How To Get A Good Night's Sleep
(The Ultimate Guide)
If
you struggle to get out of bed in the morning, rely on caffeine to get
through the day, and stare at your alarm clock all night waiting for
sleep to come, you're not alone. As many as 75 percent of us don't get enough quality sleep each night to feel refreshed and function at our best.
In
this comprehensive guide, we attempt to explain the reasons behind the
current sleeplessness epidemic, the extent to which it can affect your
health and well-being, and specific steps you can take to get a better
night's sleep starting tonight.
Quick Guide: Good Sleep Hygiene Infographic
A Look Into the Modern Sleeplessness Epidemic
If you constantly wake up tired, feel exhausted at work, or need a nap on a daily basis, there's a good chance you suffer from sleep deprivation. More likely than not, you fall short of the recommended number of hours of sleep you should be getting per night.
Individual sleep needs are largely determined by a combination of age, genetics, and lifestyle habits. Regarding age, the National Sleep Foundation established the following daily sleep recommendations broken down by age group:
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NO. OF HOURS OF SLEEP REQUIRED
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Infants between 4 and 11 months
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Now,
too many of us treat sleep as a luxury or even take pride when we
manage only on five or six hours of sleep a night. As a result, between 50 and 70 million Americans suffer from a chronic sleep disorder. So, what's to account for this?
Well, one reason is due to the fact that work now travels home with us
through various mobile devices. Long gone are the days where a clear
division existed between work and our personal lives. Nowadays, we often
work into the wee hours of the night at home, never truly disconnecting
and "powering down" for the day.
When we finally do hit the sack,
the stresses and worries of the day follow us straight to bed, making
it more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night.
And even when not working, we still don't take the time to properly wind
down before bed as our devices also serve as entertainment centers for
activities like Facebook, YouTube, Netflix and, PlayStation.
Besides
our compulsion to stay connected to the world 24/7, various studies
have identified other lifestyle factors that interfere with getting a
good night's sleep, including:
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Smoking
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Drinking alcohol
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Making unhealthy food choices
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Long commutes to work or school
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Having children
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Having a partner who snores
The Repercussions of Lack of Sleep
No question about it, sleep is as important to your overall health as diet and exercise. Individuals who routinely get less than seven hours of sleep per night can experience negative effects involving virtually every body system and function, such as the following:
Brain Health
Certain chemicals secreted during sleep help repair the daily wear and tear on the brain.
A lack of sleep, however, prevents the brain from carrying out its
restorative processes, which may lead to permanent cognitive decline and
memory impairment.
The brain also uses the time we're asleep to process and create memories
from stimuli experienced during waking hours. Without adequate sleep,
the brain is unable to properly code this information into short and
long-term memories.
Sleep also helps the glymphatic system
to function correctly — the pathway in the body responsible for
flushing waste products from the brain. Among the waste products removed
is the protein beta-amyloid, which is known to accumulate in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.
Cognition
You've
probably experienced the sluggishness and mental fog that accompanies
just one night of little to no sleep. If your sleep debt continues to
build, it can become increasingly difficult to focus and perform even the most basic tasks:
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You struggle to recall recently acquired information or events
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Your verbal skills and ability to articulate thoughts start to deteriorate
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Your ability to discern and recognize risk declines
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Your ability to analyze visual stimuli reduces
What's
worse, sleep-deprived individuals are often unaware of the
deterioration in their performance and propensity for making mistakes.
Mood and Emotions
It's
no secret that insufficient sleep is likely to make you grumpy,
irritable, and more emotional. It turns out this phenomenon has a
scientific explanation...
Researchers from Tel Aviv University found that a lack of sleep affects a part of the brain called the amygdala,
which handles regulating our emotions and discerning between negative
and neutral images and information. Without the ability to distinguish
between different types of data, everything assumes equal importance,
which can lead to erratic mood fluctuations.
Coordination
Even
just one night of poor sleep can slow your reaction time and impair
your physical movements. In fact, motor skill and reaction time tests of
sleep-deprived individuals show a decline in function equal to having a
blood alcohol level of 0.10, which is above the legal limit in all states! Moreover, lack of sleep also makes it harder to learn new motor tasks, which are encoded in our memory while we sleep.
