6 Proven Pieces Of Advice To Help You Get Sufficient Sleep In Less Time

Written by Tanya Arora  • 

Is sleep eluding you like a mirage in the desert? You’re not alone. What with today’s fast-paced lifestyle, sleep could pretty much qualify as an ‘endangered species’ if it had a body of its own! These days, staying up late to scroll endless pages of social media and getting up early to go to work are pretty much the norm. Which, to put it bluntly, means there’s no time left for sleep!

Lack of sleep can lead to major exhaustion though and even other side effects such as confusion, headaches, dizziness, etc. Hence, squeezing in enough hours of sleep is an absolute must. If you don’t know how to do that due to your hectic schedule, you need to read the 6 proven tips we have in store for you.

But First The Basics!

To get some much-needed sleep, you need to know the mechanisms of a deep slumber. As scientists would say, sleep is divided into four distinct phases or stages (1).

  • Stage 1 is of light sleep, lasting 5-10 mins.
  • Stage 2 is when both your body temperature and heart rate decrease, lasting 20 mins.
  • Stage 3 is of deep sleep, when your body eliminates toxins and repairs itself. It typically lasts 30-40 mins.
  • Stage 4 is of dreamy slumber, lasting 5-60 mins.

Ideally, your 3rd stage of sleep should be the longest as that will make you feel well-rested and fresh the next day. So, maximizing this stage should be your aim. That being said, two things are extremely important if you want to sleep well:

  • Your body temperature should be low at night. A high temperature is not conducive to sleep as your body activity increases, preventing you from drifting off. To keep things cool, make sure your room temperature is low.
  • Darkness should surround you. When your eyes perceive darkness, they produce the sleep hormone ‘melatonin,’ which is destroyed if exposed to light (2). Melatonin reaches peak production between 11pm and 4am every day, so that’s the best time to sleep.

Now, let’s move on to the 6 proven tips to get maximum sleep in less time!

1. Wake Up At The Same Time Daily

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If work days demand that you wake up at 7am every morning, you shouldn’t suddenly change your routine or non-work days by waking up late. That means you should wake up at 7am even during the weekends and holidays. The reason why this is important is because it helps your body form the habit of sleeping and waking up at the same time. Consequently, the brain understands that it only has these fixed hours to repair and restore the body.

2. Wake Up When You’re Fast Asleep

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Another great time to wake up is when you’re in the fast sleep stage. You can do this by employing a couple of tricks. For example, you could use an advanced alarm app as they’ll tell you when this stage occurs based on your sleep cycle, so you can set an alarm accordingly. You could also try waking up at the same time regularly, depending on when you find it easiest to wake up.

3. Stay Away From Sleep-Disturbing Factors

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Three things can disrupt your sleep: temperature, humidity, and light. The perfect humidity level for sound sleep is 45-70%. So, make sure you set your humidifier to this level when you sleep. As for temperature, the ideal is around 15-19°C (3). This is the temperature you should set your AC at. When it comes to light, we’ve already mentioned its importance. Pitch dark is perfect, which means no night lamps or street lights coming in through the window.

4. Work Out In The Morning

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Working out not only makes your body more efficient but also raises its temperature so you stay active throughout the day. It might seem difficult to exercise in the morning at first, but nudging yourself a little and starting small (only 10-15 mins of exercise) can go a long way! Also, try indulging in physical activities during the daytime itself. This is because, after sunset, exercising could disrupt your sleep due to a high body temperature and heart rate.

5. Skip Certain Foods

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Some particular food items can come in the way of you and your sleep. If you want to experience sweet slumber, you should stop having foods and drinks such as energy bars or sports drinks, alcohol, coffee, green tea, greasy meals, and even cigarettes (4).

6. Try A Few More Things…

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A couple of other neat tricks can induce slumber and help you sleep better. These include drinking plenty of water throughout the day, showering before bed (with cool, not cold water) to lower your body temperature, waking up to plenty of natural light, and using an orthopedic pillow to reduce the chances of disrupted sleep due to aches and pains.

These tips combined will surely help you get sufficient and quality sleep in the little time you get each day. Give them a shot to be pleasantly surprised!

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