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nostril for calming – right nostril for energy:Introduction Chapter Know The Value Of Sleep Get More Sunlight During The Day Avoid The Screens Before Bedtime Have A Caffeine Curfew Be Cool Get To Bed At The Right Time Rub The "Anti-Stress" Mineral Into Your Skin Each Day Create A Sleep Sanctuary Have A Big "O" Get It Blacked Out Train Hard (But Smart)

Get Your "Friends" Out Of Your Room Lose Weight And Don’t Find It Again Go Easy On The Bottle Play Your Position Calm Your Inner Chatter Use Smart Supplementation Be Early To Rise Dress For The Occasion Get Grounded Ritualize Your Night

How to Spend the Last 10 Minutes of Your DayHow much sleep did you get last night? If the answer is “not enough” you’re hardly alone. According to Gallup’s estimates, almost half the people you’ll run into today are suffering from some level of sleep deprivation.We often dismiss a little morning fatigue as an inconvenience, but here’s the reality. Missing sleep worsens your mood, weakens your memory, and harms your decision-making all day long. It scatters your focus, prevents you from thinking flexibly, and makes you more susceptible to anxiety. (Ever wonder why problems seem so much more overwhelming at 1:00am than in the first light of day? It’s because our brains amplify fear when we’re tired.)When we arrive at work sleepy, everything feels harder and takes longer. According to one study, we are no more effective working sleep-deprived than we are when we’re legally drunk.It’s worth noting that no amount of caffeine can fully compensate for lack of sleep. While a double latte can make you more alert, it also elevates your stress level and puts you on edge, damaging your ability to connect with others. Coffee can also constrain creative thinking.To perform at our best, our bodies require rest—plain and simple. Which underscores an important point: on days when we flourish, the seed has almost always been planted the night before.Since most of us can’t sleep later in the morning than we currently do, the only option is to get to bed earlier. And yet we don’t. Why? The reason is twofold. First, we’re so busy during the day that the only time we have to ourselves is late in the evening – so we stay up late because it’s our only downtime. Second, we have less willpower when we’re tired, which makes it tougher to force ourselves into bed.So, how do you get to bed earlier and get more sleep? Here are a few suggestions, based on goal-setting research.?Research: Your Abusive Boss Is Probably an InsomniacStart by identifying an exact time when you want to be in bed. Be specific. Trying to go to bed “as early as possible” is hard to achieve because it doesn’t give you a clear idea of what success looks like. Instead, think about when you need to get up in the morning and work backwards. Try to give yourself 8 hours, meaning that if you’d like to be up by 6:45am, aim to be under the covers no later than 10:45pm.Next, do a nighttime audit of how you spend your time after work. For one or two evenings, don’t try to change anything—simply log everything that happens from the moment you arrive home until you go to bed. What you may discover is that instead of eliminating activities that you enjoy and are keeping you up late (say, watching television between 10:30 and 11:00), you can start doing them earlier by cutting back on something unproductive that’s eating up your time earlier on (like mindlessly scanning Facebook between 8:30 and 9:00).Once you’ve established a specific bedtime goal and found ways of rooting out time-sinks, turn your attention to creating a pre-sleep ritual that helps you relax and look forward to going to bed. A major impediment to getting to sleep on time is that when 11:00pm rolls around, the prospect of lying in bed is not as appealing as squeezing in a quick sitcom or scanning tomorrow’s newspaper headlines on your smartphone. Logically, we know we should be resting, but emotionally we’d prefer to be doing something else.To counteract this preference, it’s useful to create an enjoyable routine; one that both entices you to wind down and enables you to go from a period of activity to a period of rest. The transition is vital. Being tired simply does not guarantee falling asleep quickly. First you need to feel relaxed. But what relaxes one person can exasperate another. So I’ll offer a menu of ideas to help you identify a bedtime ritual that’s right for you:?Read something that makes you happy. Fiction, poetry, graphic novels. Whatever sustains your attention without much effort and puts you in a good mood. (Warning: Never read anything work-related in bed. Doing so will make it more difficult for you to associate your bed with a state of relaxation.)Lower the temperature. Cooler temperatures help us fall asleep and make the prospect of lying under the covers more appealing. The National Sleep Foundation recommends keeping your thermostat between 60 and 67 degrees overnight.Avoid blue light. Exposure to blue light – the kind emanating from our smartphones and computer screens – suppresses the body’s production of melatonin, a hormone that makes us to feel sleepy. Studies show that reducing exposure to blue light, either by banishing screens before bedtime or by using blue light-blocking glasses, improves sleep quality.Create a spa-like environment. Create a tranquil environment with minimal stimulation. Dim the lights, play soothing music, light a candle.Handwrite a note. One of the most effective ways of boosting happiness is expressing gratitude. You can experience gratitude while writing a thank-you note to someone you care about, or privately, by listing a few of your day’s highlights in a diary.Meditate. Studies show that practicing mindfulness lowers stress and elevates mood.Take a quiet walk. If the weather’s right, an evening walk can be deeply relaxing.Experts recommend giving yourself at least 30 minutes each night to wind down before attempting to sleep. You might also try setting an alarm on your smartphone letting you know when it’s time to begin, so that the process becomes automatic.However you choose to use the time before bed, do your best to keep this time free of negative energy. Avoid raising delicate topics with your spouse, and don’t even set your morning alarm right before going to bed – it will just get your mind thinking about the stresses of the next day. (Instead, re-set your alarm for the following morning right when you wake up.)And finally, keep a notepad and a light-up pen nearby. If you think of something you need to do the next day, jot it down instead of reaching for your smartphone. Do the same for any important thought that pops into your head as you are trying to fall asleep. Once you’ve written it down, you’ll find it’s a lot easier to let go.Sleep Deficit: The Performance KillerAt 12:30 am on June 10, 2002, Israel Lane Joubert and his family of seven set out for a long drive home following a family reunion in Beaumont, Texas. Joubert, who had hoped to reach home in faraway Fort Worth in time to get to work by 8 am, fell asleep at the wheel, plowing the family’s Chevy Suburban into the rear of a parked 18-wheeler. He survived, but his wife and five of his six children were killed.The Joubert tragedy underscores a problem of epidemic proportions among workers who get too little sleep. In the past five years, driver fatigue has accounted for more than 1.35 million automobile accidents in the United States alone, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The general effect of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance is well-known: Stay awake longer than 18 consecutive hours, and your reaction speed, short-term and long-term memory, ability to focus, decision-making capacity, math processing, cognitive speed, and spatial orientation all start to suffer. Cut sleep back to five or six hours a night for several days in a row, and the accumulated sleep deficit magnifies these negative effects. (Sleep deprivation is implicated in all kinds of physical maladies, too, from high blood pressure to obesity.)Nevertheless, frenzied corporate cultures still confuse sleeplessness with vitality and high performance. An ambitious manager logs 80-hour work weeks, surviving on five or six hours of sleep a night and eight cups of coffee (the world’s second-most widely sold commodity, after oil) a day. A Wall Street trader goes to bed at 11 or midnight and wakes to his BlackBerry buzz at 2:30 am to track opening activity on the DAX. A road warrior lives out of a suitcase while traveling to Tokyo, St. Louis, Miami, and Zurich, conducting business in a cloud of caffeinated jet lag. A negotiator takes a red-eye flight, hops into a rental car, and zooms through an unfamiliar city to make a delicate M&A meeting at 8 in the morning.People like this put themselves, their teams, their companies, and the general public in serious jeopardy, says Dr. Charles A. Czeisler, the Baldino Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School.1 To him, encouraging a culture of sleepless machismo is worse than nonsensical; it is downright dangerous, and the antithesis of intelligent management. He notes that while corporations have all kinds of policies designed to prevent employee endangerment—rules against workplace smoking, drinking, drugs, sexual harassment, and so on—they sometimes push employees to the brink of self-destruction. Being “on” pretty much around the clock induces a level of impairment every bit as risky as intoxication.As one of the world’s leading authorities on human sleep cycles and the