Ill come clean: I smoke. I know, I know, its a bad habit, and Im the process of quitting. But, I like having a cigar with my dad on special occasions, and after writing for hours, a cigarette break can be exactly what I need. Besides, I smoke cloves, which unlike regular cigarettes, actually smell and taste good.

But I do realize the health risks of smoking: increased heart disease, lung cancer, and emphysema, plus a whole lot more. Heres the thing, though. Im young. I just turned 23. At this age, its easy to write those things off; even if they do happen, it wont be for another 15, 20, 30+ years.

So why am I quitting? Ill get to the point: smoking and sleeping dont mix. It took me a while to figure it out, but after smoking a lot and not sleeping, I began to put two and two together. The problem is nicotine is a stimulant; it will keep you up. You wouldnt drink coffee or a coke before trying to go to bed, so why smoke? I guess if cravings were making you jittery and keeping you up, it might make sense, but that just brings me to my next point.

Nicotine is extremely addicting, and like any addictive substance, heavy users start experiencing withdrawal as soon as that last cigarette is snubbed out. In fact, heavy smokers probably wont be able to sleep much more than 4 to 6 hours because of withdrawal symptoms.

In short, nicotine affects sleep: you get worse sleep, and less sleep when you smoke.

Im not writing this to try and make anyone quit, or to say that smoking is bad. Youre an adult, you can make your own decisions, and you dont need me telling you what to do.

My goal is to educate; if you smoke and cant sleep, maybe its time to think about cutting back or quitting all together. If youre in the process of quitting, congratulations. Perhaps we can quit together.

Sleeping is good, and you deserve to sleep better and longer.