For insomniacs whose profession now forces them to fight and make every precious hour of sleep count, here are some tips that work well for all:
- Consistency: Keep the time that you go to bed and wake up constant. This includes weekends — don't change these parameters by more than an hour total per day if at all possible.
- Time: Make whatever adjustments you need to sleep 7-8 hours/night. Sleep is one of the biggest (and most underrated) factors in health, performance, and happiness. Respect your need for sleep, and trust, many other things will just fall in place.
- Sleep cycles: Monitor your sleep cycles, and try your best not to get up in the middle of one.
- Exercise: 30 min/day in some form or fashion is amazing. Sleep status synergizes with energy levels, and exercise seems to help me remain constant.
- Food: Small meals/snacks spread throughout the day avoid food comas and subsequent hijacking of usual sleep patterns. Most people eat way more in one sitting than their body needs — so learn to read your body's signals and realize when you're not actually hungry anymore.
- Comfort: Make sure your bed is comfortable, that your thermostat isn't set too low/high, that your pillow supports your head at the appropriate level for your sleeping position (back, side, etc), etc. This makes a huge difference.
- Practice: Good sleep patterns require effort just like anything else. Take your sleep seriously, and it will pay off in every aspect of your life!
Courtesy: medicaldaily.com