biology of sleep and wakefulness, Dr. Czeisler understands the physiological bases of the sleep imperative better than almost anyone. His message to corporate leaders is simple: If you want to raise performance—both your own and your organization’s—you need to pay attention to this fundamental biological issue. In this edited interview with senior editor Bronwyn Fryer, Czeisler observes that top executives now have a critical responsibility to take sleeplessness seriously.What does the most recent research tell us about the physiology of sleep and cognitive performance?Four major sleep-related factors affect our cognitive performance. The kinds of work and travel schedules required of business executives today pose a severe challenge to their ability to function well, given each of these factors.The first has to do with the homeostatic drive for sleep at night, determined largely by the number of consecutive hours that we’ve been awake. Throughout the waking day, human beings build up a stronger and stronger drive for sleep. Most of us think we’re in control of sleep—that we choose when to go to sleep and when to wake up. The fact is that when we are drowsy, the brain can seize control involuntarily. When the homeostatic pressure to sleep becomes high enough, a couple thousand neurons in the brain’s “sleep switch” ignite, as discovered by Dr. Clif Saper at Harvard Medical School. Once that happens, sleep seizes the brain like a pilot grabbing the controls. If you’re behind the wheel of a car at the time, it takes just three or four seconds to be off the road.The second major factor that determines our ability to sustain attention and maintain peak cognitive performance has to do with the total amount of sleep you manage to get over several days. If you get at least eight hours of sleep a night, your level of alertness should remain stable throughout the day, but if you have a sleep disorder or get less than that for several days, you start building a sleep deficit that makes it more difficult for the brain to function. Executives I’ve observed tend to burn the candle at both ends, with 7 am breakfast meetings and dinners that run late, for days and days. Most people can’t get to sleep without some wind-down time, even if they are very tired, so these executives may not doze off until 2 in the morning. If they average four hours of sleep a night for four or five days, they develop the same level of cognitive impairment as if they’d been awake for 24 hours—equivalent to legal drunkenness. Within ten days, the level of impairment is the same as you’d have going 48 hours without sleep. This greatly lengthens reaction time, impedes judgment, and interferes with problem solving. In such a state of sleep deprivation, a single beer can have the same impact on our ability to sustain performance as a whole six-pack can have on someone who’s well rested.The third factor has to do with circadian phase—the time of day in the human body that says “it’s midnight” or “it’s dawn.” A neurological timing device called the “circadian pacemaker” works alongside but, paradoxically, in opposition to the homeostatic drive for sleep. This circadian pacemaker sends out its strongest drive for sleep just before we habitually wake up, and its strongest drive for waking one to three hours before we usually go to bed, just when the homeostatic drive for sleep is peaking. We don’t know why it’s set up this way, but we can speculate that it has to do with the fact that, unlike other animals, we don’t take frequent catnaps throughout the day. The circadian pacemaker may help us to focus on that big project by enabling us to stay awake throughout the day in one long interval and by allowing us to consolidate sleep into one long interval at night.In the midafternoon, when we’ve already built up substantial homeostatic sleep drive, the circadian system has not yet come to the rescue. That’s typically the time when people are tempted to take a nap or head for the closest Starbucks or soda machine. The caffeine in the coffee temporarily blocks receptors in the brain that regulate sleep drive. Thereafter, the circadian pacemaker sends out a stronger and stronger drive for waking as the day progresses. Provided you’re keeping a regular schedule, the rise in the sleep-facilitating hormone melatonin will then quiet the circadian pacemaker one to two hours before your habitual bedtime, enabling the homeostatic sleep drive to take over and allow you to get to sleep. As the homeostatic drive dissipates midway through the sleep episode, the circadian drive for sleep increases toward morning, maintaining our ability to obtain a full night of sleep. After our usual wake time, the levels of melatonin begin to decline. Normally, the two mutually opposing processes work well together, sustaining alertness throughout the day and promoting a solid night of sleep.The fourth factor affecting performance has to do with what’s called “sleep inertia,” the grogginess most people experience when they first wake up. Just like a car engine, the brain needs time to “warm up” when you awaken. The part of your brain responsible for memory consolidation doesn’t function well for five to 20 minutes after you wake up and doesn’t reach its peak efficiency for a couple of hours. But if you sleep on the airplane and the flight attendant wakes you up suddenly upon landing, you may find yourself at the customs station before you realize you’ve left your laptop and your passport behind. There is a transitional period between the time you wake up and the time your brain becomes fully functional. This is why you never want to make an important decision as soon as you are suddenly awakened—ask any nurse who’s had to awaken a physician at night about a patient.Most top executives are over 40. Isn’t it true that sleeping also becomes more difficult with age?Yes, that’s true. When we’re past the age of 40, sleep is much more fragmented than when we’re younger. We are more easily awakened by disturbances such as noise from the external environment and from our own increasing aches and pains. Another thing that increases with age is the risk of sleep disorders such as restless legs syndrome, insomnia, and sleep apnea—the cessation of breathing during sleep, which can occur when the airway collapses many times per hour and shuts off the flow of oxygen to the heart and brain, leading to many brief awakenings.Many people gain weight as they age, too. Interestingly, chronic sleep restriction increases levels of appetite and stress hormones; it also reduces one’s ability to metabolize glucose and increases the production of the hormone ghrelin, which makes people crave carbohydrates and sugars, so they get heavier, which in turn raises the risk of sleep apnea, creating a vicious cycle. Some researchers speculate that the epidemic of obesity in the U.S. and elsewhere may be related to chronic sleep loss. Moreover, sleep-disordered breathing increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease due to the strain of starving the heart of oxygen many times per hour throughout the night.As we age, the circadian window during which we maintain consolidated sleep also narrows. That’s why airline travel across time zones can be so brutal as we get older. Attempting to sleep at an adverse circadian phase—that is, during our biological daytime—becomes much more difficult. Thus, if you take a 7 pm flight from New York to London, you typically land about midnight in your home time zone, when the homeostatic drive for sleep is very strong, but the local time is 5 am. Exposure to daylight—the principal circadian synchronizer—at this time shifts you toward Hawaiian time rather than toward London time. In this circumstance, the worst possible thing you can do is rent a car and drive to a meeting where you have to impress people with your mental acuity at the equivalent of 3 or 4 in the morning. You might not even make the meeting, because you very easily could wrap your car around a tree. Fourteen or 15 hours later, if you’re trying to go to bed at 11 pm in the local time zone, you’ll have a more difficult time maintaining a consolidated night’s sleep.So sleep deprivation, in your opinion, is a far more serious issue than most executives think it is.Yes, indeed. Putting yourself or others at risk while driving or working at an impaired level is bad enough; expecting your employees to do the same is just irresponsible. It amazes me that contemporary work and social culture glorifies sleeplessness in the way we once glorified people who could hold their liquor. We now know that 24 hours without sleep or a week of sleeping four or five hours a night induces an impairment equivalent to a blood alcohol level of .1%. We would never say, “This person is a great worker! He’s drunk all the time!” yet we continue to celebrate people who sacrifice sleep. The analogy to drunkenness is real because, like a drunk, a person who is sleep deprived has no idea how functionally impaired he or she truly is. Moreover, their efficiency at work will suffer substantially, contributing to the phenomenon of “presenteeism,” which, as HBR has noted, exacts a large economic toll on business. [See Paul Hemp’s article “Presenteeism: At Work—But Out of It,” HBR October 2004.]Putting yourself or others at risk while driving or working at an impaired level is bad enough; expecting your employees to do the same is just irresponsible.Sleep deprivation is not just an individual health hazard; it’s a public one. Consider the risk of occupational injury and driver fatigue. In a study our research team conducted of