Many of us consume caffeine in the form of coffee, tea or chocolate. It is a stimulant, taking away that feeling of tiredness. It is also a diuretic making the kidneys pass more urine and so has the potential to cause dehydration if you don't drink enough fluids.
The key thing to realise is its effect halves every 3-7 hours (half life)
1. Having a cup of coffee or tea in the morning/ lunchtime and trying not to have any in the evening will help:
- wake you up in the morning
- make you more able to sleep at night because your brain will be withdrawing from caffeine
2. Exposing yourself to natural sunlight early in the morning/ daytime will switch off production of a hormone called melatonin in the brain, allowing you to wake up more easily.
3. Exposing yourself to darkness in the evening will allow your brain to start producing melatonin causing you to feel sleepy. The light from television, artificial lighting and mobile phones stops your brain from producing the melatonin it needs to sleep.
Tip: an hour or two before you would like to sleep, turn off all the lights and allow your phone or other sound source to play something you would like to listen to.
Examples include:
- radio
- music
- audiobook
- birdsong
- youtube (sound only)