Weight
A 2008 study concluded that
chronic sleep deprivation correlates with a higher rate of obesity in both children and adults.
First, it triggers strong responses to high-calorie foods in the part
of the brain that controls the motivation to eat. Second, it reduces
activity in the frontal cortex — the part of the brain that makes
rational decisions and weighs the consequences of our actions.
Endocrine System
The
endocrine system handles the production of hormones that regulate
everything from weight to the sleep-wake cycle. Any hormonal imbalance
can negatively impact your mental and physical well-being.
When you don't get enough sleep, your body increases its production of the stress hormone cortisol, which can make you feel particularly anxious and fatigued, and make it more difficult to lose weight.
Lack of sleep also affects your blood glucose levels.
Over time, this can lead to insulin resistance where the body can no
longer make use of the insulin it produces. Insulin resistance coupled
with overeating and poor food choices is a leading risk factor for diabetes.
Illness and Disease
Experts believe insufficient sleep can interfere with the functioning of lymphocytes and other cells that comprise the immune system.
A 2008 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine
found that individuals who slept less than seven hours a night were
almost three times more likely to develop a cold than those who slept
eight hours a night. Another study of nearly 60,000 nurses found that
those who slept less than five hours (or more than nine hours) had an
increased risk of pneumonia.
Moreover, there may also be a link
between chronic sleep deprivation and an increased risk of other serious
health conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and
diabetes. In fact, nearly 90 percent of individuals who suffer from
insomnia also suffer from another chronic health condition.
General Safety
Apart from all the ways sleep deprivation can affect you, it can also wreak havoc on the general public.
Inadequate sleep exacts a huge economic toll on our society in terms of
lost productivity and is a significant public safety hazard causing
thousands of deaths and serious injuries each year.
A worker impaired by lack of sleep typically exhibits the following behaviors:
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Poorer communication skills
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Inability to focus
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Greater frequency of errors
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Decreased performance involving basic activities
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Unable to develop strategies and adjust behavior in response to situations
All these deficits increase the likelihood of workplace accidents. In fact, sleep deprivation causes an estimated 100,000 auto accidents each year and is believed to have played a role in the nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and the Exxon Valdez oil spill!
Does Your Sleep Suffer?
If you get less than seven hours of sleep per night, there's a good chance you're chronically sleep deprived. And even if you get the recommended seven to nine hours, you still may lack sufficient sleep if the quality of your sleep is poor. So, how do you gauge quality? Well, there are a few possible signs to watch out for:
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You catch colds and other viruses more often
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You find yourself becoming overly emotional for no apparent reason
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You become so overwhelmed by details that you find it difficult to make even the simplest decisions
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You find yourself overeating and especially drawn to foods high in fat, carbs, and sugar
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You become klutzier than normal
Now, obviously these symptoms may be the result of other causes and that's why it's important to also identify behaviors that may be preventing you from having restorative sleep. Here are a few ways how:
Keep a Sleep Diary
The
first thing virtually every sleep specialist recommends to his/her
patients is to keep a sleep diary. Your entries should reflect every
aspect of your sleeping behavior:
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The time you went to bed
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The approximate time you fell asleep
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The time you woke up
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Whether you felt tired during the day
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Whether you took a nap and for how long
It's
also important to detail your diet, caffeine and alcohol intake, and
any prescription or over-the-counter medications you may have used as
these can all impact sleep quality. After keeping a sleep diary for a
week, you may be able to identify issues on your own. If not, the diary
will provide your doctor with information that may help him/her
determine the appropriate diagnosis and treatment.
Use a Sleep Tracker
Modern
fitness trackers and smartphone apps offer an inexpensive way to
evaluate the quality of your sleep without having to go to a sleep lab.
Among their many features,
these devices
use accelerometers to measure your movements during the night to
determine which of the main stages of sleep you're in (light, deep or
REM sleep). But note these devices only provide a rough approximation
and extraneous movements, such as a pet jumping onto your bed or your
bed partner moving can skew results.
