Sleep is one of the most fundamental and basic things humans do. Without it, we'd die.
Many find it extremely challenging to not only get an adequate and consistent amount of sleep every night, but to sleep soundly.
Sleep scientist Patrick Fuller, an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, gave us some tips on how best to ensure a good night's sleep every single night.
While some of these strategies may not be feasible for everyone's lifestyle and schedule, Fuller says that deviating from this routine leaves him incredibly unhappy and tired.
Here are 11 things he suggests you do to ensure a restful sleep every single night.
Wake up at the same time every morning — even on weekends
The problem many people have when trying fall asleep is that their sleep schedule isn't a schedule at all, but a free-for-all.
If you wake up at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning and then try to fall asleep later that night to be up for work by 7 a.m. Monday, you're not going to have enough "sleep drive" — or the desire to fall asleep — to hit the hay early enough.
"When people get up later and later, they have less sleep drive and they think, I can't sleep I have insomnia," Fuller said. "Well, no, actually your sleep drive isn't that high."
Waking up at the same time every morning is one of the most important things you can do to get a good night's sleep, Fuller said.
Avoid caffeine and other stimulants past mid-day
At the end of a long work day, it's tempting to turn to that late-afternoon latte to power you through. But avoid that espresso machine at all costs.
Caffeine has a long half-life, meaning that it takes up to six hours to wear off (depending on your genetics), so resist the urge to slurp sodas, coffees, and teas later in the day.
Fuller skips coffee altogether and goes with a much less jolting green tea in the morning, which can have about half as much caffeine as a cup of drip coffee.
"I just prefer tea," Fuller said. "I love the smell of coffee, it just has too much caffeine for me."
He only drinks a little bit at around mid-morning, and never drinks it after noon.
Get at least 20 to 30 minutes of exercise during the day
Exercise is like a magical tonic that can help prevent a variety of ills such as stress, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, and even certain types of cancer.
It's also great for sleep. Studies have shown that morning and afternoon workouts can increase a person's quality and amount of sleep at night.
But try not to do strenuous exercise right before bedtime, as it can boost your body temperature and activate your muscles, making it harder to fall asleep shortly after.
Fuller said that he tries to get in some form of activity every day, even if it's just running stairs or taking a quick jog for 20 to 30 minutes.
"Maintaining some level of physical activity is really important," Fuller said.
Skip the evening booze
Many people find that alcohol is a tempting elixir to help you fall asleep. It relaxes your muscles, calms your nerves, and before you know it you're zonked out.
But beware. Those soporific effects won't last through the night.
"People take booze all the time to go to sleep, and it works," Fuller said. "But the problem is that the alcohol effects wear off and you're stuck in the middle of the night awake, staring at the ceiling. You're already in withdrawal."
In fact, according to the National Institutes of Health, drinking alcohol just before bedtime decreases the amount of time you spend in REM sleep — a deep and restorative phase of sleep.
"It's a bad, bad medicine to use for the purposes of sleep," Fuller said. "If I do have a drink, I try to limit it to one drink. I'll have that closer to dinner time."
Set the sleeping mood
Fuller wakes up every day at an impressive 5:30 a.m. His goal, then, is to be in bed with his eyes closed by 9:30 p.m.
That's a tall order when there are dishes to wash, TV shows to watch, and the internet to surf. In order to set his body's internal clock to prepare it for sleep time, Fuller begins a ritual of dimming the lights about an hour before bedtime.
"My wife thinks I'm a little weird because I start dimming the lights," Fuller said. "But I really feel like it sets the mood for my sleep."
Low light levels help to ramp up the body's natural production of melatonin, a hormone that helps you fall and stay asleep.
Avoid screens an hour before bedtime
Remember how dim lights cause a spike in melatonin production to help you fall asleep? Bright blue light from smartphone and iPad screens completely counteract that effect.
Blue light does this by tricking your brain into thinking it's daytime, causing those sleep-inducing melatonin levels to drop.
Over time, ruined sleep schedules from smartphone light can damage your memory and increase the risk of depression, obesity, and even certain cancers, among other things.
Fuller tries to avoid or at least limit his iPhone use after 8:30 p.m. — an hour before he falls asleep.
Set a 'Goldilocks' temperature
The best temperature for a restful sleep, Fuller says, is between about 68 and 71 Fahrenheit. Sleeping in a room that's either too hot or too cold is a great way to halt the sleep train.
Right before you fall asleep, your body starts powering down by shuttling heat away from itself. In fact, your sleeping temperature is about 1 to 2 deg F cooler than when you were awake. Scientists think this helps conserve energy during slumber so that we can wake up energized and refreshed.
Sleeping in a room that's too hot can significantly halt this process. But you also don't want things to be too cold. If temperatures drop below the optimal sleeping range that can be problematic as well. (Keeping our bodies warm takes energy, after all.)
If things are too warm and you can't cool the room down to sleep, stick your foot out from under the covers. It works, trust me.
Drown out the light
As we've learned, light is the enemy of sleep. When there's light, the body winds down the production of melatonin, which makes you feel alert.
Fuller says to make sure that your room is as dark as possible if you're looking for a restful snooze.
Use your room for only sleep
When you use your room for activities other than sleeping, those can — you know — get in the way of sleep.
Light from televisions, smartphones, computer screens, and tablets can thwart the production of good 'ole melatonin.
Some people also eat in their beds. Crumbs and drippings from food not only dirty your bed sheets, but also feed microbes like fungi, bacteria, and dust mites which can exacerbate allergies and asthma. Eating just before bedtime can also cause acid reflux.
According to Fuller, the bedroom should be used strictly for sleeping and, if you have a partner, sex is fine too. Anything else is an unnecessary distraction.
Hit the hay at the same time every night
As you may have caught on by now, the secret to getting a good night's sleep every single night involves setting up a routine that you stick to.
In order to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when your alarm clock rings (at the same time every morning, right?) you have to go to sleep at the same time every night.
Getting any more or any less sleep than you're used to can throw your whole routine out of whack.
Again, for Fuller, bedtime is 9:30 p.m. so that he can be well-rested by 5:30 a.m.
"My wife teases me and calls me grandpa," Fuller said.
Most importantly, don't obsess over your schedule
While Fuller tries to do this routine every day, he is realistic and does stray from time to time to accommodate, well, life.
"I try not to be neurotic about it," Fuller said. "I try not to be neurotic about anything I do."
But when he does keep up with this routine, he finds that it always pays off.
"As boring as it sounds, I find that when I do this I feel good. I feel happy when I wake up, I feel rested," Fuller said. "If I do have a day where I mess up that schedule, I don't feel like myself the next day. I feel very incentivized to stay on my schedule."
And so should you. Sleep tight!
Tags:insomnia
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