The Concise Guide to Sleeping Well
There are three fundamental elements to feeling well both physically and emotionally: being active during the day (for many of us, especially those with office jobs, it means going in for sports regularly), eating healthy and sleeping well. Only when these three are taken care of we can speak of trying to reach our peak potential. I have created this concise guide after a lot of reading, researching and talking with sports and military specialists about the benefits and the hygiene of sleep. I have tried to keep it as brief as possible for the ease of referencing.
This is what it is: practical advice to help you sleep well, packed into a 10-minutes read. My main advice would be to save it, reference it regularly and, of course, follow it.
The Importance of Sleeping Well
“In the head of the interrogated prisoner a haze begins to form. His spirit is wearied to death, his legs are unsteady, and he has one sole desire: to sleep … Anyone who has experienced this desire knows that not even hunger and thirst are comparable with it.” 1
~ Menachem Begin on the experience of sleep deprivation torture in a KGB prison
1. Sleep affects our learning abilities
Which means that it affects the whole spectrum of activities that can be mastered: sciences, music, sports, and even much more trivial, such as driving or reading. Sleep helps to enhance learning and problem-solving skills. Sleep also directly influences the attention span, the quality of decision making, and creativity. It goes without saying, that with the ability of focusing attention weakened the learning process, again, is going to suffer. Problems with sleep also lead to a weakened memory: overworked brain neurons stop functioning properly, and a person starts to lose their ability to access previously learned information.
2. Sleep affects problem solving and decision making skills
3. Emotion stability depends on the quality of sleep
Those who don’t get enough sleep suffer from emotional instability: much higher level of stress, negative mindset, disturbed mood, which inevitably lowers everyday life experience.
4. Sleep deficiency increases risk of obesity
Those who sleep less than they need are subjects to weight gain. It is confirmed both by scientific researches and statistics. People who don’t get enough sleep are about 55% more likely to become obese.
Among the reasons why sleep has such an effect on weight gain are hormones (read more about it below) and motivation. Sleep helps to maintain a healthy balance of the hormones that make us feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin). When a person doesn’t get enough sleep, the level of ghrelin goes up and the level of leptin goes down, which makes them feel hungrier than if they were well-rested.
To put it all together, if we want to stay in shape, we have to sleep well.
5. Insufficient sleep increases risk of diabetes
Poor sleep affects body reaction to insulin, the hormone that controls blood glucose (sugar) level. Sleep deficiency leads to a higher than normal blood sugar level, problems with insulin elaboration, which may lead to type 2 diabetes.
6. Our immune system relies on sleep
During sleep immune system releases certain type of proteins that help body to fight infections and recover from illnesses. Our body needs at least 7–8 hours of sleep to fight infectious diseases. And, of course, with enough sleep we are much more protected from catching a common cold.
7. Poor sleepers have greater risk of heart disease and stroke
Those who sleep less than 7 hours a day are at far greater risk of heart disease or stroke.
8. Sleep quality influences our level of happiness
Daniel Kahneman and other scientists conducted a study of almost a thousand working women daily routines. It confirmed that a poor night’s rest affected their level of happiness more than, for instance, stress at work, and it had even bigger impact on mood than significant income differences in the group. Indeed, poor sleep is able to ruin a day.
9. Better sleep = better sex
Sleep is beautiful and restorative: sleep increases testosterone level, which is beneficial for both men and women. On the contrary, not getting enough sleep lowers libido and may cause sexual problems.
10. Good sleep affects skin
Poor sleep and chronic skin problems go together. Those who sleep well recover better after ultraviolet light exposure. They also show fewer signs of aging.
11. Inadequate sleep can spoil our relationships with others
Inadequate sleep impair our ability to appreciate our partners and loved ones, which leads to stress and tension in our relationships. Less sleep means fewer feelings of gratitude and higher level of selfishness, both of which can make a friend or a partner feel unacknowledged and underappreciated.
12. Healthy sleep builds muscles
As we sleep, energy consumption is lowered, allowing us to use the high-quality food we eat during the day to more efficiently build muscle. Growth hormone is naturally released, improving muscular recovery and regeneration.
~Michael Schletter, C.P.T. 2
***
I didn’t make a goal to cite here as much reasons for why sleep is important as possible. I am sure there are more, but I would like to think that these twelve is more than enough to move to the next part of the article.
Myths about Sleep that should not be Believed
1. Everyone needs ideally eight hours of sleep
Everyone has different sleep needs. Also, the quality of sleep should be taken into account as well.
2. More sleep is always better
Oversleeping has a lot of side effects.
3. For some people 4 hours of sleep is enough
There is only a smallest fraction of population with rare genetic mutation on the gene DEC2, which indeed makes a person to become a “short sleeper”. Most of the people claiming they do not need more than six hours of sleep just do not yet feel the harm.
4. Waking up at night points to a bad sleep quality
Waking up at night may be a part of a person’s natural cycle, even if for 1–2 hours.
