7 Blockers That May Be Keeping You Out Of The Sleep Zone (Find The Eight Episode #9)

There are many reasons you can’t sleep and the tricky thing is that what’s driving the problem can change night to night.

It’s helpful to break it down to two main reasons.

The first is that your body is simply not ready for sleep. In episode 1, we talked about how trying to sleep when your body is not ready for sleep is a common trap that you want to avoid.

Now sometimes your body is very ready for sleep but you still can’t sleep.

That brings us to the second main reason you can’t sleep. Something—or often multiple things—are blocking you from getting into that relaxed sleepy zone.

THE SEVEN SLEEP BLOCKERS

So today, we’re going to go over the 7 sleep blockers.

The first three are things you did or were exposed to earlier that day.

SLEEP BLOCKER #1: MEDICATIONS, DRUGS, FOOD & DRINK

This includes caffeine, other alerting drugs and medications, as well as eating and drinking too close to bedtime.

Generally, you want to take alerting medications at a consistent time and as early as possible though I would recommended speaking to your doctor before making any major changes to how you are taking medication. 

Caffeine can stick around in the system for 14 hours so even if you’re someone who can fall asleep with caffeine in your system, it can still significantly impact your sleep quality. Ideally, try to avoid caffeine altogether but if you do have caffeine, try to keep it to just one in the morning. And beware of sneaky sources of caffeine like chocolate.  

Try to avoid eating too close to bedtime and having foods that are going to wire you like junk foods and sugary foods.

To cue your body clock that it’s time for sleep, try cutting off food and drink after dinner or just have a light snack in the evening.  

Eating too late can send unhelpful signals to your body clock and can contribute to the body clock being out-of-sync with when you want to be sleeping.

SLEEP BLOCK #2: LIGHT EXPOSURE IN THE 3-5 HOURS BEFORE SLEEP

Too much light in the few hours before sleep suppresses melatonin production and can both shift your body clock to a later time as well as make it very difficult for your to get sleepy and have a good quality sleep.

As much as possible, reduce the amount of light you get in the few hours leading up to when you want to sleep. Listen to episode 6 on specifics on how to do this.

SLEEP BLOCKER #3: ALERTING ACTIVITIES IN THE 1-3 HOURS BEFORE SLEEP 

Your body and mind need time to come down from that alert, 'on' state that you need to be in during the day.

Exercise, social media, Netflix, video games, heated discussions or arguments, and getting into creative activities are common things that will keep you alert too close to bedtime.  

If stopping these activities is hard, start small with just a 5-minute buffer before your bedtime then build it up to 30-60 minutes or even longer if possible.

Set an alarm to remind yourself to step away from these activities.

Put restrictions on apps or websites after a certain time.

Brainstorm some enjoyable, non-screen alternatives that you can have on hand so that it’s an easier transition away from these activities.

Try rewarding yourself for building this new habit.

Having a set routine helps because you can just go on autopilot and, over time, a good routine can become a reliable trigger for that the calm/sleepy state you want at bedtime.

If you want to learn more about setting up a bedtime routine, I cover this in the next episode, episode 10.

The rest of the sleep blockers are all things that are keeping you from sleep in the moment.

SLEEP BLOCKER #4: STIMULATING OR UNCOMFORTABLE SLEEP ENVIRONMENT

If you’re room is too bright, too noisy, too cold, too hot, or too disruptive, it’s really hard to relax and deactivate. Consider getting things like a white noise machine, a fan, a more comfortable pillow or mattress, blackout blinds, an eye mask, or ear plugs.

Talk to others in your household if they are disrupting your sleep.

SLEEP BLOCKER #5: ALERTING CUES

As discussed in the episode 4 “Is Your Bed Keeping You Awake?”, if you have spent a lot of time awake in bed, you may be trained (or conditioned) to associate your bed with being awake, alert, and maybe also tense and anxious.  

If you’re in bed, get out of bed either right away if you’re very alert or after no more than 15 minutes. Try not to return to your bed until you’re really on the edge of sleep and repeat this process of getting out of bed if needed. Do this at the beginning, middle and end of the night if you can’t sleep.  

This is a tricky and sneaky one but, in my experience, if addressed has the most powerful impact on sleep getting better.

SLEEP BLOCKER #6: AN ACTIVE MIND

It is difficult to relax and become sleepy if your mind is busy.

There are a few key things you can do when your mind is very active. The first, as we just discussed it to get out of bed. Sometimes the mind quiets down with just this.

The second is to try a capture of your thoughts as we talked about in the the last episode “What do do When an Active Mind is Keeping You Awake".

Another strategy is to give your mind a task. To not give those thoughts to space to take hold and grow, instead redirect your attention and thoughts to an activity you enjoy but is still going to allow you to deactivate.

This is why a lot of people will turn to Netflix to drown out bothersome thoughts. Though this helps in the moment, it also has the downside of the light exposure and whatever you’re watching keeping your mind active to a certain extent.

Ideally, it’s good to have a few activities on hand to distract you that aren’t as harmful to sleep. We’ll talk more about what you can do in episodes 10 and 11.

SLEEP BLOCKER #7: STRONG EMOTIONS AND PHYSICAL SENSATIONS

As you know, it’s really hard to fall asleep and sleep well when you’re stressed, anxious, in pain or excited.  

Sometimes the simple act of noticing that you’re feeling in the moment and naming it can be really helpful.

Learning how to regulate and respond to strong emotions and physical sensations in a helpful way can seem impossible in the moment and we’ll cover strategies in future episodes but, for now, you can try an app like Calm or Mindshift, keep a list of soothing activities that you have helped you in the moment in the past, getting your thoughts down on paper, or reach out to someone supportive for help.

ACTION: 

First, ask yourself: Which sleep blocker most frequently gets in your way and what is the first bite-sized step you can take to address it?

• Is it texting your parents to ask if they can help you optimize your sleep environment?

• Is it listening to the next episode on creating a bedtime routine or one of the other episodes I mentioned earlier?

• Is it setting a firm cutoff time for anything caffeinated and telling someone else you’re doing this to hold yourself accountable?

I suggest you take this small step right after the episode otherwise it’s so much less likely that you will remember to do it later on.  

There was a lot to process in this episode so, as always, if would like a cheat sheet to help you remember these sleep blockers and the best steps to address them, you can find it here.

This handout will help you avoid you saying “I have no idea why I can’t sleep” and will help you tackle the sneaky things getting in your way of a good night sleep.  

So to summarize, the 7 sleep blockers are: 

1. Alerting stuff in your body like caffeine, medications, drugs, food and drink

2. Light in the 3-5 hours before sleep

3. Alerting activities in the 1-3 hours before sleep

4. A stimulating environment

5. Alerting cues like your bed if you’ve spent a lot of time awake in bed

6. An overactive mind

7. Strong emotions and physical sensations.

While you may not be able to avoid all of these sleep blockers perfectly, you can reduce the harm by setting up your environment and creating routines to address the sleep blockers that most get in the way of your sleep.

NEXT EPISODE:

Getting Into The Zone: What You Can Learn From Michael Phelps

LINKS:

• Episode 1: The No. 1 Sleep Trap That You Need To Avoid

• Episode 4: Is Your Bed Keeping You Awake?

• Episode 7: What To Do When Your Mind is Keeping You Awake

• Episode 10: Getting Into The Zone: What You Can Learn From Michael Phelps

• Episode 11: What To Do When You Can't Sleep: Your Three-Step Plan