How Do I Cope with Sleepless Nights?

Take an afternoon nap | Maximise your sleep quality | Take stimulating nootropics in the morning | Use adaptogens for better focus and stress reduction

Sleepless nights are to be expected for parents with babies, but for some parents with toddlers who have trouble sleeping, the sleep deprivation becomes chronic. Elderly people, too, sometimes struggle to sleep. Sleep deprivation over a long period is disastrous for your energy and, therefore, your performance and health.

You can often do little about the broken nights themselves. What you need is a box of tricks to compensate for this discomfort so that you still feel energetic during the day.

An afternoon nap

Research shows that an afternoon nap is effective and can compensate for both an interrupted and short night.

• A short night: People who get up early can 'catch up' on their sleep with a nap. [*]
• You can also use the nap to recharge yourself mentally, get more energy, improve concentration, and preserve memories. [*]

The length of an afternoon nap

How long you should sleep depends on why you need an afternoon nap.

10 - 20 minutes: for mental performance

A 10-20 minute power nap is effective for immediate energy and alertness. These short naps are ideal when you need to perform immediately after waking up. This benefit is usually enjoyed for 1-3 hours after waking up.

90+ minutes: for a lack of sleep

An afternoon nap of at least 90 minutes is sufficient to make up for a sleep deficit from the previous night. A longer nap improves cognitive performance up to hours after waking. Sleeping longer also helps to retain memories and is, therefore, perfect for someone who has been studying or has a lot of information to process. [*]

The best time of day to take a nap

Generally, six hours after getting up, an afternoon nap is advised. [*] That's because cortisol boosts your alertness and productivity. [*] Therefore, you don't want to plan your afternoon nap at a time when your cortisol is still peaking. Cortisol shows a natural "dip" five to seven hours after you wake up. That's the time when you want to go to sleep in the afternoon. [*]

You also need to consider that caffeine works its way through the body for about 5 hours and takes up to 10 hours to process fully. Therefore, you can imagine that sleeping at 1:00 p.m. becomes difficult if you have been drinking coffee as late as noon. [*]

Let's say you get up at 07:00 and drink your coffee around 08:00; then you can nap at 13:00.

Maximise your sleep quality

More sleep may not be possible when you have a baby, but there are strategies to maximise the little sleep you get. By avoiding blue light (from screens and lamps) in the evening, you trigger your body's production of melatonin (the sleep hormone). The result? You'll get tired on your own - and perhaps as early as 9.30 pm. Blue light filter glasses are the simplest way to block blue light. You can improve the quality of your sleep by not drinking coffee after 2 pm. Stopping eating, snacking and drinking alcohol three hours before bedtime also has a positive impact on your sleep quality. You should eat as early and light an evening meal as possible.

To perform well during the day is ultimately about getting as long a continuous sleep as possible (preferably at least four hours, if that is feasible). Repeatedly waking up in the middle of a sleep cycle means that you miss REM sleep. This is essential for learning and memory. If you aim for more than four hours of uninterrupted sleep, you will probably achieve REM sleep.

The timing of this interrupted sleep depends on whether you are a morning person or an evening person, although you do want to schedule it somewhere between 8 pm and midnight. [*]

The later you go to bed, the less deep and restorative your sleep will be. The reduction in deep sleep, the most important sleep phase for physical and mental recovery, makes you less fit the next day. [*]

Use stimulating nootropics in the morning

Have you tried everything and still wake up groggy every morning? Then, what you might consider are stimulating natural nootropics, such as coffee and green tea.

A nootropic sounds very exciting, but in fact, it is a nutrient, herb or hormone that supports the brain and mental performance. We will explain the effect by means of a concrete example:

The body uses different signals to wake you up in the morning and activate you for the day. Every morning, your cortisol rises. This is how you naturally wake up when not using an alarm clock. Then, your cortisol drops during the morning and is at its lowest point in the evening. Cortisol activates your sympathetic nervous system. This part of the nervous system makes your body active and the mind alert and ready for action.

Substances that activate your body and mind in the same way are called stimulants.

As mentioned earlier, caffeine is a popular nootropic found in coffee and tea. But if you already consume caffeinated drinks on a daily basis, it probably doesn't do much for you anymore. In that case, you could take a stimulant supplement that prepares your body and mind for the day.

Take Away

There are several tools you can use to help make up for broken nights. Do you work from home, or are you a hybrid? Then, take an afternoon nap about 5-7 hours after getting up. A siesta of 10-20 minutes is sufficient to perform 1-3 mentally afterwards. Want to make up for lack of sleep? Then go for a 90-minute siesta.

Don't have the luxury of catching up on your daytime sleep? Then, make sure you get as much quality sleep as possible.

Heb je de luxe niet om overdag bij te slapen? Zorg dan dat je een zo kwalitatief mogelijke slaap krijgt. Don't have the luxury of sleeping during the day? Then make sure you get the highest quality sleep possible. You can read more tips about quality sleep here. 

Want to learn even more about how to avoid energy dips or how to concentrate faster and longer? Then read these blogs on energy and concentration.