5 Activities You Shouldn’t do in Bed
We previously wrote about 5 Things Not To Do Before Bed in order to help you form a better nightly routine and make it easier to fall and stay asleep throughout the night. Whether it is nighttime or daytime, there are also activities that you should avoid to help you sleep. You may not know it, but these 5 activities may be preventing you from getting the quality sleep you deserve!
1. Use Electronics. As stated in the previous post, electronics in the bedroom can keep you awake. The blue light projected from screens such as laptops, phones and TVs prevent the hormone melatonin from being produced. This will make it extremely hard for you to fall asleep because the light has tricked your brain into thinking it should be awake. Also, watching TV in bed can become a bad habit, and you may eventually attribute your bed to watching TV instead of sleeping. Even after you’ve removed electronics from your bedroom, this link between watching TV in your bed may prevent you from easily falling asleep because your mind expects to be stimulated from the devices.
2. Eat. It is never a good idea to eat before bed. A light snack to ease any hunger you may have is fine as long as the food does not contain sugar or caffeine. But what happens when you begin to eat while you’re in bed? It doesn’t matter if it is day or night, your brain will make the association between your bed and food. This can cause you to become hungry every time you are in bed because your brain thinks it should be injecting food. You also should not eat in bed because it can make a mess. You do not want crumbs to get into your bed and under the sheets. While you sleep, you may press these morsels into the sheets, and it may even penetrate into your mattress. This can cause mold and bacteria to grow which may eventually lead to an odor, sickness and the need to purchase a new mattress.
3. Do work. It is always great to get your work done in a comfortable place, but it should not be done in your bed. We advise everyone to leave work at the office, but there are occasions where that may not be possible. If you must work from home, make sure you do it at a desk or in the kitchen. The mind is notorious for making associations between objects and tasks the more they are done in combination. The more you work in your bed, the more stress your bed may cause you. Even if there is no work to be done, your mind may begin to problem solve or review work related topics when you should be resting or relaxing!
4. Study or do school work. Aside from the possibility of falling asleep mid study session, the same association can be made as if you were doing work in your bed. School work should also be done at a desk or another designated area. This way when it is time to study, your mind can focus on the task at hand because it knows that the desk by your window is where you typically get your school work and studying done.
5. Argue. New research has indicated that you should never go to sleep with a negative emotion or thoughts present. Couples are known to argue more so in bed and at night because it is when the two people are alone together and able to speak with minimal distraction. It may seem like a plausible place to sort out issues given the environment, but the association between your bed and such discussions can lead to tension even when there is nothing to be discussed. Stress is a huge cause of insomnia, and you do not want your own bed to become a source of stress.
The mind is a very powerful tool and making associations between situations or objects is one way we subconsciously organize our lives. Whether you know it or not, your mind is recording what you do, where you do it and when. By using your bed for anything other than sex and sleeping, you may miss out on some very important Z’s. So keep the electronics off, eat in the kitchen, study and do work at the desk and argue anywhere but inside your bedroom! You’ll thank us later!
Do you have any other activities that should not be done while you’re in bed? Leave it as a comment!