5. We can catch up on sleep on weekends
Unfortunately, it is not working this way. Chronic sleep insufficiency cannot be eliminated during couple of days.
6. Sleeping pills are harmless
‘Hypnotics’ increase risk of death and cancer. Doctors may still prescribe them, but you should be aware of the severity of side-effects.
7. Daytime sleepiness always means you don’t get enough sleep
It is possible to feel sleepy during daytime even if we get enough sleep. Sometimes it targets to an underlying medical condition or to a serious sleep disorder.
8. Pulling an all-nighter is not harmful
We’re really starting to realize that when we skip sleep, we may be doing irreparable damage to the brain, prematurely aging it or setting it up for heightened vulnerability to other insults.
~Sigrid C. Veasey, M.D. 3
9. Naps are only for kids
Naps during daytime can help the brain to recharge a bit and to improve learning abilities. Even sitting or laying down quietly without sleeping can benefit memory.
10. Never wake up a sleepwalker
On the contrary, waking up a sleepwalker could save their life.
11. Energy drinks gives additional energy
The effect energy drinks produce is largely down to two ingredients: caffeine and sugar, so the same effect by drinking coffee. As for taurine, it may even produce a mild sedative effect.
12. Counting sheep helps to fall asleep
Surprising, but scientists from Oxford University‘s Department of Experimental Psychology decided to check if this claim was right or wrong. Well, we can stop counting sheep.
What is Good Sleep?
I will not talk about methodologies of sleep quality screening, and will only provide an easy-to-observe guide consisting of several points. If you’d like to know more, you can check this Natural Patterns of Sleep material from Harvard Medical School.
This is what healthy sleep looks like:
→ You fall asleep within 15–20 minutes of lying down to sleep
→ You wake up feeling refreshed
→ You have no troubles getting out of bed in the morning
→ You feel alert, fully conscious and productive during the waking hours
→ Your partner or family members do not notice any disturbing or out of the ordinary behavior from you while you sleep, such as snoring, pauses in breathing, restlessness, or other kinds of nighttime behaviors.
Rules to Follow to Sleep Better
During the day:
- Have a sleep schedule and stick to it
Get up and go to sleep at the same time every day, weekends included. Consistency reinforce body’s sleep-wake cycle and helps promote better sleep at night.
- Manage the stress level
Stress prevents us from sleeping healthy. It is not easy to cease control of it, but it can help to start with basics: get organized, try to improve your prioritizing abilities, delegate things. Allow yourself to take a break when you need it and take some time for yourself.
- Regular physical activity is crucial
Physical activity, whether it is fitness, rowing, playing squash or just walking for at least 5 km a day promotes better sleep, helping to fall asleep faster and to enjoy deeper sleep.
- Limit daytime naps
15 or 30 minutes for a nap is enough. Also, make it during midafternoon.
4-6 hours before sleep:
- Do not drink coffee less than 6 hours before sleep
You may still fall asleep pretty quick, but quality of your sleep will be significantly lower.
- Stay away from alcohol late at night
It also will not help you to sleep better.
- Be careful with what you eat
Avoid spicy, heavy and artificially sweetened food as well as soft drinks.
30–60 minutes before sleep:
- Avoid intense working out
Everyone reacts differently to intense physical activity, but general rule is to take shower after working out at least 60 minutes before going to sleep.
- Do something relaxing
It can be sex or something that will let your body and mind to relax: walking outside, reading a book, listening to relaxing music.
- Don’t use your smartphones, tablet or laptop
This is bad because of so-called ‘blue light’ that is the most melatonin-supressive. And melatonin is a hormone that helps your body to fall asleep. At least you can use special software that eliminated a significant amount of blue light from your screen — for example, f.lux.
Your room, your bed and your body:
- Your room should be dark and quiet during the night
All types of light disrupt your sleep. Close windows, close doors, use window covers, wear a mask. And generally it is a bad idea to sleep whith your music playing in the background. But you can listen to it before.
- Keep the temperature in your room a bit colder than usual
Around 65–68 Fahrenheit (18.5–20 Celsius) is considered the best for a good night’s sleep.
- Keep your bed for bed activities
Don’t let your mind associate your bed with anything except sleep and sex. Read, work and eat popcorn somewhere else. Just kidding, don’t eat popcorn, it is full of carbs.
- If you can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes, don’t stay in bed
The bed is for bed activities.
The most grivous thing about sleeping is that there is no way to cheat your body. If one of the principles of the good sleep is broken, it will inevitably lead to health problems, and to lower effectiveness and productivity. There is absolutely no reason to not strive to make the sleeping hygiene as good as it possibly can be.
References
- Otterman, Michael. American Torture: From the Cold War to Abu Ghraib and Beyond. London: Pluto Press, 2007.
- Sleep Your Way to More Muscle, Men’s Journal
- Goodnight. Sleap Clean, The New York Times