hospital interns who had been scheduled to work for at least 24 consecutive hours, we found that their odds of stabbing themselves with a needle or scalpel increased 61%, their risk of crashing a motor vehicle increased 168%, and their risk of a near miss increased 460%. In the U.S., drowsy drivers are responsible for a fifth of all motor vehicle accidents and some 8,000 deaths annually. It is estimated that 80,000 drivers fall asleep at the wheel every day, 10% of them run off the road, and every two minutes, one of them crashes. Countless innocent people are hurt. There’s now a vehicular homicide law in New Jersey (and some pending in other states) that includes driving without sleep for more than 24 hours in its definition of recklessness. There’s a man in Florida who’s serving a 15-year prison term for vehicular homicide—he’d been awake for 30-some hours when he crashed his company’s truck into a group of cars waiting for a light to change, killing three people. I would not want to be the CEO of the company bearing responsibility for those preventable deaths.Sleep deprivation among employees poses other kinds of risks to companies as well. With too little sleep, people do things that no CEO in his or her right mind would allow. All over the world, people are running heavy and dangerous machinery or guarding secure sites and buildings while they’re exhausted. Otherwise intelligent, well-mannered managers do all kinds of things they’d never do if they were rested—they may get angry at employees, make unsound decisions that affect the future of their companies, and give muddled presentations before their colleagues, customers, the press, or shareholders.What should companies be doing to address the sleep problem?People in executive positions should set behavioral expectations and develop corporate sleep policies, just as they already have concerning behaviors like smoking or sexual harassment. It’s important to have a policy limiting scheduled work—ideally to no more than 12 hours a day, and exceptionally to no more than 16 consecutive hours. At least 11 consecutive hours of rest should be provided every 24 hours. Furthermore, employees should not be scheduled to work more than 60 hours a week and not be permitted to work more than 80 hours a week. When working at night or on extended shifts, employees should not be scheduled to work more than four or five consecutive days, and certainly no more than six consecutive days. People need at least one day off a week, and ideally two in a row, in order to avoid building up a sleep deficit.Now, managers will often rationalize overscheduling employees. I hear them say that if their employees aren’t working, they will be out partying and not sleeping anyway. That may be true for some irresponsible individuals, but it doesn’t justify scheduling employees to work a hundred hours a week so that they can’t possibly get an adequate amount of sleep. Of course, some circumstances may arise in which you need someone to remain at work for more than 16 consecutive hours. The night security guard, for example, can’t just walk off the job if his replacement isn’t there, so you will need to have a provision for exceptional circumstances, such as offering transportation home for a sleep-deprived panies also need executive policies. For example, I would advise executives to avoid taking red-eye flights, which severely disrupt sleep. If someone must travel overnight internationally, the policy should allow the executive to take at least a day to adapt to the sleep deprivation associated with the flight and the new time zone before driving or conducting business. Such a policy requires some good schedule planning, but the time spent making the adjustments will be worth it, for the traveler will be more functional before going into that important meeting. And the sleep policy should not permit anyone, under any circumstances, to take an overnight flight and then drive to a business meeting somewhere—period. He or she should at least be provided a taxi, car service, or shuttle.A company’s sleep policy should not permit anyone, under any circumstances, to take an overnight flight and then drive to a business meeting somewhere—panies can do other things to promote healthy sleep practices among employees. Educational programs about sleep, health, and safety should be mandatory. Employees should learn to set aside an adequate amount of time for sleep each night and to keep their bedrooms dark and quiet and free of all electronic devices—televisions, BlackBerries, and so on. They should learn about the ways alcohol and caffeine interfere with sleep. When someone is sleep deprived, drinking alcohol only makes things worse, further eroding performance and increasing the propensity to fall asleep while also interfering with the ability to stay asleep. Additionally, companies should provide annual screening for sleep disorders in order to identify those who might be at risk. For example, this past year our team launched a Web-based screening survey that any law enforcement officer in the U.S. can take to help identify whether he or she is suffering from sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy, or other sleep disorders. Those whose answers place them at high risk are referred for evaluation and treatment by a specialist accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.?[Accredited sleep centers may be found at .]Finally, I would recommend that supervisors undergo training in sleep and fatigue management and that they promote good sleep behavior. People should learn to treat sleep as a serious matter. Both the company and the employees bear a shared responsibility to ensure that everyone comes to work well rested. MoreThis corporate sleep policy of yours sounds a little draconian, if not impossible, given people’s crazy schedules.I don’t think it’s draconian at all. Business travelers expect that their pilots won’t drink before flying an airplane, and all of us expect that no driver on the highway will have a blood alcohol level above the legal limit. Many executives already realize that the immediate effect of sleep loss on individuals and on overall corporate performance is just as important. A good sleep policy is smart business strategy. People think they’re saving time and being more productive by not sleeping, but in fact they are cutting their productivity drastically. Someone who has adequate sleep doesn’t nod off in an important meeting with a customer. She can pay attention to her task for longer periods of time and bring her whole intelligence and creativity to bear on the project at hand.What do you think about the use of drugs that help people fall asleep or that shut off the urge to sleep?These agents should be used only after a thorough evaluation of the causes of insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness. Patients too often think there’s a silver bullet for a problem like insomnia, and doctors too easily prescribe pills as part of a knee-jerk reaction to patient requests during the final minutes of an office visit. The causes of insomnia are subtle and need to be carefully investigated. These can be from too much caffeine, an irregular schedule, anxiety or depression, physical problems such as arthritis, use of other medications, and so on—and only a careful evaluation by a doctor experienced in sleep medicine can uncover the causes. I once saw a professor who complained of difficulty sleeping at night, and only after taking a careful history did we find that he was drinking 20 cups of coffee a day. He didn’t even realize he was drinking that much and didn’t think about the fact that so much caffeine, which has a six- to nine-hour half-life, would interfere with his ability to sleep. Prescribing a sleeping pill for his insomnia without identifying the underlying cause would have been a mistake.There are non-pharmacological treatments for insomnia that seem very promising, by the way. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, helps people recognize and change thoughts and behaviors that might be keeping them awake at night. A researcher named Dr. Gregg Jacobs at Harvard Medical School has reported that CBT works better over both the short and the long term than sleeping pills do.What’s New in Sleep?Sleep science is advancing on a number of frontiers that, over time, may cause us to rethink everything from our personal habits to public policy. Here’s a short sampling of these new developments.Sleep is power.Your mother was right—to perform at your best, you need sleep. Discoveries about sleep cycles have given researchers new insight into the specific roles sleep plays in overall health and performance. For example, there is growing evidence that sleep aids in immune function, memory consolidation, learning, and organ function. “Some researchers now think sleep may be the missing link when it comes to overall health, safety, and productivity,” says Darrel Drobnich, the senior director of government and transportation affairs for the National Sleep Foundation. One new field of study is looking at a specific correlation between sleep and productivity, and the benefits of what sleep researchers call a “power nap”—a 20-minute period of sleep in the afternoon that heads off problems associated with cumulative sleep deficit.Move over, Ambien.Ambien, the sleep aid from drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis, is now de rigueur for the sleepless, ringing up $1.4 billion annually in U.S. sales alone. While Ambien has fewer side effects than most over-the-counter sleep aids, it’s still a blunt