Sleep trackers are useful in
making you more aware of the quality of your sleep and can serve as a
starting point for a conversation with your doctor. That said,
they should never be used to diagnose sleep disorders.
Wake Up Naturally
Without
the artificial constraints of an alarm clock and other disruptions,
you'll naturally sleep as long as you need to feel rested. And when you
sleep this way a few times, you'll intuitively know how much sleep you actually need versus think you need.
The
first step to figuring out the number of hours of sleep you need to
feel fully rested is to set aside a week or two where you know you won't
have to be anywhere at a certain time, such as when you're on vacation.
With your freed-up schedule, make a point of going to bed at the same time every night
and note when you naturally wake up in the morning. After giving
yourself a few days to recover from your sleep debt, you should start to
see a pattern emerge of the average amount of sleep you need each night
to feel at your best. The rest simply comes down to math...
For
example, if you average 9 hours of sleep per night and you have to be up
by 6 am, you need to be in bed no later than 9 pm to get the right
amount of sleep specific to your body.
How to Get a Good Night's Sleep
Before
we dive into specific steps to help protect yourself from sleep
disorders and attain the best sleep possible, it's worth mentioning that
having purpose in your life is the number one contributing
factor to getting a good night's sleep. Without knowing your life
purpose, there's a limit to how much the following tips can help you.
Indeed,
one study of 825 older adults found that those who felt they had a
reason to get up in the morning and felt positive about their past and
future tended to have better sleep quality and fewer sleep disorders. While the study focused on older adults, the same is likely true of all age groups.
So, before incorporating the following steps into your daily routine, make sure you have this part of your life figured out.
Besides this step, optimizing your sleep comes down to two main factors: creating an environment conducive to sleep and preparing for sleep in the right way. Let's look into each of these areas and touch on some other important points as well:
Step 1: Create the Right Sleep Environment
To
increase your chances of quality sleep, it's important to create an
environment designed to help the mind and body relax and let go of the
stresses of the day:
Paint Your Bedroom a Calming Color
Believe
it or not, something as simple as the color of the walls in your
bedroom can influence how well you sleep. While bright, intense colors
may work well as an accent in a living room, they're not the best choice
for a bedroom. Bright colors tend to stimulate the brain and make us
feel more energized, which makes it harder to fall asleep. In contrast, muted earth tones, soft blues, and buttery yellows help create a calm environment conducive to rest and relaxation.
Get a Comfortable Mattress and Pillow
While
it's perfectly acceptable to economize in certain areas, mattresses and
pillows aren't one of them. Considering we spend approximately
one-third of our lives in bed, it's worth spending a little extra money
to ensure your comfort year in and year out.
Mattresses
So how do you know when it's time to upgrade your mattress? Well, they're a few tell-tale signs to watch out for:
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Your mattress is visibly lumpy or sags
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You regularly wake up with aches and pains
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Your allergy symptoms are worse while in bed
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You tend to sleep better while away from home
Even if your mattress seems perfectly fine,
you should still consider replacing it at least every 5 to 8 years. But before heading to the mattress store, make sure to do some research to ensure you get the best mattress for your body and
preferred sleeping position.
Just
like a car, you shouldn't be afraid to take the mattress for a test
drive by lying on it for 10 to 15 minutes before making a decision.
Ultimately, the right mattress is one that provides enough support so
you don't feel any pressure on your back and hips.
Pillows
While
not as big of a financial investment, your pillow should get as much
consideration as your mattress. When choosing a pillow, the position you
normally sleep in really comes into play.
For example, back sleepers should opt for a thinner pillow to prevent the head from pushing too far forward. In contrast, side sleepers should go with a firm pillow
to keep the head from falling against the shoulder. Ultimately, the
best pillow is one that keeps the head in a neutral position and
supports the natural curvature of the cervical spine.
Experts recommend replacing your pillow every 12 to 18 months
as old pillows don't provide the same amount of support for your neck
and can contain dust mites, mold, and mildew that can exacerbate
allergies and leave you sneezing all night.
