Why You're Always Tired (and how to fix it)

a portion of this video was sponsored by google career certificates do you feel tired all the time if you're anything like me who spent years of your life either waking up tired every single day or just generally feeling drained all the time it sucks except i honestly don't feel that way anymore i spent the past few years obsessing over sleep research and my own habits to figure out how to feel less tired and be more energized and that's what i'm gonna share today the top research and expert back tips that i followed to not only feel more alert and alive but it'll also help you fall asleep way faster for those who struggle with that too consider this the ultimate guide to feeling less tired that you and i can reference back to whenever we're hitting those slumps in life first up we have to get two obvious things out of the way number one are you getting enough sleep i know this hardly feels like a tip worth sharing maybe you should sleep more if you're tired but a lot of people don't know how much sleep their brain and body actually needs like how many hours should you be asleep for the answer is seven to eight hours consistently is the most optimal but over fifty percent of people are getting less than six hours a night and countless studies have shown that getting less than six hours on a regular basis is equivalent to being cognitively drunk and under four hours a night is obviously even worse there is a very small genetic minority that can handle really low hours but chances are you and i are not it especially if you clicked on this video so if you're struggling with energy and being tired the first place to look is the sheer number of hours you're getting do whatever you can to regularly get as close to eight hours as possible and if you aren't already you'll likely feel a huge difference and number two just before we jump into the changes you can actually make today an important question to ask yourself is what is your chronotype are you an early bird or a night owl these might just seem like cute terms but we can actually see genetic differences that make some people more prone to get up early and others to stay up late and it's not simply a matter of making yourself go to bed at a different time if you're naturally a night owl but you're trying to make yourself fall asleep early you won't be getting good quality sleep because it doesn't match your innate circadian rhythm it's part of the reason teenagers are so desperately exhausted in school because their chronotype naturally shifts to later at night as they go through puberty meaning early mornings are exceptionally hard later start times at school increase class attendance decrease behavioral and psychological problems and decrease substance and alcohol abuse in teens i know your schedule isn't always your choice but if you have the flexibility to match your chronotype you'll be going a long way to feeling less tired also know that your chronotype can change throughout your life alright so i thought the easiest way to break down these science-backed tips would be chronologically starting from the moment you wake up and going through your day all the way to your bedtime and sleeping habits but before we do that i want to take a quick moment to thank today's sponsor google career certificates for sponsoring this portion of the video we know that good sleep improves your cognitive ability memory capacity reaction time productivity creativity what better way to use those advantages than to get a certificate that can fast-track you to in-demand jobs in under six months without the need for a college degree or prior experience google career certificates not only lead to job opportunities by improving tangible skills but you're able to take them at your own pace and on your own terms they're available in job fields of it support data analytics project management and user experience design and they recently launched the google digital marketing and e-commerce certificate which focuses on the skills that employers are hiring for these certificates are taught and developed by google employees who are subject matter experts working in these fields and upon completion you can connect directly with top employers who are currently hiring and unlike many other learning experiences you won't be sleep deprived because of these scores you're sleeping i started taking the marketing course myself you know i love learning and it's amazing what it feels like to learn from someone who's a literal expert at google in their field head to grow.google certificates to start learning job-ready skills that will help you in job applications and interviews thanks again to google career certificates for sponsoring this portion of the video and now back to more tiredness tips all right what do the first moments of your day likely include an alarm it's maybe time to change your alarm sound studies have shown that melodic alarms like those that play music not only reduce perceived sleep inertia and tiredness in the morning but actually improve psychomotor abilities and reduce attention issues compared to neutral alarms personally i love an alarm that starts quiet and slowly builds over time so that i'm not jarred out of sleep but ultimately you just want to choose something that's melodic like music don't hit snooze your body goes through multiple sleep cycles every night from light sleep to deep sleep to rem sleep and then back to light sleep and this repeats over and over and if your alarm goes off in the middle of deep sleep you're way more likely to feel sleep inertia and groggy when woken up now the problem with the snooze button is when you're getting close to your natural waking time the body starts preparing itself by releasing hormones and increasing body temperature but alarms often cut this process short which