instrument, neurophysiologically speaking. “All of the current products on the market, including Ambien, take a sledgehammer to specific receptors in the brain,” says Dr. Robert McCarley, the head of psychiatry at Boston VA Medical Center and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “They have several negative side effects, ranging from disassociated states of consciousness to potential addiction. They also tend to lose their effectiveness over time.” Researchers hope a new family of sleep-inducing drugs will function closer to the body’s natural sleep mechanisms and so avoid problems associated with sedatives like Ambien. One such new drug—Rozerem, from Japanese drug giant Takeda—targets melatonin receptors in the brain. As researchers learn more about the body’s internal sleep mechanisms, McCarley believes, sleep aids will inevitably improve.On the other side of the equation, the pharmaceutical company Cephalon is now marketing modafinil, a drug that helps people function well on very little sleep without suffering the ill effects of common stimulants. Sold under the commercial trade name Provigil in the U.S., modafinil was originally prescribed to treat narcolepsy; it’s now used to promote wakefulness among those who can’t afford to go to sleep (such as field soldiers in war zones). Studies have shown that subjects taking modafinil are able to stay alert with only eight hours of sleep during an 88-hour period. While modafinil sounds like a dream drug, no one yet knows what effects may result from more than occasional use.Car drowse alarms.By the end of the decade, automakers will offer cars outfitted with devices designed to keep drowsy drivers from falling asleep at the wheel. Some may use cameras to scan drivers’ eyes for droopiness, or to sense when people are loosening their grip on the steering wheel, and then sound an alarm. In 2005, Ford and Volvo announced that they were working on a system called Driver Alert, consisting of a camera that measures the distance between the vehicle and the markings on the surface of the road. If the driver starts to swerve, an alarm goes off and a text warning appears on the dashboard. Another approach under consideration by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the development of “intelligent” highways equipped with specialized sensors that continuously track vehicle trajectory and speed.Tomorrow’s workforce needs sleep now.Businesses need an educated workforce; ironically, school is interfering. The current high school schedule in the U.S., which typically begins around 7:20 am, threatens the neurological development and health of adolescents, whose homeostatic drive operates differently from adults’. Most teens experience a delayed sleep phase, in which melatonin is released around 11 pm—an hour later than in most adults. Students who finally go to sleep by midnight and wake at 6 experience a chronic sleep deficit, which disrupts their ability to learn and puts them and you at risk on the roads. In the U.S., researchers and sleep advocates are now working closely with school districts, communities, and educators to change school start times so that students can get more sleep.—Bronwyn FryerSometimes executives simply have to function without much sleep. What are some strategies they can use to get by until they can go to bed?Though there is no known substitute for sleep, there are a few strategies you can use to help sustain performance temporarily until you can get a good night’s sleep. Obviously, executives can drink caffeine, which is the most widely used wake-promoting therapeutic in the world. Naps can be very effective at restoring performance, and if they are brief—less than a half hour—they will induce less grogginess upon awakening. Being in a novel or engaging circumstance will also help you stay alert. Exercise, standing in an upright position, and exposure to bright light are all very helpful. Human beings are amazingly sensitive to light. In fact, the color of light may also be important. Exposure to shorter wavelength blue light is particularly effective in suppressing melatonin production, thereby allowing us to stay awake during our biological night. Photon for photon, looking up at the blue sky, for example, is more effective in both resetting our biological clock and enhancing our alertness than looking down at the green grass.While all these things can help an executive function in an emergency, I must reiterate that he or she should still not drive when sleep deprived, even if a cup of coffee or a walk on a sunny day seems to help for a little while.Do you get enough sleep?Like everyone else, I try to, but I don’t always achieve it.1. Dr. Czeisler is the incumbent of an endowed professorship donated to Harvard by Cephalon and consults for a number of companies, including Actelion, Cephalon, Coca-Cola, Hypnion, Pfizer, Respironics, Sanofi-Aventis, Takeda, and Vanda.citationA version of this article appeared in the October 2006 issue of Harvard Business Review.Do you get enough sleep?Like everyone else, I try to, but I don’t always achieve it.1. Dr. Czeisler is the incumbent of an endowed professorship donated to Harvard by Cephalon and consults for a number of companies, including Actelion, Cephalon, Coca-Cola, Hypnion, Pfizer, Respironics, Sanofi-Aventis, Takeda, and Vanda.citationA version of this article appeared in the October 2006 issue of Harvard Business Review.11 Unconventional Sleep Tips: How to Get to Sleep and Stay AsleepI have a lifelong difficulty with falling asleep at night, and staying asleep, which is even more problematic. I don't have a medical cause for insomnia, or any sleep disorders, just a brain that likes to go into overdrive when my body finally has a chance to lie down and rest.HYPERLINK ""It has taken lots of trial and error, but over time I've found several things that really do work to help me get to sleep and stay asleep long enough for sleep's restorative effects to set in.I call these sleep tips "unconventional" because I haven't seen them in the typical sources. In fact, I often see just the opposite recommended.These 11 tips will help you wake up rested and refreshed:Nap every single dayContrary to all the sleep sources that say to avoid napping, I believe daily naps are definitely a good idea. But in order to make napping work, it is vital to stick to 3 rules:Keep to a schedule. Napping at the same time every day will allow your body to regulate itself to fall asleep more quickly at that time.Keep it short. Only nap for 10-20 minutes. A 20-minute power nap provides enough sleep to help you feel refreshed and more alert, yet it won't interfere with falling asleep at night.Make it in the early afternoon. The optimal time for napping is 20 to 30 minutes after lunch, which is when your body is naturally inclined to feel sleepy, and it's early enough in the day to not interfere with falling asleep at night.HYPERLINK ""Force your worriesIf worrying kicks in just after you close your eyes, schedule a daily "worry time" well before you go to sleep. Choose a 15 minute period at the same time every day when you try to think of every possible worry, and then tell them to a trusted confidant or write them out in a journal. Get out in the sunlight soon after waking up in the morningWhen you wake up, don't lounge around in bed. Don't even stay inside. Get out in the morning sun soon after getting up. The bright sunlight (or any bright light) tells your body's natural biological clock that it's time to wake up, and that same clock will then be set to tell your body it's time to go to sleep about 14 to 16 hours later.Make your time in the sunshine count with these walking for exercise tipsAvoid taking a hot bath - There is a lot of advice that says to take a hot bath to relax yourself, but since the body needs to lower its temperature in order to fall asleep, a hot bath will actually keep you up. If you enjoy a soak in a hot bath, just be sure to finish your bath at least 2 hours before bedtime so that your body has enough time to cool down. That being said, I do enjoy a hot pack applied to my neck and shoulders before going to bed. It doesn't warm up my whole body, but does help reduce any built-up stress or tension in my neck and shoulders.Read more: How to Apply Heat TherapyMake your room colder - Your body needs to cool down in order to fall asleep and stay asleep, so do what you can to make your room cool. For me, a cool bedroom has the added benefit of allowing me to nestle into a heavy comforter, and I find the heavy warmth very soothing.For better sleep, keep your room cool and pile on the blankets.Article continues belowExercise intenselyDon't just "exercise," but do so intensely, to the point of feeling physical exhaustion. At the end of the day, intense exercise is probably the single best way to induce deep, restorative sleep. When I say "intensely," I mean intense relative to your capability. For some this may mean running 5 miles, for others it may mean a brisk 20 minute walk that elevates the heart rate. Physical tiredness is essential to getting a good night's sleep.See Exercise Walking for Better Back Health and Low-Impact Aerobic ExerciseBlock out noiseWhite noise is restful, and even more importantly, it means that I won't be woken up with every little thump that the house makes. A fan is ideal because it does double duty of providing consistent soft background noise as well as keeping my room cool. Similarly, an air cleaner will serve to help keep your room free of dust and provide white noise. ?Fans drown out noises and keep the room cool.?You can also buy