Choose the Right Spot for Your Bed
Would
you believe the arrangement of your bedroom can also play a role in how
well you sleep? Having your bed positioned too close to the door is
more likely to disturb you and stimulate your "fight or flight" response
from activity going on just outside the room. The best position for your bed is actually farther back so you're not in direct path of the door but still within line of sight.
Maintain a Clean Bedroom
Make
sure to set aside some time to thoroughly clean your bedroom as it's
hard to feel calm and relaxed when staring at piles of clutter. Dusting,
vacuuming, and changing the sheets weekly will also help ease allergy
symptoms, which can disrupt your sleep. If your allergies are
particularly severe, consider purchasing an
air purifier to help eliminate airborne allergens.
Keep Pets out of Your Bedroom
We love to treat our pets as family but allowing Fluffy or Fido to share the bed is bad news as they can disrupt your sleep without you even knowing it whenever they move around the room.
Moreover,
the pet fur on your bedding can contribute to allergy symptoms and you
may even find yourself waking up with more aches and pains as you alter
your sleeping position to accommodate your cat or dog.
Remove Electronics from Your Bedroom
While we all rely on electronics for communication, information, and entertainment, we should
strive to make our bedroom an electronics-free zone.
The
low-level light from standby power buttons, the noise of alerts and
notifications, and the temptation to read just one more article online
all hinder you from sleeping well. Tablets, smartphones, and other
electronics also emit blue light, which can interfere with your body's
production of melatonin and make it harder for you to fall asleep.
Restrict Your Bed to Sleep and Romance
Many of us look at the bed as a comfortable place to read, watch television, study, or catch up on work emails. All these activities stimulate the brain and cause you to associate your bed with activities other than sleep.
To make falling asleep easier, experts recommend restricting bed
activities to sleep and intimacy only. But if you can't do without
reading a page or two before turning off the light, pick material that's
not too engrossing.
Make Your Bedroom as Dark as Possible
As
the sleep-wake cycle is largely regulated by light, it's good practice
to keep your bedroom as dark as possible to create the right sleep
environment.
Now, if you live in a big city, on a busy street, or
work a shift that requires you to sleep during the day, getting your
room dark enough to promote deep sleep can be a challenge. In these
instances,
blackout curtains or
blackout shades can help block any outside light interfering with your sleep. For a less expensive option, consider a
sleep mask.
Keep Your Bedroom Cool
Our
body temperature naturally falls as we sleep and starts to rise again
once it's time to wake up. To help signal the brain to prepare for
restful sleep, try lowering your thermostat 5° to 10°F right before
bedtime and keep it at under 70°F throughout the night.
Women suffering from menopausal hot flashes or night sweats may want to lower the temperature even more.
Mask Distracting Noises
Environmental
noises can have both positive and negative effects on our sleep. For
example, the gentle sound of rain can help lull you to sleep while the
siren from an ambulance may jolt you wide awake. Even sounds barely
noticed during the day such as a dripping faucet can be enough to keep
you from falling asleep at night.
If you live in a noisy area or tend to be easily disturbed by ambient sounds around the home, consider wearing a pair of
earplugs or using a
white noise machine to mask the noise.
Hide Your Alarm Clock
Many
sleep experts suggest covering the face of your alarm clock or turning
it away from you while sleeping. If you have trouble falling asleep,
having that constant reminder of how little time you have left until you
have to get up can create sleep anxiety and make it even harder to doze
off.
Step 2: Prepare for a Good Night's Sleep
Preparing
for a restful night of sleep actually starts the minute you wake up in
the morning! The amount and timing of light exposure, when and what you
eat and drink, and your physical activity level all play a role in
hormone production and other bodily processes that control your
sleep-wake cycle:
Control Your Exposure to Light
Melatonin
— a hormone secreted by the pineal gland — plays a significant role in
regulating our sleep-wake cycle. As our melatonin level increases, we
start to feel sleepy and become more alert as it diminishes.
Light
exposure, especially sunlight, has a direct effect on melatonin
production. Just getting outside for 5 to 30 minutes in the morning can
help lower the amount of melatonin and make you feel more awake as a
result.
