Quick Sleep Tip #2 – Get sunlight in the morning for sleep at night
Our bodies are developed to work with the sun. If you spend all day indoors, without sunlight, your body can’t process time correctly and may cause you to be awake all night and sleepy during the day.
To remedy this situation, try to get as much sun light throughout the day. More importantly, as soon as you wake up, get as much light as you can to reset your body’s sleep clock. This will allow you to be more awake during the day and sleepy at night.
Editors Note:
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Most of us know about the 8 hour rule – you need 8 hours of sleep per night. This is actually a falsehood which has been long disproved.
We do not regain energy based upon the total number of hours we’ve slept, but instead the total number of sleep cycles we complete.
What is a Sleep Cycle?
A sleep cycle is one “cycle” through each of the brain’s states during sleep. To overly simplify, we have two states of sleep- REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM. During non-REM sleep, our brain doesn’t have much activity and we have very weak dreams. It’s in REM sleep that we have our deep sleep and vivid dreams. It is also in REM that we refuel our bodies.
So, one study conducted by CentACS showed that a sleep cycle consists of roughly 65 minutes of Non-REM sleep, followed by 20 minutes of REM sleep and finished off with 5 minutes of non-REM sleep. Throughout the night, we progressively increase our REM sleep duration.
On average, each cycle takes about 90 minutes to complete. What does this mean? That to maximize our energy, we should sleep in chucks on 90 minutes. 1.5hours, 3 hours, 4.5hours, 6 hours, 7.5 hours, 9 hours, and 10.5 hours is the approximate time table you should use to pick a amount of time you need for sleep.
What does this mean for the 8 hour rule? Its wrong. You will actually feel just as refreshed from 7 1/2 hours of sleep as you will from 8 hours.
Please note, this study was done a while ago (2005 I believe), so if anyone has any new info, please leave a comment.
Although it may be difficult to establish a steady sleep routine in today’s hectic world, it is necessary for people who have trouble falling asleep each night. Your body and mind need to have a consistent time at which they will be conditioned to stop working and go to sleep.
In addition, get into a habit of performing the same actions before sleep as well. Make sure they are quiet and peaceful.
Things NOT to do right before sleep:
Exercise – Increases the heart rate and makes the body more alert. We want the exact opposite – to slow down the heart rate and make the body drowsy.
Eat/Drink Sugar/Caffeine – For obvious reasons. We consume caffeine to keep ourselves awake. Doing so before we sleep works against us. Additionally, if you currently drink lots of caffeinated drinks throughout the day and have trouble falling asleep – stop.
Don’t work – Working involves thinking. Too much thinking will continue into the bed and be harmful in trying to fall asleep.
No bright lights – This is the hardest thing to achieve. Melatonin, the chemical our brain produces which makes us drowsy, gets pumped out faster in dark environments. Staring at the laptop or watching TV slow down melatonin production, causing you more time to fall asleep.
Don’t stuff your stomach – Your body will have a lot to digest during the night and will affect your sleep. Likewise, don’t go to sleep on an empty stomach. Eat a small snack before going to sleep to keep your mind of the thought of “I’m hungry”. I recommend yogurt (which also contains tryptophan).
Things TO do before sleep
Take a warm bath – Who doesn’t like one of these? You lie down in warm water and everything feels right. The warm water will help your circulatory system relax.
Set the room temperature – Make sure your nice and cozy. Not freezing or sweating.
Drink something warm (and not caffeinated) – Warm milk (for the tryptophan bonus) or some herbal tea (I enjoy Sleepy Time tea)
The goal is to get the body into a stable time table so that every night, at the time you are used to going to sleep, your body reacts accordingly.
Quick Sleep Tip #1 – Get Rid Of Stress To Sleep Better
Stress plays a big role in the quality of sleep you get. If you feel like you are having trouble falling asleep, check out your stress levels. If you feel that they are too high, get rid all possible stress.
The room you sleep in has a huge effect on how long it takes you to fall asleep and how well you sleep at night. Now each person has their own personal sleeping conditions but the following is what is found to be the most common for a good night’s sleep.
Room Temperature
Although this varies amongst people, sleep scientists have found that the ideal room temperature for a good nights sleep is between 60 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a moderately cool temperature which allows you to cover yourself without sweating in your sleep. Once again, you have to experiment with the temperature but try that range first.
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There have been many studies that show that regular exercise helps people fall asleep faster, have a deeper sleep and wake up feeling more refreshed. I don’t know the exact science behind it but I will tell you what studies have found to be the most beneficial to maximizing sleep quality.
Time
The best time to exercise is in the morning, right after you wake up. Exercise gives you more energy so going for a quick jog or lifting some light weights to get the blood flowing wakes up the body and mind.
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We are all told that turkey makes us sleepy but is that really true? Yup.
I’m not going to bore you with the science of turkeys but you should get one thing out of this article: Tryptophan makes you sleepy.
Tryptophan is the chemical which creates the the feeling of drowsiness. It cannot be manufactured by the body, but taken in from foods – like turkey (although this isn’t the best food).
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Your daily diet can and does affect your sleep. I’m about to take you back to elementary school.
THE FOOD PYRAMID!
Yes. There is a new food pyramid with the amount of servings changing depending upon daily caloric intake.
You should be hitting all of the groups with the right proportions. Your body needs all of its nutrients to make it through the day and night at optimal level. If you don’t hit all of these groups, take a multivitamin and supplements (although supplements are never as healthy as the real deal).
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