is why you feel tired especially when sleep deprived but by hitting the snooze button you're basically telling your body to restart another sleep cycle and head back towards deep sleep this means you'll have the same problem when the alarm goes off again and may feel even more tired honestly you're much better off getting that extra 10 or 20 minutes of sleep time than setting your alarm early and just snoozing at a bunch move around when you wake up recent evidence has shown that as little as 30 seconds of physical activity can improve perceived alertness in the morning this may be because of an increased cortisol awakening response important to note that while participants felt more alert they actually didn't perform any better on tests with morning exercise but hey sometimes you just want to feel better expose yourself to bright light in the morning light exposure is key to regulating your sleep patterns of course sunlight is the best way to trigger this but studies have even found that bright artificial light in the morning can help stimulate wakefulness even beyond just the morning make sure you're being exposed to daylight try to get outside in natural sunlight for at least 30 minutes a day and if you have problems falling asleep experts recommend one hour of morning daylight exposure and to turn down the lights before bedtime hydration first thing in the morning when your body hasn't taken in any fluids for a while can be super helpful studies have shown that not only are alertness and concentration improved with hydration but so are cognitive abilities and your mood caffeine we all know her we all love her i mean obviously caffeine's like a secret cheat code for feeling less tired your brain naturally accumulates adenosine through the day making you feel tired but caffeine binds to these same receptors blocking them from making you feel tired and that's a great temporary solution except with chronic caffeine use your brain actually creates more receptors meaning you need more caffeine to block that adenosine accumulation for the most part people can have a perfectly healthy relationship with caffeine the bigger problem seems to be how close to bedtime you're drinking it since the half-life of coffee is around six hours that means if you have a coffee at 6 p.m by midnight there would still be 50 of it in your body and this caffeine has a direct impact on sleep quality ultimately trying to contain your caffeine intake to the morning or midday will not only make it easier to fall asleep but it will actually improve your sleep quality through the night speaking of stuff you're consuming let's talk about diet now anecdotally i personally feel a huge difference when i'm eating healthy consistently and so this has become a major focus area for me i can immediately feel energy changes when i'm not eating well but the science behind this area is tricky because there's so many different diets and everybody's body reacts differently to food there are some studies that show correlations between whole food diets and higher energy levels or that higher levels of processed foods make people feel more tired further research has found that high sugar and low fiber diets also impact non-rem sleep quality and result in more awakenings at night without trying to give you diet advice i'll just say that for me my food intake has personally played a huge role in my energy levels but the hardest part was that it wasn't an immediate thing it's been sort of over a long-term habit change that i could really see those differences i still obviously let myself indulge but now i can immediately feel the difference when i've eaten really unwell we all have a general idea of what healthy eating is so do what feels right for you within those guidelines similar to coffee though you don't want to be eating too close to bed because that can cause indigestion which impacts your sleep exercise this one has been the other game changer for me which i know is so annoying to hear i used to hate exercising but i started by just adding more walks in my day and have slowly worked my way up to proper resistance training and cardio i'm actually really proud of how far i've come like look at me lifting those weights sleep studies show that exercise increases total sleep time especially non-rem and increases the overall quality of sleep on average subjective alertness improves and the time it takes participants to fall asleep decreases with fewer waking times across the night but an interesting takeaway from these studies is that the relationship between exercise and sleep isn't always consistent on a day-to-day basis so just because you worked out hard today doesn't mean you'll see or feel those benefits tonight much like diet it's the long-term changes that seem to make a bigger difference ironically studies also find that while exercise improves sleep sleep can improve your exercise capacity so it's a nice little positive reinforcement circle going on there i know it's impossible to untangle the tips i've already shared and the ones i'd still yet to share but i feel like exercise has had one of the biggest impacts on my life i spend a lot of the day sitting on a chair looking at a computer and the days where i go without moving i can physically feel my energy levels lower it's the weirdest phenomenon not moving and using energy gives you more energy but personally that is what i have found ultimately it's pretty clear from the research that a sedentary lifestyle not only impacts sleep quality but life quality the only time to avoid exercise is you guessed it right before bed body temperature can remain high for an hour or two so too close to bed makes it harder for your body to drop its temperature in preparation for sleep napping my favorite thing 20 to 30 minute naps have been shown to increase productivity cognitive function memory