If you’ve ever found yourself groaning in agony at the mere thought of going to sleep because you just know you’re going to wake up in the middle of the night, you’re in good company.

Once you’ve started waking up in the middle of the night, you’ll often do so night after night at roughly the same time. 

And every time, you will yourself to sleep, count backwards from 100 and do deep breathing exercises, but to no avail. It’s irritating, infuriating, exhausting… and, fortunately, entirely solvable.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common culprits — and what you can do to keep them from stealing your daytime energy:

1. Anxiety:

This is the number-one cause of insomnia (and middle-of-the-night wakefulness). Unless it’s dealt with, the stress of the day will keep you up at night. These practices will help relax your mind both physiologically and psychologically:

Exercise floods the brain with all sorts of natural stress-busting chemicals, so try to fit a 30- to 45-minute workout into each day. (Just be sure not to exercise within a couple hours of bedtime, as increasing your body temperature will make it harder to fall asleep.)   

Meditation and mindfulness are very effective to alleviate anxiety. In particular, writing in a gratitude journal at bedtime helps shift your mindset from negative to positive, making your mind less likely to drift into negative thought spirals. 

Putting a to-do list on your nightstand is a great way to offload tasks from your mind — which keeps you from dwelling on them when you should be sleeping.

2. Diet:

Certain foods are notorious for disrupting sleep patterns: avoid fatty, heavy and spicy foods within a few hours of turning in.

Instead, reach for sleep-friendly alternatives:nuts, cherries, kiwis, milk, turkey, fish, chicken, eggs and soy will aid the body’s production of melatonin, which will help keep you sleeping soundly through the night.

You’ll also want to avoid caffeine and alcohol within 4 hours of bedtime, as either can keep you from reaching deeper stages of sleep.

3. Inconsistent schedule:

When you’re in a routine, your mind and body will automatically wind down when it’s bedtime and keep you asleep for the proper duration. But having an erratic sleep schedule means you’re fighting your natural systems rather than working with them.

Stick to a bedtime routine, including rising at the same time every day. Resist the urge to sleep in on weekends and opt for a midday nap instead — 20 to 30 minutes is ideal — to catch up on lost sleep.

4. Electronics:

Even in night mode, your phone, TV and laptop keep your mind stimulated and suppress your body’s production of melatonin. That’s why it’s a good idea to banish your electronic devices from the bedroom.

Instead of doomscrolling Twitter in bed, grab a book. Reading at bedtime aids drowsiness by reducing stress and giving your mind a focus other than the problems of the day. 

Those harsh LEDs on chargers and power strips in your bedroom also emit enough light to disrupt your sleep patterns, so be sure to cover them with blackout stickers and/or wear a 100% blackout sleep mask.

If you wake to an alarm, go with an analog alarm clock (the kind without the glow-in-the-dark hands that keep your attention on the time when you can’t sleep).

Great sleep (minus the 3 AM wakeups) is the non-negotiable foundation you need to create your best life.

Because it’s only when you’re well rested that you have access to your full potential. That you have the energy and stamina to face life’s lows and celebrate its highs. 

This is going to sound strange coming from a sleep company… but to us, sleep itself isn’t that important. It’s what you do with the energy great sleep gives you.

It’s about bringing as much energy as possible to whatever your “thing” is.

Mark and Ben are no strangers to disturbed sleep. They started Manta Sleep after using light-leaking, sweaty, cheaply-made sleep masks for over 15 years. Until one morning, they hit their breaking point. As the saying goes: if you want something done well done, do it yourself. So they did.

11 design iterations, 25 manufacturing partners, and 30 fabric evaluations later, the first Manta Sleep Mask was born. Built for comfort, designed to perfection...

... and now acclaimed by more than 300,000 empowered sleepers.

(and counting)

Even Captain Marvel needs great sleep to save the world

Among our legion of empowered sleepers, celebrated actress (and superhero) Brie Larson has also unlocked the superpower of restorative sleep with her Manta Sleep mask.

"Sleep is super important to me. I'm light-sensitive so this mask by Manta Sleep works wonders. I travel with it too." — Brie Larson

Manta Sleep products are designed to help you unlock your full potential through optimized sleep — so you can meet the day with energy and clarity of mind. 

Consider this:

How would your phone run if your charger sucked? At the very least, it would be running on low battery most of the time. App speed would trickle to a crawl, and at a moment's notice it might simply shut down.

Don’t Let Yourself Get Stuck In “Low Power Mode”

Great sleep is non-negotiable because the same thing happens to you when you don’t get enough sleep. You’re physically unable to express the best version of yourself if you’re regularly running low on energy.

Even an airplane, one of humankind’s most advanced inventions, can only go a short distance if it doesn’t have much fuel. We’re the same way: we eat, we move and we sleep. That’s how our “machine” works.

Speaking of airplanes — international DJ, music producer, and designer Steve Aoki travels a lot. And he owns about 20 Manta Sleep masks: " I can fall asleep anywhere, it doesn't even matter what position, but it has to be dark.” 

Steve goes on:

“Having an eye mask that's very cushioned and comfortable is really important. I can't stand when the mask touches my eyes; I can't sleep if it does. I need it to bulge out so my eyes are left alone. When I don't have this mask, I lose my mind."

Get Bedtime Tips To Help You Conquer Your Sleep

Every Manta Sleep Mask is designed to help you sleep better so you can do more and create your best-possible life. 

But there's something we can't overlook: sleep is personal. Although the main disturbances that assault the quality of your sleep are somewhat universal, the optimal approach to better sleep can vary from person to person.

That’s why Manta Sleep makes different masks for different sleep challenges.

Discover the Manta Sleep Mask that’s perfect for your needs — unlocking your best-possible sleep (and helping to create your best-possible life):

Our mission is to empower light sleepers to sleep better so they can do more.

Everything we do is fueled by our drive to enable better lives through better sleep and regular naps.

Because when your sleep gets better, your entire life gets better.

Upgrade your rest. Live your best.

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