There are few things worse than getting a full night’s sleep, only to wake up feeling like you pulled an all-nighter. So what gives? As it turns out, there are several reasons why you’re close to nodding off multiple times throughout the day. Here are six things that might be preventing you from feeling rested the next day — and what you can do instead to wake up more refreshed. 1. You Use Electronics Before BedYour cell phone, iPad and computer all emit blue light that messes with the hormone melatonin, which is responsible for regulating our sleep-wake cycles, according to Dr. Chris Winter, owner of Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine and author of The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep Is Broken and How To Fix It. “Without melatonin, there’d be nothing to anchor our sleep to certain times,” he says. “We want that melatonin secretion right before we go to bed because it’s preparing us for sleep at night.”So when it’s dark outside and all the lights are off in your bedroom, your brain thinks you’re supposed to go to sleep. Putting a bright light right in front of your face has “the negative effect of your brain thinking that the sun is still out, so you should be awake.” As for sleeping with your phone on your nightstand? That’s a no-no, too, according to Winter. You should go to sleep in a room that’s completely dark, and even if your phone is locked, it still emits small amounts of blue light. “You really should be sleeping with your phone in a different room and using a true alarm clock to wake up,” he says. 2. Your Sleeping Position Isn’t IdealSleeping on your back is generally the worst position because it’s correlated with poor breathing, which could disrupt your sleep, Winter says. “When the sleeping posture involves a forward flexed neck, it restricts the normal function of the airways. This causes the soft tissues of the throat to be tightened, restricting the ability for air to pass,” according to the American Posture Institute. But on the flip side, sleeping on your back is best from an orthopedic standpoint. If you have hip, shoulder, or knee issues, sleeping on your back helps take the pressure off of your joints. You don’t want to snooze in a position that’ll leave you waking up in pain or discomfort every few hours, or else you’ll be tempted to nod off like crazy the next day. So is there a definitive sleeping position that’s best? Well, sort of.“There have been studies done on which positions return blood best to your body,” Winter says. “If you look at the heart, your vena cava system is bringing deoxygenated blood back to your heart along the right side of your body, so it’s thought that if you sleep on the left side of your body, you’re not compromising that return.”But ultimately, Winter says, you’ll sleep best in a position that’s comfortable for you. 3. You Grind Your Teeth, Snore, or Talk In Your SleepChances are, you’re probably not aware that you do these things unless someone has told you. Even then, you might argue that you don’t since you’re not aware of it. But your body knows — and it can absorb a lot in terms of chronic sleep problems, Winter explains. Translation? Just because your habit isn’t actively waking you up doesn’t mean it’s not affecting your sleep. “It probably is,” Winter says. “That’s why it’s important to identify these things and treat them, because I find more people come back to me and say, ‘Oh my god, I’m sleeping so much better now that that thing is fixed — I had no idea I was sleeping poorly.’” And if you grind your teeth at night, the Cleveland Clinic recommends talking with your dentist, who can provide you with a night guard that protects your teeth, jaws and other surrounding muscles. 4. You’re Eating or Drinking Too Close to BedtimeWe’re all guilty of heating up those leftover pizza slices right before bed, but according to Winter, it’s best to stop eating right after you eat dinner — two to three hours before you go to bed. But if you’re really hungry, “you can have some popcorn or something relatively light — that’s fine,” Winter says. Be mindful of when you’re drinking coffee, too, as it can keep you awake far longer than you might anticipate. Caffeine stays in your system for five hours, but Winter suggests playing it safe and cutting yourself off after lunchtime, since there’s “no set time limit” on how long caffeine’s effects — feeling jittery, having upticks in energy, and needing to use the bathroom constantly — last. Caffeine also blocks a chemical in our brains called adenosine, which causes you to become tired.5. Your Head Hits the Pillow the Minute You Come Home From the Bar Winter recommends rethinking that nightcap, making sure to stop drinking alcohol about four to five hours before you go to sleep. You want to give it time to metabolize, Winter says. If you don’t, it’ll mess with your REM sleep, which is “often considered the most restorative type of sleep. With less REM sleep, you’re likely to wake up feeling groggy and unfocused,” according to the National Sleep Foundation.6. You Have a Sleep DisorderThere are almost 100 diagnosable sleep disorders, according to Winter, and they’re some of the biggest complaints people have about not being able to get adequate shut eye. Things like sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, grinding your teeth, acid reflux, parasomnia (sleepwalking or doing other things during the night that you don’t remember doing), rheumatoid or osteoarthritis, or orthopaedic injuries or neuropathies can all create sleep problems that can leave you feeling exhausted the next day.If you think you have a sleep disorder, make an appointment with a sleep specialist, who can determine the best course of action.