and reduce the time you need to get ready in the morning.
• Spend time journaling, meditating, or praying to calm your mind, release negative emotions, and stop spinning thoughts.
• Do gentle stretching to release tension in your body.
• Read a book—as long as it’s one you can put down.
• Talk to your spouse about the day—nothing intense like discussing your budget, but simply catching up or talking about something funny that happened.

Despite popular belief, you don’t need to settle for a life of sleep deprivation. By following these guidelines, you can improve your sleep and live a happier, healthier, and more productive life.

To get started on your new journey to better sleep, browse our website then visit one of our Perfect Sleep Centers located inside each of our stores.