a white noise machine or download an app that will provide several white noise options like the sound of rain, wind, and more. Many people prefer pink noise, which includes more varied sounds such as a waterfall or babbling brook. One popular app is Sleep Genius. Manage your physical healthFor many of us, physical discomfort or pain can be the main problem when it comes to getting a restful night's sleep. While it may seem like an all or nothing problem, sometimes a few surprisingly small changes can go a long way. For example, something as simple as getting a different type of mattress or pillow, or trying a new sleep position may help.?Find a bedtime ritual that works for youWarm milk? A cup of herbal tea? No, thank you. Even though these drinks are commonly recommended to help fall asleep, I have never found them helpful. I say find the routine that works for you, whatever it is. Get in the habit of sticking to the routine every night. For me, it's the simple act of shutting the house down by turning off all the lights, picking up the clutter, reviewing the next day's schedule, and planning breakfast for the morning rush. Feeling organized about the house helps me feel less anxious. This simple routine tells my body that it's time to close down for the day. Find what helps you feel less anxious at the end of the day and own your nightly ritual. Empower yourself to reduce stressAt some points in our lives, we are burdened by a great deal of stress. It may be chronic pain, a family or work situation, financial stress, or all of these combined. Many believe that they just need relaxation to reduce stress. However, the opposite of stress is not relaxation, it's empowerment.See 11 Chronic Pain Control TechniquesSo do what you can to empower yourself. Daily meditation works best for me. It forces my mind to focus on something, thereby freeing up all the clutter to float to the surface, be recognized, and be gone. For others it is guided imagery, either with the help of a professional or with CDs, regular massage, yoga or tai chi, calming music, or a therapeutic run or bike ride to get powerful endorphins flowing. Some turn to self education to manage their source of stress with more knowledge.See Healing Benefits of Yoga and How to Stop Your Pain with Your MindWe all have different preferences. Try one that sounds appealing, and if you find it difficult to stick with, then try a different one. Keep a pen and notebook next to your bedOften when I'm lying in bed, or even while I'm sleeping, I'll think of a new idea for work. Or I'll remember something important that I forgot to do during the day. ?Getting your worries out and raising them to a conscious level can keep them in their place and not creeping into your mind at bedtime!?Rather than try to remember it, which causes anxiety (which is stimulating), I write it down so it exists on paper and doesn't have to stay in my head. And, if I keep a notebook for these things right next to my bed, I find I'm more likely to write it down. See Psychological Techniques, Sleep Environment, and Better SleepFor those who are curious, I have tried sleep medications and other sleep aids as well, but the above combination has worked the best.I think the bottom line is to re-condition yourself to positively associate the process of going to bed with sleep, which ultimately is an act of letting go and getting your brain to stop stressing.The preceding tips worked perfectly for me and I hope will give you at least some ideas of what will work for you, too. Sweet dreams!Arianna Huffington: Sleep Your Way to the TopThink success is defined by the amount of hours you put in at work? Wake up and listen to the many truths about the value of dedicating your precious time to getting enough sleep need to handle when there is an image but it is set to not displayThe most basic shift we can make in redefining success in our lives has to do with our strained relationship with sleep.As Dr. Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer of the Cleveland Clinic, put it, "Sleep is the most underrated health habit." Most of us fail to make good use of such an invaluable part of our lives. In fact, we deliberately do just the opposite.We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in. Sleep, or how little of it we need, has become a symbol of our prowess. We make a fetish of not getting enough sleep, and we boast about how little sleep we get. I once had dinner with a man who bragged to me that he'd gotten only four hours of sleep the night before. (I resisted the temptation to tell him that the dinner would have been a lot more interesting if he had gotten five.)There's practically no element of our lives that's not improved by getting adequate sleep. And there is no element of life that's not diminished by a lack of sleep--including our leaders' decisions. Bill Clinton, who used to famously get only five hours of sleep a night, admitted, "Every important mistake I've made in my life, I've made because I was too tired." And in 2013, when the European Union was working on a plan to bail out Cyprus, an agreement was reached during the wee hours of the night that was described by one commentator as "impressively stupid." The financial journalist Felix Salmon describes the decision as "born of an unholy combination of procrastination, blackmail, and sleep-deprived gamesmanship."We make a fetish of not getting enough sleep, and we boast about how little sleep we get.Our creativity, ingenuity, confidence, leadership, and decision-making can all be enhanced simply by getting enough sleep. "Sleep deprivation negatively impacts our mood, our ability to focus, and our ability to access higher level cognitive functions: the combination of these factors is what we generally refer to as mental performance," say Drs. Stuart Quan and Russell Sanna, from Harvard Medical School's Division of Sleep Medicine.A study at Duke University has found that poor sleep is associated with higher stress levels and a greater risk of heart disease and diabetes. They also found that these risks are greater in women than in men.But what do we do if, despite our best intentions, we're not getting the seven or eight hours a night of sleep we need? Researchers have found that even short naps can help us course correct. Throughout history, famous nappers have included Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and John F. Kennedy. Charlie Rose, a famous napper of our time, told me that he is now taking up to three naps a day: "I have a nap after we finish our CBS morning show, a nap before I tape my own show, and a nap before I go out in the evening. I don't like the feeling of going through my day tired!" According to David Randall, author of Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep, a short nap "primes our brains to function at a higher level, letting us come up with better ideas, find solutions to puzzles more quickly, identify patterns faster and recall information more accurately."Too many of us think of our sleep as the flexible item in our schedule that can be endlessly moved around to accommodate our fixed and top priority of work. But like a flight or train, our sleep should be thought of as the fixed point in our day, and everything else should be adjusted as needed so we don't miss it.Going public about your decision to get more sleep can be one way to make that commitment stick. You'll be surrounded, as I found out, by sympathetic friends who have been wanting to do the same thing and who will help you stick to your sleep goals. In my case, because I blogged about my sleep commitment on The Huffington Post, I started having complete strangers come up to me at events, glancing at their watches and wondering how much longer I planned to stay and whether I was going to be able to get my eight hours. I felt like a kid out on a school night--with dozens of babysitters all anxious to help me keep my commitment.Moms' 6 biggest sleep mistakes, and how to fix themYou are how you sleep. It's the one-third of your life that most affects the two others. Of course, when your kids are young and you need lots of energy to get through the day, getting a good night's rest can be challenging.If you're not sleeping well, you're not alone:Two-thirds of women report symptoms of insomnia at least a few nights a week.The average woman over age 30 sleeps only six hours and 41 minutes a night. No doubt, moms of babies or toddlers are lucky to get that much!As a mom, some of the very things you do in the name of good parenting can compromise your sleep. Here are some common mistakes moms make, and how to fix them so you can sleep like a baby, or, even better, like a well-rested adult. (: Guaranteed ways to get decent rest.)1. Mistake: Trying to get everything done after the kids go to bed "As soon as my daughters are tucked in at eight, I clean, iron, pay the bills, and so on," says Mercedes Gray, a mom of three in Ontario, California. Instead of winding down before her own bedtime, she speeds up. By 11 p.m., Gray says, "I'm so keyed up that it takes me a while to fall asleep."A better approach: Don't use all of your free time to multitask. Just as your child needs a bedtime routine that settles her down for the night, so do you. "Thirty to sixty minutes before your bedtime, begin to do things that relax you," says Clete Kushida, M.D., director of the Stanford University Center for Human Sleep Research. "Take a bath, read quietly, watch a favorite show, whatever works. If possible, minimize your exposure to bright light during this time. Follow a similar pattern every night and your