7 Steps to Bulletproof Sleep
In today's world, sleep is for the dead. There's too much work to do and too much fun to be had. Reducing that need for 9 hours of sleep could lead to increased productivity by lengthening your day. While there's no surefire answer, you can take small steps to condition your body to need less sleep.
Exercise regularly. An active lifestyle leads to higher-quality sleep. The National Sleep Foundation reports that exercise in the afternoon can help deepen sleep, cutting down on the lighter, non-REM stages. Other studies have shown that morning exercise is best for a good night's shut eye. Either way, avoid intense exercise at night. It has the opposite effect - tossing and turning. Exercise has many benefits. In addition to better sleep, a healthy exercise program cuts back on health problems and will leave you looking and feeling better.
Ditch the screens. People who stop checking email or watching TV 1-2 hours before bed report higher quality sleep. It's bad news for techies: being exposed to 2 hours of "backlit" displays on electronic devices can suppress melatonin, the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic has reported. This could lead to staying awake longer and delaying your bedtime (especially if you're a teenager). Exposing our brains to late-night light confuses our internal clocks. Lights and electronics create the illusion that it's 2 PM when it's really 2 AM.
Eat better. The things we put into our body affect us 24/7. By staying away from toxins and junk foods, our body finds a rhythm that is more peaceful and relaxed. Cut out the alcohol. It may seem that alcohol acts as a relaxant, but it activates the sympathetic nervous system, leading to wakefulness during the night. This effect does not retreat until the blood alcohol levels return to 0.
Invest in a friendlier alarm. Starting the day hating the fact you have the ability to hear, is not the way to wake up after 6 hours of sleep. If waking up promptly is an issue for you, use 2 alarm clocks and set them at different positions in the room. Set the first to a more peaceful sound, awakening your senses, and the second, a few minutes later, to that dreaded beep that forces you out of bed. A wake-up light slowly raises the level of light in the room to help you adjust less suddenly.
Develop a pre-sleep routine. Though your entire day should be sleep-conscious, the last few hours before sleep are incredibly important. Do a relaxing activity (not involving electronics),take a hot bath - the temperature drop lures your body to rest and eat meals long before bedtime or meditate.
Love your bed. If you're not comfortable, you won't easily fall asleep. Your bed is a serious investment as you'll be spending an accumulation of years in it. Get cozy. Buy a nice mattress, pillows and sheets. If temperature is an issue, buy a heating blanket or cooling pillow.
Remove the distractions. Disconnect yourself from the world. You may not be able to get rid of your kids, but you can turn off your phone. If sound is out of your control, download a white noise app for your smartphone or buy a stereo-clock that has sleep sounds built in. Distractions are aural and visual. See those tiny lights on your laptop or cable box? Cover those up. Draw the curtains. Tape over the standby lights. If light still permeates your bedroom, spend a few bucks on a sleep mask.
Adjust the temperature. The optimal sleep temperature varies person to person, but usually lies somewhere between 60.8 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit (16 - 20 degrees Celsius). For those of us sleeping in starkers and kicking off the blankets, a temperature of up to 89 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) is still in the "thermoneutrality zone."
Exercise regularly. An active lifestyle leads to higher-quality sleep. The National Sleep Foundation reports that exercise in the afternoon can help deepen sleep, cutting down on the lighter, non-REM stages. Other studies have shown that morning exercise is best for a good night's shut eye. Either way, avoid intense exercise at night. It has the opposite effect - tossing and turning. Exercise has many benefits. In addition to better sleep, a healthy exercise program cuts back on health problems and will leave you looking and feeling better.
Ditch the screens. People who stop checking email or watching TV 1-2 hours before bed report higher quality sleep. It's bad news for techies: being exposed to 2 hours of "backlit" displays on electronic devices can suppress melatonin, the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic has reported. This could lead to staying awake longer and delaying your bedtime (especially if you're a teenager). Exposing our brains to late-night light confuses our internal clocks. Lights and electronics create the illusion that it's 2 PM when it's really 2 AM.
Eat better. The things we put into our body affect us 24/7. By staying away from toxins and junk foods, our body finds a rhythm that is more peaceful and relaxed. Cut out the alcohol. It may seem that alcohol acts as a relaxant, but it activates the sympathetic nervous system, leading to wakefulness during the night. This effect does not retreat until the blood alcohol levels return to 0.
Invest in a friendlier alarm. Starting the day hating the fact you have the ability to hear, is not the way to wake up after 6 hours of sleep. If waking up promptly is an issue for you, use 2 alarm clocks and set them at different positions in the room. Set the first to a more peaceful sound, awakening your senses, and the second, a few minutes later, to that dreaded beep that forces you out of bed. A wake-up light slowly raises the level of light in the room to help you adjust less suddenly.
Develop a pre-sleep routine. Though your entire day should be sleep-conscious, the last few hours before sleep are incredibly important. Do a relaxing activity (not involving electronics),take a hot bath - the temperature drop lures your body to rest and eat meals long before bedtime or meditate.
Love your bed. If you're not comfortable, you won't easily fall asleep. Your bed is a serious investment as you'll be spending an accumulation of years in it. Get cozy. Buy a nice mattress, pillows and sheets. If temperature is an issue, buy a heating blanket or cooling pillow.
Remove the distractions. Disconnect yourself from the world. You may not be able to get rid of your kids, but you can turn off your phone. If sound is out of your control, download a white noise app for your smartphone or buy a stereo-clock that has sleep sounds built in. Distractions are aural and visual. See those tiny lights on your laptop or cable box? Cover those up. Draw the curtains. Tape over the standby lights. If light still permeates your bedroom, spend a few bucks on a sleep mask.
Adjust the temperature. The optimal sleep temperature varies person to person, but usually lies somewhere between 60.8 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit (16 - 20 degrees Celsius). For those of us sleeping in starkers and kicking off the blankets, a temperature of up to 89 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) is still in the "thermoneutrality zone."
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Source: wikihow.com
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