had a rubbish night’s sleep? here’s how to recover

Suffering from sleepless nights? You’re not alone. In our recent sleep survey, over 1,000 sleepy Brits said that poor quality zzz’s are having an unwanted impact on their lives. As your trusty sleep wellness experts, we know that tiredness can lead to all sorts of mayhem the next day (5 coffees and a pack of biscuits later...). So here we’ve compiled our top tips on how to recover from a rubbish night’s sleep.

what’s causing poor sleep?

Our sleep survey discovered some very interesting nuggets. First, the nation is sleeping an average of 6 hours and 34 minutes a night (to be precise). Second, that typically includes waking up a couple of times. And third, the main causes of a bad night’s sleep are stress, feeling too hot and needing to go to the loo.

Worrying about work, snoring partners (we’ve all been there) and outside noise also cropped up as common reasons for a disrupted snooze. As did the fear of having a bad sleep. Not ideal.

how to feel better after a bad night’s sleep

So, you’ve woken up feeling less rested than when you went to bed. Worry not, as we have some tried-and-tested tips that are eve HQ approved for getting over the lack of zzz’s.

1. don’t snooze: Take our word for it on this one. Having a lie-in after a bad night’s sleep could make you feel even more tired. So the key is to refuse the snooze (see what we did there?). To keep your circadian rhythm in check, try getting up at your normal wakeup time the next day (if you can) and go to bed on time that night.
2. have a power nap: If time allows it, take a 20 minute power nap in the afternoon to recharge your batteries. And if you’re not the best at napping, a weighted blanket and eye mask could help you conk out quicker than you can say rice krispies.
3. spend time outside: Getting out into natural light will help you feel more alert because it suppresses melatonin, the sleepy hormone. And a bit of light exercise like a brisk walk could get your blood pumping, helping you to feel more energised during the day and setting you up for a better night’s sleep.
4. go easy on the caffeine: Some drinks are great for sleep. But sadly coffee isn’t one of them (sobs). As tempting as it may be to load up on caffeine after a restless night, having coffee in the afternoon could stop you sleeping well again that night.
5. wind down for zzz: Before you go to bed the night after a restless sleep, spend a bit of time relaxing. This could involve reading, stretching or anything you can think of that’ll ease you into a deep snooze (clue: we love a bit of ASMR).