Sleep tips: 7 Steps to Better Sleep
You’re not doomed to toss and turn every night. Consider simple tips for better sleep, from setting a sleep schedule to including physical activity in your daily routine.
By Mayo Clinic Staff: Feeling crabby lately? Or simply worn out? Perhaps the solution is better sleep.
Think about all the factors that can interfere with a good night's sleep — from pressure at work and family responsibilities to unexpected challenges, such as layoffs, relationship issues or illnesses. It's no wonder that quality sleep is sometimes elusive.
Although you might not be able to control all of the factors that interfere with your sleep, you can adopt habits that encourage better sleep. Start with these simple sleep tips:
1. Stick to a sleep schedule. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends, holidays and days off. Being consistent reinforces your body's sleep-wake cycle and helps promote better sleep at night. There's a caveat, though. If you don't fall asleep within about 15 minutes, get up and do something relaxing. Go back to bed when you're tired. If you agonize over falling asleep, you might find it even tougher to nod off.
2. Pay attention to what you eat and drink. Don't go to bed either hungry or stuffed. Your discomfort might keep you up. Also limit how much you drink before bed, to prevent disruptive middle-of-the-night trips to the toilet.
Nicotine, caffeine and alcohol deserve caution, too. The stimulating effects of nicotine and caffeine take hours to wear off and can wreak havoc on quality sleep. And even though alcohol might make you feel sleepy at first, it can disrupt sleep later in the night.
3. Create a bedtime ritual. Do the same things each night to tell your body it's time to wind down. This might include taking a warm bath or shower, reading a book, or listening to soothing music — preferably with the lights dimmed. Relaxing activities can promote better sleep by easing the transition between wakefulness and drowsiness.
Be wary of using the TV or other electronic devices as part of your bedtime ritual. Some research suggests that screen time or other media use before bedtime interferes with sleep.
4. Get comfortable. Create a room that's ideal for sleeping. Often, this means cool, dark and quiet. Consider using room-darkening shades, earplugs, a fan or other devices to create an environment that suits your needs.
Your mattress and pillow can contribute to better sleep, too. Since the features of good bedding are subjective, choose what feels most comfortable to you. If you share your bed, make sure there's enough room for two. If you have children or pets, try to set limits on how often they sleep with you — or insist on separate sleeping quarters.
You’re not doomed to toss and turn every night. Consider simple tips for better sleep, from setting a sleep schedule to including physical activity in your daily routine.
By Mayo Clinic Staff: Feeling crabby lately? Or simply worn out? Perhaps the solution is better sleep.
Think about all the factors that can interfere with a good night's sleep — from pressure at work and family responsibilities to unexpected challenges, such as layoffs, relationship issues or illnesses. It's no wonder that quality sleep is sometimes elusive.
Although you might not be able to control all of the factors that interfere with your sleep, you can adopt habits that encourage better sleep. Start with these simple sleep tips:
1. Stick to a sleep schedule. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends, holidays and days off. Being consistent reinforces your body's sleep-wake cycle and helps promote better sleep at night. There's a caveat, though. If you don't fall asleep within about 15 minutes, get up and do something relaxing. Go back to bed when you're tired. If you agonize over falling asleep, you might find it even tougher to nod off.
2. Pay attention to what you eat and drink. Don't go to bed either hungry or stuffed. Your discomfort might keep you up. Also limit how much you drink before bed, to prevent disruptive middle-of-the-night trips to the toilet.
Nicotine, caffeine and alcohol deserve caution, too. The stimulating effects of nicotine and caffeine take hours to wear off and can wreak havoc on quality sleep. And even though alcohol might make you feel sleepy at first, it can disrupt sleep later in the night.
3. Create a bedtime ritual. Do the same things each night to tell your body it's time to wind down. This might include taking a warm bath or shower, reading a book, or listening to soothing music — preferably with the lights dimmed. Relaxing activities can promote better sleep by easing the transition between wakefulness and drowsiness.
Be wary of using the TV or other electronic devices as part of your bedtime ritual. Some research suggests that screen time or other media use before bedtime interferes with sleep.
4. Get comfortable. Create a room that's ideal for sleeping. Often, this means cool, dark and quiet. Consider using room-darkening shades, earplugs, a fan or other devices to create an environment that suits your needs.
Your mattress and pillow can contribute to better sleep, too. Since the features of good bedding are subjective, choose what feels most comfortable to you. If you share your bed, make sure there's enough room for two. If you have children or pets, try to set limits on how often they sleep with you — or insist on separate sleeping quarters.
Gene mutation the real secret for successful short sleepers
New scientific evidence suggests that a small percentage of people have a short sleep gene. It allows them to retain their ability to think clearly and make informed decisions while sleeping very little.
The research opposes the claims of some vocal short sleepers. These high-profile members of the so-called “sleepless elite” often brag about the competitive advantage of sleeping less than six hours per night. They preach that all of us can achieve more by sleeping less.
Donald Trump, for instance, boasts that he only needs 3 to 4 hours of nightly sleep. In one very Trump-like proclamation, he even claimed that sleep and success can’t co-exist. He once said in an interview, “How does somebody that’s sleeping 12 and 14 hours a day compete with someone that’s sleeping three or four?"
American icon Thomas Edison was an outspoken enemy of sleep. The father of the light bulb slept about 3 hours a day, dismissing sleep as a “heritage from our cave days.”
The new study identified a rare gene variant that provides a greater resistance to sleep deprivation. The gene mutation allows some people to get away with sleeping less than the rest of us.
Researchers compared 100 pairs of twins. They found that a twin with the p.Tyr362His variant of the BHLHE41 gene slept at least an hour less than his twin brother, who didn’t have the gene. This short-sleeping twin also had fewer mental errors during a 38-hour period without sleep. After sleep deprivation he required less recovery sleep than his twin brother.
The study is published in the August issue of the journal Sleep. It is only the second study of its kind to identify this type of short sleep gene.
It is clear that few people in the population have a genetic variant that enables them to sleep less. Seven to nine hours of sleep per night is still what most of us need.
Most aspiring short-sleepers are potentially sabotaging their careers by restricting their sleep. They also are risking their health in a misguided attempt to get ahead.
Self-inflicted sleep deprivation also can ruin your appearance. A 2010 study found that participants looked more tired after sleep deprivation than after eight hours of sleep. They also looked less healthy and less attractive.
Producers of a recent video confronted a group of young adults about their short-sleeping lifestyle. To drive the message home they enlisted the help of a professional makeup artist. Each subject pledged to sleep longer after seeing how sleep deprivation would cause them to age less gracefully:
Are you a short sleeper or just short on sleep? A true short sleeper functions well during the day on less than six hours of sleep. Loading up on caffeine or binge sleeping on the weekend are signs that you’re not getting enough sleep.
Regardless of what Donald Trump says, make sleep one of your top health priorities. Sleep is a necessity, not a luxury, and it’s one of the three pillars of a healthy lifestyle.
Regardless of what Donald Trump says, make sleep one of your top health priorities. Sleep is a necessity, not a luxury, and it’s one of the three pillars of a healthy lifestyle.