Did you know that there are different kinds of sleepers? What type of sleeper do you think you are?
While we all need to get seven to nine hours of sleep per day, not everyone sleeps the same. How you sleep might influence the quality of your sleep or even your overall health.
Let’s talk about it. Keep reading to learn about sleeper personalities and styles so you can learn more about your snoozing habits.
The Instant Sleeper
These sleepers are the luckiest. They’re the envy of many. As soon as their heads hit the pillow, they’re out until morning.
Most people need to wait minutes (if not hours) to fall asleep. Sometimes this is because of distractions, while other times it’s just the result of racing thoughts.
The instant sleeper doesn’t have this problem. They fall asleep the moment that they decide to, regardless of what’s preoccupying their mind.
If you want to be more like this, you can work on having better sleep hygiene. This means that you should put away all of your electronics or anything else that creates excess light at least a half-hour before you go to bed.
Make sure that you don’t work in bed, play games in bed, eat in bed, or do anything else that isn’t meant for the bed.
This might not make you an instant sleeper, but it will help you avoid staying wide awake until the wee hours of the morning.
The Sleep Sweater
Do you wake up chilly and damp even when you’re in good health? If so, you’re a sleep sweater.
You know the struggle of trying all different methods of avoiding the problem. You’ve tried sleeping in the nude. You’ve tried sleeping with a fan on. You’ve even tried sleeping with no blankets and only a light sheet.
All of this to no avail. You still end up damp by morning and needing to wash your sheets more than once per week.
If you want to help mitigate the problem, there are a few things that you can try. Avoid caffeine, warm drinks, and alcohol within a few hours of bedtime. While exercising is great for getting better sleep, try not to do it too close to when you want to sleep.
Stop smoking or using any illicit substances, and consider using breathable sheets that are good for keeping moisture at bay.
The ‘5 More Minutes’
Do you press the snooze button every time your alarm goes off? If you’re a teenager, this is normal. If you’re an adult, though, it might present a problem.
When you have trouble getting up in the morning or feeling active before your first cup of coffee, you might experience disruptions or delays in your day-to-day life. You need to rush through your morning routine.
This is a sign that you need more healthy sleep. Try to sleep earlier or take melatonin supplements and see if you can wake up refreshed and ready to go at the first alarm.
The Interrupted Sleeper
How often do you wake up at night?
It’s normal to wake up once in a while, and many people don’t even notice when it happens because it’s so brief. If you’re an interrupted sleeper, though, you end up too tired in the morning from a lack of REM sleep.
There are plenty of reasons that you may not get a full night of sleep. Sometimes it’s the result of your brain being over-active at night. Other times it could be the result of you being a light sleeper.
Light sleepers react to every noise or movement, regardless of how faint. Deep sleepers don’t have this problem, so they’re able to sleep uninterrupted.
If this sounds like you, see if you’re able to sleep with white noise in the background to drone out any small interruptions.
The Toss-and-Turner
Toss-and-turners might also be interrupted sleepers, but they may also get through the night fine (while bothering anyone sleeping beside them).
Are you a side sleeper or a stomach sleeper? What about a back sleeper? If you’re all of the above, you might be a toss-and-turner. You move around the bed and wake up with your sheets in disarray and even on the floor. Your “half” of the bed is the entire bed, much to the chagrin of any pets or people who share it with you.
On the bright side, it’s fortunate that you can sleep in any position. On the dim side, all of this movement could mean that you’re experiencing some kind of sleep disruption.
If you wake up sleepy after tossing and turning all night, one fun hack is surrounding yourself with body pillows to see if they can help you stay in one place. Bonus: it’s super cozy.
The Snorer
Does your snoring disrupt the people around you? Did you know that not everyone snores?
Light snoring is normal and not usually the result of any underlying health issues. It’s annoying but tolerable. If you snore loudly, though, you might want to look into the cause.
Sometimes anatomy dictates loud snoring. If you have a deviated septum, for example, you may snore louder. It could also be the result of a condition like sleep apnea.
When left untreated, sleep apnea can be dangerous. If this sounds like you, check out sleep apnea treatment centers in your area to find some relief for yourself and the people who sleep near you.
Which Type of Sleeper Are You?
How do you sleep at night? Whether you’re someone who snores, someone who can’t wake up without a strong pot of coffee and five extra minutes in bed, or one of the lucky people who fall asleep the moment they get into bed, it’s interesting to figure out which type of sleeper you are.
Time to get a good night’s rest!
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