body gets conditioned to expect that it's time for bed, so you'll fall asleep more easily." If you have a snack, try small portions of low-fat carbs, such as toast with a little jam or cereal with milk. Want a drink? Chamomile tea and honey are both natural sedatives. Just don't eat a big meal within three hours of going to bed. Digesting a large amount of food has been shown to make you less sleepy.HYPERLINK ""2. Mistake: Staying in your child's room until he falls asleep Your child will become dependent on you to nod off. And when he awakens in the middle of the night (as everyone does), he won't be able to fall back to sleep on his own. Not only will you not get enough sleep, but it'll also be fragmented, and not very restorative. (: How to keep your preschooler out of your bed. )A better approach: Pave the way for your child to sleep in his own room by himself. "Stick to a specific bedtime," says Dr. Kushida. "Tell him that if he needs to use the bathroom or get a drink of water, he should do it beforehand. Follow a soothing routine -- perhaps a bath and reading together -- then say good night and leave." Naturally, your child isn't going to like this at first. When my son, Liam, was a toddler, we got into the habit of playing a tape of kids' songs to lull him to sleep. The problem? If he woke up during the night, the music wouldn't be on, and he'd yell "Tape!" in a blood-curdling scream. My husband or I would run to play the tape, bleary-eyed from the interrupted sleep. So we decided to cut him off cold turkey, which involved two horrible nights of Liam crying himself to sleep. We felt like the worst parents in the world. By the third night, though, he grumbled a little and started to snooze in about five minutes. So stay firm. Your child will eventually adapt to your new routine and everyone will catch more zzz's.3. Mistake: Sleeping late on the weekends when your husband can watch the kids Of course it's tempting, and you deserve the break. But sleep regularity is just as important as sleep quantity, says Amy Wolfson, Ph.D., author of "The Woman's Book of Sleep." "If you've been sleep-deprived all week, getting a little extra on the weekends may be beneficial. But don't overdo it, or you'll throw off your sleep/wake cycle and Monday morning will be brutal."A better approach: By all means, take your husband up on the offer. Just don't sleep in longer than one hour, which is enough to make you feel refreshed. Consider doing something else with the extra time -- take a walk with a friend or read the Sunday paper uninterrupted.HYPERLINK ""4. Mistake: Not exercising at all or exercising too close to bedtime Physical activity can help you nod off more easily and improve the quality of your sleep. How? No one knows for sure, but there are theories: It may help regulate your body's circadian rhythms. Or, because exercise raises body temperature during the day, your body may try to lower its temperature at night, which makes you drowsy. Or perhaps exercise cuts down on anxiety and other problems that may interfere with sleep. Exercising close to your bedtime, though, can make you too wired and your body too warm to sleep. (: Making fitness fun. )A better approach: Be active during the day if possible, but not within two to three hours of bedtime. In a recent study, women who worked out first thing in the morning reaped the most sleep benefits. If you take your child to preschool every day and you don't have to rush to work, wear workout clothes and exercise right after. Aim for 30 to 60 minutes per day of aerobic activity. Even a brisk 10-minute walk three times a day helps. To fit exercise into her busy day, Lynn Lombard of Akron, New York, turned her basement -- where she keeps exercise equipment -- into a playroom for her 4-year-old. "That's the only place in the house where Amanda's allowed to paint or use Play-Dough, so she loves being down there, and I get to work out in peace." She also started planning dinners in advance, so she has more time to work out.5. Mistake: Napping when your baby naps This classic advice applies only when you're getting up every few hours at night to feed your newborn. Once he's a few months old and sleeping longer -- and especially if he's sleeping through the night and you are, too-- you don't need to nap much. Babies should get about 15 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period. You need about eight. If you snooze for three hours during the day, you may have trouble sleeping at night.A better approach: If you're tired, take a catnap at about the same time every day. Ten to 20 minutes will help you feel refreshed for another couple of hours. Doze much longer than that and you can wake up feeling groggy and worse than you did before.HYPERLINK ""6. Mistake: Ignoring your health issues You'd never miss a well-baby checkup, but when was your last physical? Many treatable conditions interfere with a good night's sleep, including PMS, asthma, restless leg syndrome and bladder problems. (Going to the bathroom once in the middle of the night is normal; going three or four times is not.) About 50 percent of people who have chronic insomnia have an underlying psychiatric issue, such as anxiety disorder or depression. (: Why you shouldn't lie to your doctor. )A better approach: See your doctor if you think any health concerns are affecting your sleep. All of the problems mentioned above can be helped with medication and lifestyle changes. Says Nancy Collop, M.D., spokeswoman for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. "You don't have to suffer."2 tricks to help you fall asleep fastHYPERLINK ""I don’t usually have a problem with falling asleep unless I’m overtired. Then it gets really frustrating – I make time for rest, I go to bed and I can’t sleep. That’s why I was excited when, in my recent brainstorm project at MyBlogU, some of the ideas had to do with falling asleep easier and making it more fun.Keep a good book or speaker event on mp3. Go to bed a little early to listen. Not only will you learn, but you will get to sleep faster.” – Don Sturgill,?Tried and tested:?Books don’t help me go to sleep. I could easily stay up all night with a good book and I have to make an effort to put my book down at a decent time. Mp3-s, on the other hand, work like magic. Listening to someone else speak seems to distract me from my own thoughts just enough so that I can drift off to sleep. The challenge is taking the earphones off at the right time. Too early – and I return back to my wide awake state. Too late and I end up sleeping with people talking in my ear.Recently I started doing this, and it’s amazing how much more soundly I sleep. Most of us are familiar with a gratitude journal. Right after my head gets comfy on the pillow, I do 2 things: I praise God. If you don’t believe in God, just praise a higher power, the universe, etc. Moms who have no such beliefs could praise some event of the day or of a child. Then one more thing, find just one person or thing you are grateful for. I do this all in my mind because my husband is usually asleep before me. So it’s quiet. For sure, within just what seems like 2 or 3 minutes, I am sound asleep. And what could be more attractive than sleeping soundly?” – Patricia Weber, patricia-Tried and tested:?While I’d?read research that people who practice gratitude get more sleep and better quality of sleep, it had never occurred to me to make gratitude part of my bedtime routine. When I tried it, I found myself getting distracted. Once I thought of something to be grateful for, my thoughts would immediately jump onto something else. To overcome the distraction, I challenged myself to count my blessings (like I would be counting sheep) and to get to at least 10. I can’t remember getting to 10, so I must have been falling asleep before that.Do you have any tricks to help you fall asleep faster for your medical problems is the right thing to do, …but you might be wrong in considering your lack of sleep as a pure medical problem. Your sleep efficiency has much to do with so many other factors as well, primarily your daily routine.There is a very high probability of overcoming your sleeping problems by mending your bedtime habits, sleep schedule and lifestyle choices.You are at the right place if you are looking for optimising your sleep to have a more productive resting period resulting in mentally sharp, energising and emotionally balanced day ahead.Devising some effective strategies is quite essential in getting reliable deep restorative sleep every single night. By identifying and avoiding common sleep enemies as well as formulating some sleep nurturing techniques, everyone can have a personalised prescription of a restorative sleep.The secret lies in experimenting. Something that might work on one turns out totally ineffective for others.Your quest begins with identifying the number of hours you essentially need to sleep. Though sleep requirements slightly differ for every single individual, majority of healthy adults need an average of 8 hours to have a refreshing and rejuvenating night sleep.These 9 simple and effective tips on how to sleep better will surely be of great assistance to you.1How to sleep better:Keeping up with your circadian rhythmKeeping up with natural sleep-wake cycle of your body - the circadian rhythm - turns out to be one of the most important strategies to get a great sleep. If you regularise your sleeping schedule, going to sleep and getting up the exact same time every day, your quality of sleep will improve significantly compared to when you sleep for equal hours but at different