In contrast, limiting your exposure to natural and artificial light in the evening will help
trigger
your brain's production of melatonin and prepare your body for sleep.
One way to achieve this is to install a dimmer with a timer on your
lights and have it set to automatically start lowering the lights two to
three hours before bedtime.
You should also limit your use of
computers, smartphones, and other electronics starting two hours before
you intend to sleep as these devices
emit blue light that can inhibit the production of melatonin.
Another option is to use
special glasses designed to block blue light or install an app on your smartphone, such as
f.lux or
Twilight (MacOS and Android respectively).
Stick to Your Body's Natural Sleep-Wake Cycle
You'll naturally feel more refreshed and energized
when you go to bed and get up at a consistent time that's in sync with your body's natural sleep-wake cycle.
Even altering your sleep and wake times by an hour or two by sleeping
in on the weekend is enough to disrupt your circadian rhythm and
create the same effect as jet lag.
If you find yourself so engrossed in reading, watching television, or surfing the internet that you overlook your bedtime,
try setting an alarm on your watch or phone to remind you.
After several weeks of maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, you may
find you no longer have to rely on an alarm clock to wake you up in the
morning.
Keeping a consistent schedule in other aspects of your
life, such as exercise and meal times, is also important as these
activities affect hormone production and other aspects of your
sleep-wake cycle.
Also, if you're someone who experiences
afternoon or post-dinner slumps, try to overcome your drowsiness by
engaging in mildly stimulating activities such as taking a short walk,
working on a favorite hobby, or talking with a friend on the phone. But
if you can't resist taking naps, be sure to limit them to 15 or 20
minutes and then only in the early afternoon.
Exercise During the Day
Getting at least 30 minutes of exercise three times per week may improve your sleep quality as it effectively alleviates the stress that can keep you tossing and turning.
Moreover,
studies also show that physical activity may stimulate longer periods
of deep, restorative sleep. In particular, aerobic exercises, strength
training, and yoga have all been shown to benefit sleep duration and
quality.
Aside from the type of exercise, timing is also
an important consideration. Exercising in the late afternoon or early
evening seems to provide the most benefit in terms of sleep while
exercising less than two hours before bedtime may have the opposite
effect by over stimulating the brain.
Note that it can take two to four months for exercise to have any effect on your sleep so patience is key!
Watch What You Eat and Drink
A
late night trip to your favorite fast-food restaurant or a late
afternoon cup of coffee can all interfere with your sleep. Here's what
to do instead:
Eat a light meal for dinner –
Keeping dinner light and non-spicy will help prevent heartburn and
indigestion that can have you searching for antacids in the middle of
the night. If you need a
snack before bedtime, look for foods high in
tryptophan, such as turkey, yogurt, milk, cheese, and almonds.
Avoid caffeine after noon
– Caffeine can stay in your system for several hours, enough that a
late afternoon espresso shot may impact your sleep. Thus, limit your
caffeine intake to the morning hours, and don't overlook hidden sources
of caffeine like chocolate.
Avoid drinking alcohol at night
– While a glass of wine may make you feel drowsy, it won't necessarily
help you sleep better. Alcohol can suppress melatonin production several
hours after consumption and can alter the synchronization of your
biological clock, resulting in restless and fragmented sleep. Consider
drinking tart cherry juice instead as it naturally increases melatonin
levels.
Avoid all fluids at least two hours before bedtime
– Stop drinking fluids within a couple of hours of bedtime if you find
yourself getting up during the night to go to the restroom. If you
still have
frequent nighttime urination, consult a physician to rule out any potential medical issues.
Calm Your Mind and Body
Just
as most parents use evening baths and bedtime stories to calm their
children in preparation for bed, adults can also benefit from evening
rituals to relax the mind and body:
Limit "worrying time" to the day or early evening
– Avoid having difficult or touchy conversations before bedtime as
you're more likely to stay awake replaying the events in your head. If
you tend to dwell on worries and unfinished tasks when trying to fall
asleep, try techniques like journaling and to-do lists to get all your concerns out of your system earlier in the day.
