On Saturday night, most of us in North America turned our clocks back an hour before going to bed. No matter how you feel about it, the much-debated practice of switching between standard and daylight time is a good opportunity to review sleep habits and consider ways to improve your sleep.
Some people hate the practice of changing the clocks, but the twice-yearly time change isn’t really an issue for me. I tend to adjust quickly and, as a morning person, I’m happy to welcome the daylight an hour earlier when we return to standard time in November.
But the Sleep Foundation reports that changing our clocks by even an hour can throw off our body’s circadian rhythm—the internal clock that determines when and how long we sleep. Although the fall time change is easier on our bodies than losing an hour in the spring, it still requires an adjustment.
We are Sleep-Deprived
More than one-third of Americans get less than the recommended seven hours of sleep every night. Our busy world finds many sacrificing sleep in the interest of being more productive. But thinking we’ll be able to do more if we sleep less is a myth.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine reports research that compares productivity of people who regularly get seven to eight hours of sleep to those who don’t. Individuals who reported getting five to six hours experienced 19 percent productivity loss. Those who got less than five hours of sleep saw a 29 percent productivity loss.
So clearly we need to sleep more, but how? Let’s look at ways to improve our sleep.
Ways to Get More Sleep
In his TED Talk, Sleep is Your Superpower, Dr. Mathew Walker of UC Berkeley tells us sleep is not an optional lifestyle luxury—it is vital to our physical, mental and brain health. Walker says lack of sleep is one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21st Century, increasing our risk of illness and disease, including Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular issues, and many forms of cancer.
In the Sleeping with Science series, Walker offers the following 6 tips for better sleep:
Stick to a regular schedule. Those circadian rhythms I mentioned earlier expect regularity. Keeping a regular bedtime and wake-up time improves the quality and quantity of your sleep.
Keep it cool. A drop in your body temperature helps you fall asleep and stay asleep. Optimal room temperature for good sleep is 65 degrees Farenheit or 18 degrees Celsius.
Embrace the darkness. Evening darkness triggers release of the sleep hormone melatonin. Reduce your light exposure in the hour before bedtime, and keep your room dark for sleeping.
Walk it out. Don’t stay in bed tossing and turning if you can’t sleep. After 25 minutes of sleeplessness, Walker suggests getting out of bed and doing something else, and only returning to bed when you feel sleepy.
Monitor alcohol and caffeine consumption. The impact of caffeine on our sleep is well documented. Many people think alcohol helps them sleep. While it may help you fall asleep, alcohol doesn’t help you stay asleep and can reduce the overall quality of your sleep.
Follow a wind-down routine. Set a routine for the 20 minutes before going to bed, and stick to it. This might involve reading, journaling, listening to quiet music, prayer, or meditation. But no online games or TV watching!
And in the Brain Booster Challenge I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, Dr. Gillian Leithman suggested a seventh tip. Natural light exposure before 10 a.m. can also improve our sleep. One of my goals for November is to get out for a short walk every morning.
With the time change behind us, I like to look on the bright side of winter darkness. Dr. Walker’s research confirms what I’ve always known. Cooler nighttime temperatures and darker evenings mean most of us sleep better in winter. Bring it on!
What are your tips for improving sleep? Drop me a comment below with your thoughts.
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