times daily. Keep in mind that consistency is the key to success. Here is how you can do this:Fix a regular bedtime: Going to bed at the same time every single night is very important. Make sure to head to the bed when feeling totally tired in order to avoid turning and tossing afterwards. Stick to this routine even on weekends when it is most tempting to stay awake late. If you find changing your bedtime inevitable, introduce your body to small daily incremental changes to help adjust it. 10 to 15 minutes of change per night is deemed ideal in this regard.Same wakeup time everyday: Most of the sleep experts believe that a person should be able to wake up naturally without the need of alarm if he or she is getting enough sleep. If not, you better look to fix an earlier bedtime. Just as with your bedtime, try to keep up with your wakeup time even on weekends for improved sleep efficiency.Don't undermine napping: Napping can be very effective, especially in making up for a few lost hours of sleep. Instead of changing your bedtime routine and sleeping early in a bid to compensate the lost sleep hours, you better resort to daytime nap. This ritual makes sure your sleep-wake rhythm remains unaffected, paying off your sleep debt significantly.Think before you nap! Because if you don't, you might end up with even worse insomniac attacks. Without any doubt, napping is good, but not if you are already suffering from insomnia. If you are insomniac, consider staying away from napping. If you must nap, do not get any latter than early afternoon, limiting it to no more than thirty minutes.Keep away from post dinner drowsiness: If you feel like fighting yourself to keep your eyes open right after dinner, much earlier than your scheduled bedtime; you better get up and engage into a mildly stimulating chore to get rid of that early sleepiness. Washing dishes, calling a friend or readying your clothes for next day can be some really helpful ways. If you let this early drowsiness invade you, you might find yourself turning and tossing later in the night instead of getting back to sleep, once you wake up.Naturally regulating your sleep-wake cycle is of prime importance for getting improved sleeping experience. Melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone, helps human body regulate the essential sleep-wake cycle. Light exposure controls its natural production and your brain is designed to excrete more of it during the evening, when it is dark, compared to daytime when it is light around. However, many aspects of present day lifestyle (late sittings in the office away from natural light and late night TV) can hinder its optimum natural production in many ways, due to which your sleep-wake cycle is disturbed. Avoid them to help yourself naturally regulate this essential sleep-wake cycle. There are two dimensions to helping your body naturally optimise its sleep-wake cycle:Early morning sunlight exposure: You can get this by removing sunglasses in order to allow more light on your face early in the morning.Maximise daylight exposure: Small activities like taking work breaks out in the open exposed to sunlight, exercising in the open or even walking your dog out during the day instead of night, can help you significantly in maximising your sunlight exposure.Light up your home/workplace: Open up the blinds and curtains during the day to let more light run through your home/workplace. Moving your desk closer to the window will also help greatly.Light therapy box: You might also resort to light therapy box, especially during winters with short days. It assists in simulating sunshine to help improve your light exposure in days when you are able to take advantage of natural light.b) Boosting night-time melatonin productionNo electronic devices in the bed: Electronic devices are just great, but not when you are lying in the bed ready to sleep. The light emitting from devices like television or laptops and ipads not only suppresses the essential melatonin production, but it has the potential to stimulate your mind rather than soothing it. Reading a book or listening to soothing music is a better option instead, or you can also resort to relaxing exercises. You can always record your late night favourite show to view it later the next day.Get rid of bright light bulbs: Bright light bulbs are to be avoided if you want some sleep inducing ambiance in your bedroom. Replace them with some soothing low voltage bulbs immediately.The darker the better! When it comes to sleeping, the darker the better; a bedroom with darker ambiance will help you in inducing sleep. If you are 3How to sleep better:______`Devise a relaxing bedtime routine You will get to a deep relaxing sleep conveniently if you devise a relaxing bedtime routine by making a consistent effort. Serene bedtime routine stimulates your brain to wind down, getting rid of the day's stresses.There are certain things that can be very helpful in winding you down:Cutting down the noise from your sleep ambiance: You may get rid of many of your sleeping problems by simply doing this. If you are unable to cut the noises of traffic, loud neighbours or barking dogs at night, you may try a fan or some soothing music or white noise for masking bothersome sounds. Earplugs can also be helpful in this regard.Keeping your room cool can also help you deal with your lack of sleep. Most people find a temperature around 18° C (with appropriate ventilation) to be the best for inducing better fortable bed is also one of the top requisites of profound sleep. It should not only be comfy and cosy with suitable pillows, but also spacious enough not to interrupt your sleep while trying to twist and turn at night. So, do not hesitate in investing in viable furnishing accessories like a highly comfortable memory foam mattress with equally comfortable set of pillows if you want to make sure getting to sleep becomes effortless for you.You need to associate your mind to the bed as a place to relax rather than an errand-station. Reserve your bed for sleep or sex only, so that your mind gets the cue to either winding down or getting romantic, both of which must be quite joyful to you at that hour! 4How to sleep better:Balanced diet and regular exerciseIf you are constantly worried about how to sleep better, mending your eating habits and exercising regularly can help you beyond imagination. Not only through the day, but you should be especially watchful about what you gulp down just a few hours earlier than your sleep time. These habits would help you improve your diet and exercise routine to deal better with your sleeping problems.No big meals at night, if you are looking for better sleep. Make sure you take dinner early in the night and avoid heavy, oily foods, especially not within two hours to bed. Your stomach needs a lot of effort in digesting this type of food, keeping you up late at night. You also need to stay away from spicy foods in the evening, because they might cause stomach issues and heartburn, affecting the quality of sleep.No alcohol before bed time, if you want a soothing sleep. Contrary to what many people believe, a little alcohol is not a good but a bad idea immediately before sleeping. While it might help you sleep quicker, your sleep quality is affected with alcohol due to frequent awakenings later on.No late night caffeine, no matter how strong urges you get, because it can affect your sleep routine significantly. You will be surprised to know that there are studies indicating sleeping problems even after 10 to 12 hours of consuming caffeine. To avoid this, stay away from caffeine intake after lunch or slash your overall intake.Quit smoking if you are wondering about how to sleep better and longer. It can affect your sleeping routine in many ways. Nicotine serves as a stimulant for your body, disrupting your sleep in ways more than you can imagine. Smokers are also known to undergo nicotine withdrawal effects through the night, affecting one's quality of sleep significantly.Make exercise a part of your daily routine to make sure you get a soothing and refreshing sleep at night. You don't need to work out like athletes for improved sleeping experience, just as little as 20 to 30 minutes of daily exercise can do the trick. If you find yourself totally unable to spare 20 or 30 minutes a day for exercising, there are many easy and effective yoga poses that you can do right before you sleep for improved results.How to sleep better #8Stay away from anxiety and stressWhether you know and realize it or not, many of your sleeping problems can be a direct consequence of stress and anxiety. Residual stress, anger and worry, all three can affect your sleep quality more than you can ever imagine.These simple activities can help you greatly in staying away from stress and anxiety, especially at night:Be watchful of what contributes to your worrying when you find yourself awake in the middle of the night or can't go to sleep at all. Try to identify the recurring theme. This will be helpful in figuring out how to manage your anger and stress during the day.Learn to manage your thoughts, so that you can stop worrying, especially about the things above and beyond your control. Rather than going under stress on such thoughts, try to evaluate your worries to gauge if they are realistic and if so, try replacing fear and worry about them with productive thoughts. Many suggest developing a bedtime reading habit to keep your mind from wandering here and there to avoid bedtime stress and anxiety.Deep breathing can also help you cope with bedtime stress. Close your eyes followed by