Do you ever find yourself feeling so wired after an all-day coding session that you can’t fall asleep? If so, you’re definitely not alone. Coding is a mentally strenuous activity, and people often do it in long spurts – especially during crunch time. Because your brain is completely engaged for so long, you’re probably going to finish a long coding session feeling totally worked up or entirely exhausted.

If you find yourself in the first of those two groups, this guide is for you. If you’re the type of person who feels completely alert and awake after a coding session – no matter how late in the evening it might be – there’s probably no way to change that because it’s just the way you’re wired. There are some things that you can do to promote more restful sleep, though, and we’re going to discuss some strategies in this article. Let’s dive in.

Enjoy Some Herbal Refreshment

If you feel so wired after a long coding session that you can’t relax, maybe it’s time to indulge in a little herbal refreshment. One of the top reasons why people use cannabis is because they find that it helps them fall asleep more quickly – especially when it’s only used occasionally. Take advantage of that by grabbing a dab pen from a company like Rokin Vapes and keeping a little oil or wax on hand for those times when you can’t seem to fall asleep.

Reduce Your Caffeine Intake

Did you know that caffeine has a half-life of about five hours? In other words, when you drink a bottle of soda during a coding session, half of the caffeine from that soda will still be in your bloodstream five hours later. On top of that, let’s face it – for many coders, having just one soda during a long session would be pretty mild. It’s possible that you consume caffeine on a nearly non-stop basis while you’re coding. As you can see, though, it’s possible to end up with a lot of caffeine still in your system when you go to bed if you’ve been pounding the soda throughout your coding session.

We know that it’s heresy to tell a coder to reduce their caffeine intake – and if you’re a really heavy caffeine drinker, you probably feel as though it doesn’t really affect you. It definitely does affect you, though, both in terms of falling asleep and in terms of your overall sleep quality.If you consistently have trouble sleeping after long coding sessions, you should make an effort to discontinue all caffeine use a minimum of five hours before going to bed.

Stop Using Nicotine Before Bed

Speaking of stimulants with long half-lives, nicotine is just as potent as caffeine – perhaps even more so – and it has a half-life of about two hours. We all know that coders are serious stimulant lovers, and it’s likely that there are more coders who use nicotine than there are among the general population. Remember that the heathiest way to use nicotine is not to use it at all. If that’s not an option for you, make a strong effort to at least stop using nicotine for at least two hours before you go to bed. If you vape, you can do this by switching to a nicotine-free e-liquid as you get closer to bedtime. That way, you can stop consuming nicotine but still maintain the hand-to-mouth ritual that keeps your brain engaged.

Try a Supplement That Supports Sleep

If you consistently have difficulty falling asleep at night and don’t want to start taking a prescription medication, it might be a good time to start exploring some natural remedies instead. There are quite a few herbal supplements that have traditionally been used to promote falling asleep or improve sleep quality, and you can find them online or in virtually any health food store. Some of the most popular supplements for sleep include melatonin, passionflower, valerian and kava.

Our friend cannabis also makes an appearance here; many people have reported that they find CBD helpful for promoting sleep. If you don’t want to use traditional cannabis –either because you don’t like the way it makes you feel or because it’s not available where you live –CBD doesn’t cause a “high” and might work well for you as an alternative.

Download an App That Helps You Fall Asleep

Did you know that you can possibly sleep better at night without consuming any supplement or chemical at all? Check your phone’s app store for an app that promotes sleep, and you’ll probably find several options. These apps use a variety of different strategies to help you fall asleep, but they all involve audio recordings that you listen to through headphones or earbuds. In addition to playing relaxing music or sounds from nature, these recordings will often contain subliminal messages or delta waves – or both – that can help to get your brain into sleep mode.

If you’re the type of person who doesn’t normally listen to sounds or music when you go to sleep, it might seem a little strange at first to go to bed with earbuds. Give it a chance, though, and try a few different apps if the first one doesn’t work for you. If you enjoy listening to quiet sounds while you fall asleep but don’t like having anything in your ears, try buying a sound generator to put in your bedroom instead.

Stop Working So Late

You may not want to hear this if you love those late-night coding sessions, but having your brain in a fully engaged state right before going to bed really isn’t the best way to ensure that you’ll have a restful night’s sleep. Instead of going straight from the computer to your bed, try quitting at least an hour before bedtime. Do something that doesn’t involve looking at a bright screen – like reading a book, for instance –and you’ll probably find it much easier to wind down.

The post Can’t Sleep After Coding? Try These Easy Remedies appeared first on PremiumCoding.