If you’ve been struggling with your sleep routine and are wondering what the cause is, it turns out that watching rapid-fire TV debates in the morning could be the culprit
Maintaining a good routine is crucial for ensuring that you get the necessary eight hours of beauty sleep to be your very best self, but an expert has revealed that this goes way beyond what you do in the evening before bedtime.
While it’s well known that you should try and avoid your phone screen in the hour or two before your head hits the pillow, it’s also really important to be mindful of what you’re consuming when you first get up. That includes one of the most popular aspects of morning TV: heated debates.
Martin Seeley, a sleep expert from MattressNextDay, has explained exclusively to The Mirror that what you watch first thing can spike your cortisol, often dubbed the “stress hormone.” This can impact your natural body clock and set your nerves on edge for the day ahead, and into your next night’s sleep.
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“If you start your day stressed, it will likely continue throughout the day, impacting your energy and overall well-being, “Martin explains. “High levels of cortisol throughout the day can lead to feelings of burnout, irritability, and mood swings. These fluctuations affect how you interact with people and are carried into family, work, and personal life.”
The expert continues: “As cortisol levels rise, they affect your body’s ability to produce melatonin (the sleep hormone). The higher your cortisol levels are during the day, the more difficult it will become to wind down, prepare, and fall asleep. By the time the evening comes, you can find yourself waking up more, as your sleep cycle has been disrupted due to the impact of stress all day.”
There’s a reason why morning TV debates can, in particular, cause this chain reaction. “Exposure to stressful content early in the day can cause unnecessary cortisol levels to spike as it signals to your brain that there’s danger, even if it’s not life-threatening. This leaves you feeling anxious, on edge, and tense for a few hours, even if you have had a deep sleep,” the sleep expert shares.
He adds: “In the early hours, the news can often be dominated by heated political debates or financial news, both of which trigger emotional reactions. Political arguing can ignite feelings of helplessness, frustration, and even anger. At the same time, economic concerns can be the top stressor.
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“These topics interfere with your day by absorbing them into your nervous system, causing heightened anxiety throughout the day. You may often worry about personal financial situations when this shouldn’t be the case, so early on.”
Habits like checking your phone and having a little doom scroll as soon as your eyes have opened can also have a similar effect, so it’s crucial to make conscious decisions about what content, if any, you decide to consume after you have woken up.
Luckily, the expert has provided some tips on how to do this.
First up, Martin recommends that you swerve any and all stressful content in the mornings. “Instead of heading straight for political debates and financial concerns, try for more relaxing TV content in the morning, such as positive morning shows. You can even listen to calming music, start meditating, or do a gentle stretch routine,” he advises.
When it comes to adding a little bit of mindfulness to your morning routine, Martin suggests that you can start small, aiming for just five to 10 minutes if the prospect of building a new routine seems daunting. “To rest your cortisol levels before starting your day, you can do five-10 minutes of mindful exercises, deep breathing, or meditation. Practices such as journaling or expressing gratitude are great ways to focus on positive emotions,” he explains.
Equally, the sleep expert recommends trying to incorporate some movement into your early morning routine. This doesn’t need to be extensive, because something is definitely better than nothing, and it has the added bonus of boosting your mood for the day ahead and improving sleep.
He says: “Start your morning with a walk, light exercise or yoga to prevent built-up stress by reducing cortisol and guide you to stay calm throughout the day. Physical activity has been proven to help regulate stress and anxiety levels and promote a balanced mood all day, leading to better sleep that night.”
Generally, the expert thinks you should try to avoid your phone for part of the morning too, “For the first 30 minutes to an hour after waking up, limit screen time. Give yourself some time to wake up naturally and slowly without the overabundance of negative news.”
However, this doesn’t mean you need to totally ignore the news and what is going on in the world – staying informed on what’s happening is important, but the sleep expert advises that you do so on “your own terms”.
“Shift your time of reading or listening to the news. Instead of reading or listening first thing, set a time later in the day to catch up on important news. This will help prevent the stress of events from setting one’s tone for the day too early,” he adds.
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