Getting a good night’s rest is easy. But only for those who are disciplined.

Like with most things that are valuable, it takes time and effort to get. This is the case with sleep. Although unfortunate, it’s the truth.

If you want to sleep right away, and sleep deep, you’re going to have to make unwanted (but necessary) changes.

What are those changes?

You’ll find out right now.

In this post, I’m going to show you 3 ways you’re destroying your sleep RIGHT NOW without you even knowing. And of course, how to instantly fix it.

Sound good?

Let’s start with the first one…

#1 – You Eat Too Much Food Too Late At Night

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Look: we all love those midnight snacks, midnight runs to the store, and my favorite, midnight phone calls for a pie of piping hot cheesy pizza. But the truth is, it destroys your sleep in more ways than you could imagine.

I won’t be going into the science behind it here as I’m sure you’re not here to read a science report. So I’ll explain what goes on in layman’s terms.

Late night eating, or worse, eating a lot late at night, has a direct impact on your circadian rhythm. And as an effect, not only will it increase weight gain, but it’ll disrupt your sleep patterns.

You see, as nighttime approaches, your body preps itself for sleep by producing different hormones. These hormones are what make you feel sleepy. It even changes your body’s internal temperature. Pretty amazing right?

But if you chow down before bed, you can reduce or halt the production of these sleep-inducing hormones.

It’s nature.

We didn’t evolve to eat hours after the sun went down. We got ready for bed because the outdoors was too dark to be roaming around hunting for food. Eating mostly happened only in daytime.

Now you might not think this makes a big impact because you’ve had some days where you ate late at night, yet still got “great” sleep.

But if you’ve never done the opposite, you have no idea how much better your sleep could be.

The Solution

So how do you fix this problem?

Simple.

Don’t eat before bed or in the middle of the night. Your last meal of the day should be about 4 hours before bed. And if you want to have even better sleep, make your last meal of the day your smallest meal of the day.

Eating a lot before bed can cause extreme stress on your body. And as we all know, stress does nothing to help you snooze.

Now there’s going to be one person who suggests eating yourself into a food coma.

But this isn’t helpful in for your health in any way. That needs no explaining.

#2 – You Stare At Your Phone Before Bed

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We all do it. Just after we hop into bed to go to sleep, we can’t help but reach for our phones to watch videos or browse social media.

Like the point above, this affects your sleep in a similar way.

And this doesn’t go for just phones. This applies to any screen like your computer, TV, and tablet.

All these devices produce the infamous blue light, which has been shown to disrupt your circadian rhythm as well.

Just think about how our ancestors used to sleep. There was no lighting except the sun. Back then, their sleep patterns followed the sun. As the sun goes down, they go to sleep. As the sun rises, they get up.

But now, because of all our devices, our body mistakes the light projecting from screens as daylight. And in return, tells us it’s morning and that we should be getting up. Not going to sleep.

So what can you do?

The Solution

Put your phone away!

It really is that simple.

2 hours before bed, leave all your electronics at the door. Or even for just one hour if that’s too long. You’ll see a major difference in your sleep once you do this.

Now, I’ll admit, it’s not easy to leave your phone. It’s too entertaining to put down.

Luckily there’s another solution…

If you really can’t stop looking at your phone or watching TV before bed, you can get yourself a pair of Uvex Skyper Blue Light Blocking Glasses (Amazon). These glasses are super affordable. And they’re highly effective at blocking the blue light from your electronics.

Tinted in an amber orange, it can absorb up to 98% of blue light. Allowing you to freely use your phone or computer at night without it affecting your quality of sleep.

However, I’ll be honest, the designs on these are a bit whacky. They make you look like you’re a mad scientist. If you don’t mind though, get them. They’re amazing. But if you’d like a nice looking pair (one you can wear in public and block blue light from things outside too), you might want to get a pair of Swannies (Review).

Or if you want the best of both worlds, cool design and exceptional performance, True Dark Glasses (Review) will have you feeling sleepy almost instantly.

#3 – Sleeping Too Hot

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Most of us sleep too hot. And this is in direct combat with our bodies’ natural temperature fluctuations.

Before bed, our body begins to cool down to help induce sleep. This is why it’s so hard to sleep when it’s too hot under the sheets.

This clearly goes for being too cold too, but that’s not as big a problem as heat.

The recommended temperature your room should be is around 60-70ºF. This will help follow the changes in your body’s temperature and make it much easier to go to sleep.

The Solution

The obvious solution for sleeping too hot is to simply lower your thermometer. And trust me, it works.

Or you could even go one step further and take a cold shower before bed. This will prime your body even more for sleep. I’ve done it for months. Although not easy, it’s definitely rewarding. And you get to save a bit on your heating bill too.

But if you’d like the most optimal solution to this problem, you might want to get yourself a bed cooling/heating system like the Chilipad Cube (Review) or BedJet (Review).

These two devices allow you to cool and heat your bed directly. Saving you even more money on your bill since you don’t have to cool/heat your entire home — only the time you spend sleeping.

Now I wouldn’t say this is necessary. However, if you really struggle with tossing and turning, or just want to hack and optimize your sleep, then you’ll find them to be extremely helpful.

Final Words

Sleep is possibly the biggest factor to health.

It needs tender, love and care from us. Otherwise, expect a tired, long, annoying, unproductive day.

Luckily, you can turn your entire sleeping around by just following the above advice. And it won’t cost you a single penny to do so. In fact, it’ll save you money.

Hopefully this was helpful!