It can be hard figuring out if you’re getting enough sleep every night. Sometimes, you go to sleep at the right time, but you don’t sleep well for other reasons, like temperature, pain, or kids kicking you in your neck all night (fellow parents know this struggle). According to the NHS, one in three of us suffers from poor sleep.
Here are five signs you’re not getting enough sleep. See how many signs apply to your situation and then we’ll dive into methods you can use to adjust your sleep schedule and grab back some of those necessary ZZZs.
1. Dark Circles Under the Eyes
They say the eyes are windows to the soul, but the eyes also say a lot about your sleeping habits. If you notice redness, puffiness, and/or dark circles under your eyes, this may be a sign you’re not getting enough sleep.
When you go to sleep every night, your body works hard to restore some of its most essential functions. Missing out on sleep means you miss out on critical hormone control that happens during REM sleep. Fluids may also accumulate under the eyes, resulting in puffiness to accompany the dark circles.
2. Feeling Moody and Depressed
Everyone wakes up “on the wrong side of the bed” sometimes, but it’s a little deeper when you routinely don’t get enough sleep. Studies show when we lack sleep, we tend to become more irritable, sad, and angry.
This occurs because mood and sleep are closely linked, because the chemicals in your brain that control sleep also contribute to your overall mood.
3. Weight Gain
Most people don’t realise that lack of proper sleep may contribute to weight gain. There are a few different aspects that play into this equation.
When you’re running on fumes, it’s quite likely you don’t have the energy needed to chop a rainbow of vegetables that a home-cooked meal requires. Instead, you may reach for a bag of crisps or that processed “oven-ready” meal that doesn’t require too much energy.
This comes down to hormones again since the lack of sleep affects ghrelin and leptin. These hormones control how hungry you feel, causing you to crave unhealthy foods in the process.
4. Inability to Concentrate
Another sign that you’re not getting enough shut-eye is the inability to concentrate, but this often feels like a domino effect. You’re tired, you can’t focus, memory is compromised, and reaction time slows down.
Cognitive function takes a sharp decline when you don’t get seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. Without sleep, your brain struggles to function properly because it hasn’t had the chance to rest, repair, and restore itself from the day before.
When it’s all said and done, your brain cells can’t communicate properly with one another because they’re still tired from the day before.
5. Waking Up Tired
There’s nothing more frustrating than going to bed at a decent time, and waking up feeling just as tired as when you hit the sheets. Waking up tired happens for various reasons, but it most commonly happens when we have poor bedtime habits.
When you don’t have a bedtime routine, take naps, or scroll through your phone for hours before falling asleep, there’s a strong possibility all of these things work together to negatively affect your overall quality of sleep.
What You Can Do About It
If you read through the signs above and feel these are reasons you’re not getting enough sleep, there are plenty of solutions to explore. One of the most beneficial things you can do for yourself is to create a bedtime routine. This helps the mind and body wind down, on both a conscious and subconscious level.
Many find great success in adding CBD sleep products to their bedtime routine. For example, our CBD Gummies for Sleep contain 50mg of CBD per serving, as well as restful natural ingredients like chamomile, passion flower, and lemon balm.
Adding this type of CBD product to your routine ensures that you get the right kind of sleep every night — without waking up groggy. And if gummies aren’t your thing, you can try our gently calming Hemp Tincture as you get ready for bed.
You may want to consider placing your phone away from you when you lie down at night. If your phone is plugged in beside the bed, it’s tempting to check one thing, which snowballs into two hours of Tik Tok videos. Most of us don’t see any harm in this, but the blue light interferes with our melatonin production. It throws your circadian rhythm off, because it tricks your body into thinking it’s still daytime.
If you love an evening cuppa, it may be time to make this a thing of the past. That late cup of tea or coffee may be interfering with your sleep quality. Caffeine has a half-life of four to six hours, from the time you consume it until it’s metabolised. This means an afternoon cup of coffee could quite possibly keep you awake in the evening.
Another thing you can do is set an actual sleep schedule. What time will you go to sleep and wake up every day? This secures long-term sleep quality, among other things. You can use your iPhone to create a sleep/wake cycle that fits your schedule. If you want to take it a step further, you can use apps like Sleepscore to fine-tune your sleep schedules and cycles.
A Future Full of ZZZs
If you’ve been feeling a little more sluggish lately, see how many of these signs align with your personal experience. As you can see, our sleep cycles are more than a little sensitive to external factors.
Creating a bedtime routine with some of your favorite CBD products is a great start down the road to better sleep and overall wellness. The only thing left to figure out is what your personalised routine will consist of?
Not sure which products you want to include in your bedtime routine?
Try our CBD Gummies for Sleep!