slow deep breaths. Try extending each breath even slower and deeper than the last.Ways to reclaim your sleepWaking briefly during the night is quite normal, so much so that good sleepers won't even remember that. But the problem starts when you wake up in the middle of the night only to find yourself struggling hard to fall back to sleep again.If so, these are a few things that can help you reclaim your sleep:Staying out of your head: This is the most important thing if you want to fall back to sleep again; continually cuing your body to fall asleep. So, 'keep calm' and maintain a relaxed posture in bed. The key lies in not stressing over and panicking about the fact that you are awake, staying away from the fear of not being able to sleep again. In fact, this stress and anxiety is what leads your body to stay awake. So, you need to avoid that.Focus on relaxing not sleeping: If falling back to sleep turns hard for you once awaken, cue your mind and body to relax rather than to focus on sleep. Different relaxation techniques like meditation, visualisation and deep breathing can help you with that, not even requiring you to leave the bed. Though not a total sleep replacement, you need to remind yourself that rest and relaxation still help your body and mind rejuvenate.Indulge in a non-stimulating activity: If you are unable to fall back to sleep for more than 15 minutes, perhaps it is about time to get out of the bed and indulge in a mild non-stimulating activity like book reading. But make sure to do so in dim light, so that your body clock is not cued to take it as a wakeup time. Keeping yourself away from screens of any type – TVs, computers, mobiles, iPads – is also very important because they emit brain stimulating light. Light snacking or a cup of herbal tea can also help you relax, but make sure not to eat too much, so that your body does not expect a full meal at that time.Avoid brainstorming: Sure, a great idea has the potential to not only change your life, but that of the whole humanity. But continually depriving your mind and body from sleep due to great ideas invading your brain when you wake up at night, carries the potential to expose you to some drastic implications. So, you better note down any such ideas on a paper and get back to sleep. You can always fine tune and pursue your ideas the next morning with a fresh mind and body. Brainstorming and worrying in the middle of the night can seriously affect your sleeping tendencies, so stay away from that.7How to sleep better:Dealing with shift work sleep disorderShift work sleep disorder refers to the disrupted sleep schedule resulting from working night shifts or otherwise irregular shifts, leading to workplace sleepiness, negatively impacting your mood, energy and focus. It can also be responsible for work-related mistakes, injuries and accidents.There are different ways to help you deal with shift work sleep disorder, such as:Minimising irregular or night shifts: In order to curb the implications of sleep deprivation on your health, limit the frequency and duration of your night or irregular work shifts. If your job does not offer you such relaxation, avoid frequent shift rotation in order to maintain a relatively consistent sleep cycle.Avoid long distance commuting: Because this results in reduced sleep time. Moreover, the more time you spend travelling in daylight, the more awake your body clock becomes, making it harder for you to sleep later on.Contain your caffeine intake: If living your life without caffeine is not an option for you, make sure you resort to caffeine products early into your shift hours, avoiding caffeine intake close to bedtime.Frequent breaks and high mobility: During your shifts, take small and frequent breaks, moving around as much as possible – stretch, walk or even exercise depending upon the circumstances.Adjusting sleep-wake cycle: Adjusting and assisting your sleep-wake cycle helps greatly in optimising your body's natural melatonin production. Use daylight simulation bulbs or bright lamps throughout the night in your workplace, while using dark shades when getting back to home in the day, so that your body and mind prepare to go into the 'sleep mode'. Deprivation from brightness will help induce sleep.Strive for noiseless and dark bedroom ambiance: This might be one of the best favours to bestow yourself with. Rely on blackout curtains to block the daylight or earplugs. Your favourite soothing music or a sound machine is equally helpful in blocking out daytime noise.Take advantage of the weekends: Weekends can become your best allies in paying off sleep debt, if you make sleep a prioritised task on weekends.How to sleep better:Some quick fix solutionsThe tips listed above sound and act more like a lifestyle change, which are very effective without any doubt, but need some real time and effort to be fruitful. There are some quick fix solutions as well, most helpful of which are listed here:Inhaling through left nostrilIf sleeplessness is bothering you and you are looking for an immediately effective remedy, inhaling through your left nostril might be more helpful than you had ever imagined. This is basically a yoga technique believed to be helpful in reducing blood pressure and calming down a person. Simply lie down on your left side, blocking your right nostril with your finger. Now take deep slow breaths to calm yourself down. According to experts, this technique is most beneficial for sleeplessness due to menopausal hot flushes or overheating.Muscular relaxationAnother helpful way of easing into sleep is by muscular relaxation, which involves a combination of controlled breathing and muscle relaxation, readying your body for sleep. All you need to do is lie down on your bed flat on your back. Now take a deep breath slowly through your nose, also squeezing your toes imagining that you are curling them under your foot. Then release the squeeze as you exhale, as slowly as you inhaled. Now repeat the same breathing pattern, curling and squeezing your feet up towards your knees followed by relaxation of muscles and slow release of breath. Then move onto your calves. Squeeze and relax your calves' muscles while you breathe in and out slowly. Continue this combo of breathing and muscle relaxation all the way up moving through your buttocks, belly, chest to head. By the time you reach head, your breathing pattern should get steady, readying you for a restful sleep.Trying to stay awakeYou will be surprised to discover an adamant rebel deep inside you when you try to follow this. Your mind will simply challenge you and try to rebel against you when you intentionally try to stay awake, referred as 'the sleep paradox' by experts. Human brain is known for not processing negatives very well. So, when you tell yourself "I will not sleep" keeping your eyes wide open, your brain will try to interpret it as an instruction for immediate sleep, tiring your eye muscles quickly, pushing you to slumber-land.FlashbackMany experts are of the opinion that a flashback of the whole day, when lying in bed trying to sleep, helps induce sleep quickly. Recalling the mundane details of the whole day (including sights and sounds) in reverse order is believed to prepare your mind for sleep."Rolling" into sleepWhat about rolling your eyeballs for a while with your eyes closed for lulling into a serene sleep? Well, doing so three times also helps significantly in sleeping, according to experts. This is because it is a simulation of how humans do when sleeping naturally, thus convincing your mind to release the sleep inducing hormone, the melatonin.VisualizationVisualisation meditation is yet another way to drift off with ease. Don't you think it is a good idea going to sleep imagining wonderful things and places? So, try to use at least three of your senses when practicing visualisation meditation, picturing in your mind a tropical paradise, feeling the freshness of cool breeze and the softness of sand below your feet. Experts believe that while exploring your paradise, seeing and feeling what's around you, your mind will soon relax and get ready to sleep.Worry listingTo-do lists are great, but not in the bed, according to experts. They believe pondering on to-do lists is one of the major causes of insomnia. This might be your brain's pre-emptive measure to make sure it does not forget essential things to do, but it can become a hurdle in your way to a peaceful sleep. So, it is better to assure your mind that you won't overlook what needs to be done by passing on this 'worry list' onto a paper. This will make you calmer and readier for sleep.HYPERLINK ""How to sleep better #9Know when to consult a sleep doctorIf lack of sleep is still bothering you even after trying all of the above mentioned tips, you might be suffering from a sleep disorder requiring professional treatment. Make sure to schedule an appointment with a professional sleep specialist if you see any of the following symptoms prevailing despite your best efforts to help yourself:Persistent daytime fatigue or sleepinessDifficulty falling asleep or having an uninterrupted sleepUnwholesome or enervating sleepLoud snoring coupled with pauses in breathingRecurrent morning headachesFalling asleep during the day at inappropriate times509270177800000-338455-15049500-76200320230500345440036741100027051004245610002590800603948500-5473704680585-5588006946900 040259000044519857525385004827905673925500-3390904249420008928101252855003801110102806500HYPERLINK ""243776560928250037407855240020002353310574675 ................
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