Work Stress
You may think chasing success and looking to your career for fulfillment will leave you feeling energized, but the truth is, it does have its drawbacks. These habits can actually drain you and leave you sleep deprived.
While work is a typical and necessary part of a person’s every day, when work becomes your main focus, it can leave you sleep deprived and cause you to lose focus of other things far more important in life. If you’re a workaholic, you’re spending so much time focusing on work productivity that you become stressed. This can get in the way of a good night’s rest.
Relationship Stress
Is your relationship in a state of constant turmoil and you don't know where things are headed? What you may not know is that relationship stress can negatively impact your sleeping behaivor. When a relationship is in trouble and individuals make a ton of excuses for those issues not only to others but themselves, they're only rationalizing why things are wrong, instead of making a real change to make the relationship better. A major sign that you’re experiencing relationship stress is constant arguing which breaks down communication. This is a key element of any healthy relationship. The more arguing that takes place, the more stress that adds to the relationship. If you keep making excuses for it, your relationship will head for disaster.
Technology Interference
We live in an age where conversations have been replaced with endless scrolling through social media apps and sites. As a result, we spend countless hours invested in technology. What you may not realize that this time can destroy sleep. Instead of resting when our bodies need it, we can’t get enough of the funny videos or memes our friends post or our favorite show on Netflix. You probably told yourself you’d get off in a minute and the minute turned into a few hours. When you’re finally ready to sleep, your body tells you it doesn’t want to. It’s also hard to sleep when your phone keeps pinging with alerts, notifications and email reminders. If these things are constantly distracting you, it may be time to put your phone on do-not-disturb at night so you’re not still plugged in.
Money Stress
Everybody will deal with some form of debt or financial blow in their life. It’s very easy to lose sleep when you’re stressed about money. Financial issues will not only devastate you, it can also send you spiraling down into a sea of worry, anxiety and depression. When your finances are bad, you think you have nowhere to turn. Sometimes the stress that comes along with not having enough money can cause you to enter such a bad state that you can’t even think about sleeping. The stress alone can lead us to a place where we’re not even focusing on our health or well-being. When money becomes your constant focus, you lose that sense of calm that allows your body to sleep in the first place.
Fear and Discouragement
The Bible tells us “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). We all know, this is easier said than done. Sometimes, it’s hard to let go and let God. Anxiety and fear are ruthless and can sabotage our lives if we allow it. This includes are sleeping. If you are chronically fearful or discouraged, you start to believe that you can’t get out of your problems. You also begin second guessing anything good as troubled or flawed. While you will face trials and deal with problems that present discouraging situations, remember that God is there guiding you with open arms, even when you think He’s not. Remembering this alone may be able to help you sleep better.
Addiction
The devil will try to gain control of you through different forms of addiction – creating dependency where it’s the sole source of fulfillment. Addictions can manifest themselves in many ways. While substances like drugs and alcohol are common sources of addiction–It can manifest in the less expected sources like your diet, your friendships and the groups you’re involved in. These addictions leave less time for rest. You may find yourself feeling sleepy but all you can think about is whatever your addiction is. Some substances are even designed to keep you up. If you’re struggling with addiction, it’s important that you call on God to help you let go of anything in your life that keeps you separate from Him.
The Enemy
What does the devil have to do with your sleeping habits? A lot more than you may think. If you’re finding yourself having trouble sleeping but you can’t pinpoint the reason, the devil may be at work. The enemy is the main force working to destroy your life. That includes getting a good night’s sleep. He knows that you getting less sleep will tear away at your health and not allow you to be productive in the way God calls you to be. In fact, His sole purpose is to alienate you from God so that you’re separated from Him. The enemy will destroy your sleep so that you are unable to do the things that you need to do and complete the things you need so that you can get ahead.
