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Experts recommend that you don’t just rely on an 8-hour schedule for going to bed. You should first observe your natural sleep rhythm, and then find a schedule that is more suitable for you through regular waking up, light management, and bedroom environment adjustment.
Yahoo News writer Laura Williams wakes up at 6 a.m. every day to send her children to school. She believes she should sleep eight hours, so she insists on going to bed at 10 o’clock every night, but often falls asleep after 11 o’clock. Daniela Marchetti, an expert in behavioral sleep medicine, said that many people work backwards from their wake-up time to their bedtime and assume they need 8 hours of sleep, but few actually achieve it. Doctors recommend using the following steps to find your ideal sleep time.
Yahoo! According to Health Report If you’ve always valued sleep but can’t find a suitable schedule, Ruchir Patel, founder of The Insomnia and Sleep Institute of Arizona, recommends thinking about the time when you naturally fall asleep and wake up on weekends or holidays, especially if you have no responsibilities or reason to wake up on time the next day. Try a few nights and establish ground rules, and take steps to eliminate artificial changes to your sleep schedule. Such as not using an alarm clock, not drinking caffeine after 3 p.m., not taking naps, not using sedatives or stimulants that can make you drowsy or make it difficult to fall asleep at night, and getting at least six to seven hours of sleep a night, you should find a routine after a few nights and set a reasonable bedtime.
It doesn’t matter if your biological clock doesn’t match your work and rest times. You can adjust it through some methods, time and patience. The following are four methods recommended by doctors.
First, wake up at the same time every day, including weekends. Jennifer So, MD, a sleep medicine physician at the University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown Campus, said a regular schedule is one of the most effective ways to keep your circadian rhythm and sleep schedule in sync, especially in the winter when daylight hours are shorter. Devices like sunrise alarm clocks, especially devices with built-in sleep programs that help you wind down at night and wake up with the sun during the day, can effectively help you maintain a regular schedule.
Getting more sunlight in the morning and dimming the lights at night can help strengthen your circadian clock. If sunrise and sunset times don’t match your wake-up and sleep times, devices like light therapy light boxes and blackout curtains can help create the light or dark environment needed to better support your body’s functions.
It is recommended to make your bedroom a private space for sleeping and relaxing only, do absolutely no work in it, and keep it dark and cool, ideally between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit. Investing in high-quality blackout curtains, cool sheets, fans, and using eye masks can also help.
The last step is to use the tracker for observation. Contextual data can help you better understand your schedule, but remember that this is just information and lacks the context of daily life or other personal insights that might help explain patterns. The data should be considered in conjunction with factors such as stress levels, illness or workload that can affect sleep.
Summary FAQ
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Because most people do not actually need or be able to sleep 8 hours of sleep, straightforward reasoning often ignores individual sleep rhythms and actual sleep timing. Conversely, the more you want to go to bed earlier, the more likely you will be unable to sleep.
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You can first observe natural sleeping and waking times on weekends or holidays when there is no alarm clock interference, and eliminate variables such as caffeine, naps, sedatives, etc., and then approximate a fixed schedule after a few consecutive nights.
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Key points include waking up at a fixed time every day, getting more exposure to sunlight in the morning, dimming the lights at night, and keeping the bedroom dark and cool; Trackers can aid in observation, but they should be interpreted with stress, illness, and workload in mind.
