5 Tips for sleeping smart

noreply@blogger.com (Thiru) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 06:52:00 PST

A good night’s sleep will always refresh you physically and mentally. Everyone needs adequate sleep to remain productive with their study or career. But, most of us do not understand our own sleeping patterns. We either under-sleep or over sleep both of them result in tiredness and unproductive days. Here are some simple tips to sleep smart and awake fresh every day.

1. Understand the essentials – Stuck with a deadline? Need to burn mid-night-oil and work day and night to finish a work? You are doing more harm than you can imagine to yourself by losing sleep. Sleep is good for your brain and it will keep you in good physical condition. Sleep is a great stress-reliever and sleep is a good natural medicine.

2. Duration of sleep – I know some people who sleep for just 4 hours every night but feel fresh and I also know some people who sleep for more than 10 hours and still awake tired. You just need to find out the duration of sleep that you need. Go to bed when you feel sleepy and wake up when you feel fresh.

3. Understand your sleep cycles – we all sleep in regular cycles. Each sleep cycle lasts for 90 minutes (that is 1 and half hour) and then we wake up from the sleep, it continues until daybreak. Maintain a sleep journal and note down what time you go to sleep and set your alarm, adjusting for the 90 minute cycles. When you awake in the middle of a sleep cycle, you would naturally would fall back to sleep. Adjust your alarm accordingly.

4. Sleep routine – follow a sleep routine every day. Stop watching television or using computers at least 1 hour before you hit your bed. This will give enough rest to your eyes and will alert your brain that you are ready for sleep. Drink a glass of warm water, dim the bedroom lights or do a routine set of tasks so that you will fall into a good night’s sleep every day. Don’t alter it even for the weekends.

5. Avoid daytime naps – some people say a quick nap during daytime will keep you refreshed. But, I would advocate that you sleep only during a specific time during night.

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5 Tips for sleeping smart