creativity and make people feel less tired just remember though under 30 minutes and you're not likely to go into deep sleep if you want to go longer i suggest sleeping a full sleep cycle which is around 1.5 hours for most people to me this is a sleep and not a nap but you're way more likely to wake up out of light sleep and experience less sleep inertia finally try not to nap after 3 pm because that can affect your ability to fall asleep later alcohol it's ironic that we tend to drink in the evenings because alcohol is sleep's worst enemy you might think a night cap relaxes you or helps you fall asleep better but the truth is it robs you of rem sleep and keeps you in the lighter stages of sleep it can contribute to impaired breathing through the night and you're more likely to wake up in the middle of the night when the effects have worn off and of course being hungover won't make you feel any more energetic tomorrow or look any better for that matter now when it comes to bedtime have a warm shower or bath before bed once you get out of the warmth your body will radiate the heat and start working to cool down and this is actually one of the natural processes that happens as you fall asleep your body temperature drops so by creating an environment where that can happen naturally your body and brain will begin to feel sleepy not to mention the natural relaxation that a calming bath can provide sleep in a dark cool environment for a similar reason having a cool environment helps promote sleep and darkness plays a major role in not stimulating your brain so remove any gadgets or bright clocks that might be super visible in fact if you have a clock it's better to turn it away from you so you won't worry about the time while you're trying to fall asleep put away your gadgets i know it's tempting if not literally impossible not to sit in bed and use your phone and i even used to use mine as my alarm but not only does pre-bedtime phone you stimulate your brain with activity and shine light directly into your eyes tricking your brain into thinking the time might be different but simply having the phone in your room and being able to see it can occupy your mind so if you can bear it put the phone and any other gadgets outside your bedroom don't lie awake in bed if you can't fall asleep for over 30 minutes it's often better to get up and try and do a relaxing activity until you feel sleepy it's so easy to feel anxious when your eyes are closed and nothing's happening and you know you have to be up early in the morning that only makes things worse so get up for a bit and do what you can to just chill and relax if you wake up in the middle of the night don't check the clock checking the time in the middle of the night can cause anxiety and a cortisol spike which will only make it harder to go back to sleep individuals who have insomnia often watch the clock causing a similar effect and while you're up trying to avoid any bright lights like a bathroom light again your body's circadian rhythm responds to light so the darker you can keep it the better night lights aren't just for kids now before i go over the final and most important tip it's worth mentioning that there are obviously health issues and medical conditions that can affect not only your sleep but your energy levels so if you seem to be trying everything and nothing's working it's definitely worth talking to your healthcare professional and perhaps the most important tip of all develop a sleep schedule this along with exercise and sleep has easily had the biggest impact on my energy levels you want to try and go to bed and wake up at the same time every day if you can't follow any other tips i suggest this one in conjunction with getting enough sleep creating a routine will set up your body to work like literal clockwork anytime my sleep schedule gets moved around whether we're traveling or it was the weekend and i was out i can always tell how badly impacts my life over the next few days so the more you can keep a consistent schedule the more your body knows the game when to fall asleep immediately when it should start its morning routine and when you need your most energy i'm telling you commit to a schedule and even when you get bumped off of it which is inevitable just take your time and get back on track for me that's going to bed at midnight and waking up at 8 a.m every day that i possibly can for you that might be shifted to a different time and when i'm in a good swing of it i rarely need my alarm because my body just naturally wakes up at the end of the day i'll say it again for me i think sleep schedule exercise and diet have had the biggest role in my energy levels yes i fall of course and sometimes have bad days or weeks in a row where i'm exhausted but thinking back on who i used to be before i implemented all these practices i was literally tired every day i would say to myself i'm always exhausted and i actually don't feel that way anymore yes i still have tired days but me as a whole i'm a person with way more energy so my fingers are crossed that this list is useful to you and helps you become a more well-rested energized person if you have your own personal anecdotes or other studies you know of feel free to comment many people will be looking for any a little extra chip they can do to optimize their sleep and energy otherwise thank you so much for watching make sure you hit the like button if you liked it and made this far make sure you subscribe and we'll see you next time for some more science peace

Channel: AsapSCIENCE

Views: 4,264,105

Keywords: asapscience, asap science, asapscience youtube, asap science youtube, asap, science, fun science, Grow With Google, Google Career Certificates, Digital Marketing, E-Commerce

Id: RpaxxN8jTHo

Length: 14min 15sec (855 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 15 2022