Try various relaxation techniques
– If you find it hard to sleep because you've had a particularly
stressful day, one or more of the following relaxation techniques can
help:
Step 3: The Lights Are Out, Now What?
Now
that you've created a relaxing environment for sleeping and taken steps
throughout the day to prepare your mind and body for a good night's
rest, it's time to turn your attention to what you can do after you slip under the covers to ensure you fall and stay asleep throughout the night:
Try Mental Games and Visualization Techniques
Playing
mental games such as slowly counting backward from 100 may help keep
your mind from racing and focused on worries. If your body feels tense
from the stresses of the day, concentrate on relaxing each body part starting with your toes and working your way up to your head.
Get Out of Bed If You Can't Sleep
If you find yourself tossing and turning and unable to fall asleep after 20 minutes, don't linger in bed. Staring at the ceiling while awake can lead to stress and anxiety, which only compounds the problem.
Instead,
leave your bedroom and do something relaxing or even boring until you
start to feel sleepy, such as listening to your favorite mellow playlist
or reading an easygoing book. Be sure to keep the lights as dim as
possible to avoid becoming even more alert.
Consider Taking Sleep Aids (Temporarily)
If
your sleep problem is caused by a temporary issue, such as a stressful
event or travel, you may want to consider taking a supplement or
prescription medication until the problem resolves.
For example, the hormone produced by the body to help induce sleep,
melatonin, comes in natural supplement form.
Magnesium,
a mineral that helps relieve muscle cramps and promotes relaxation can
also be effective for sleep. Then there are prescription medications
like Ambien, Lunesta, and Rozerem, which may be appropriate if the
natural approach doesn't offer relief.
Regardless of the sleep aid, it's important to consult your healthcare provider before taking any
over-the-counter supplement or
prescription medication and to limit the use in order to reduce the risk of dependency.
Switch Your Sleeping Position
If
neck or back pain wakes you up during the night or leaves you feeling
stiff and achy in the morning, your sleeping position may be the
problem. As long as you don't suffer from sleep apnea or snoring,
sleeping on your back is generally regarded as the
best sleeping position.
Not only is it easiest on your neck, back, and hips, it's also the
least likely to exacerbate acid reflux or other conditions that may
interfere with your sleep.
Avoid the Snooze Button
Even
if you feel you could use a few more minutes of sleep when the alarm
goes off, try to resist the urge to hit the snooze button. Those extra
minutes are just long enough to start a
whole new sleep cycle,
where you find yourself drifting into a deeper stage of sleep than when
the alarm first sounded! Waking up during this deep sleep stage will
only leave you feeling groggy and fuzzy-headed the rest of the morning.
Now, if you follow through with the point made earlier about
knowing your life purpose, you'll probably be less tempted to hit the snooze button and even become less reliant on alarm clocks in general.
If you find you
still need a little help getting up in the morning, consider swapping your alarm clock for a
wake- up light, which uses gradually increasing light for a more natural wake up experience.
Step 4: Putting It All Together
Now
that you're armed with the information needed to create a better
night's sleep, let's see how to put all these recommendations into
action:
Take Baby Steps
First
and foremost, we don't recommend trying to implement all these tips at
once. It's better to start with one or two you think will be easiest to
incorporate into your life, then gradually make more modifications to
your sleep habits as you become more comfortable with these changes.
Be Consistent
For any of the above tips to be effective, consistency is key.
Just like you can't expect to lose weight by exercising three or four
times a month, you can't expect to see results just by practicing good
sleep hygiene once or twice a week.
Be Patient
Undoing
the effects of chronic sleep deprivation and poor sleep hygiene doesn't
happen overnight. It can take as long as several weeks for you to
notice the impact of your new sleep habits. Moreover, you may even
notice
poorer quality of sleep at first as your mind and body adjust to your new routine.
One way to gauge your progress is by tracking your results using a convenient online sleep diary such as
The Better Sleep Project.
What to Do When All Else Fails
![How To Get A Good Night's Sleep [Infographic]](https://sleepybliss.com/wp-content/uploads/How-To-Get-A-Good-Nights-Sleep-Infographic.png "How To Get A Good Night's Sleep [Infographic]")
