Sleep is so important. It is vital in learning, development, and memory consolidation. It impacts how clearly you think, how attentive you are, and poor sleep can have significant short and long-term health consequences. It impacts your cardiovascular system, blood pressure, hormones, metabolism, immune system, and respiratory system. It also has short and long-term consequences on your mental health.
Research shows that people who sleep 5 hours or less have a 2.5-fold higher chance of developing depression (compared to those who sleep 5-9 hours). Interesting, there was also a link with sleep too much and increased depression- people who sleep more than 9 hours have a 1.5-fold higher chance of developing depression in the short term. So how to get that elusive “magical” amount of sleep?
Some ideas include:
- Set a schedule- have a fixed sleep time and a fixed wake-up time (regardless of if it’s a weekday or weekend). This will keep your sleep consistent
- Prioritize sleep (even if you are currently binge-watching a really good TV show)
- Make small changes. Making broad changes to your sleep hygiene is not sustainable
- Watch how many naps you are taking and try to keep them to the early afternoon
- Maintain a consistent nightly routine- same order of events (teeth, pajamas, etc.)
- Keep your lights dim- brighter lights can hinder the production of melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that helps facilitate sleep
- Build in a 30-60 minute buffer between electronics and sleep
- Relaxation methods (deep breathing, meditation, journaling)
- Do all of the healthy things- get daylight, exercise, eat right, avoids drugs and alcohol, cut down on caffeine, don’t eat too late at night
- Make sure your sleeping space is comfortable
Some resources:
https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/sleep_hygiene.html
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene