One of the most important, most beneficial activity that helps restore our body functions is the simple act of sleep. Matthew Walker PhD – one of the leading scientists on sleep in the world outlines the importance of sleep in his book “Why We Sleep?” and his famous TED talk, and his science and research brought him to create easy, simple, and evidence-based tips and tricks for easier falling asleep and better overall sleep.
These tricks will help you if you have troubles falling asleep or keep uninterrupted sleep, however, even for those heavy sleepers out there, these tips and tricks can come in handy if you are ever faced with a sleepless night.
The first six of the twelve tips, also found in his book are as follows:
- Stick to a sleep schedule. In other articles on this website, we talked about the circadian rhythm. It seems difficult, especially on a weekend when we like to sleep in – however, going to sleep and waking up at the same time allows our bodies to enjoy this restful activity even more, and feel the real benefits of falling asleep and waking up faster.
- Do not exercise late at night. Especially cardio exercises. When we do any physical activity our blood pressure gets higher, and our brain chemistry changes. Although beneficial during the day, the excitement the brain finds itself in makes it harder to fall asleep. So – keep the exercise schedule at an earlier time of day.
- Avoid caffeine and nicotine. Although caffeine after 4pm is bad for the brain’s ability to fall asleep, caffeine and nicotine in general may cause trouble when falling asleep. Both serving as stimulants to the brain, keep away from these substances for healthy sleep habits. Plus – apart from being addictive, nicotine carries many health risks.
- Lay off the alcohol, especially before bed. You will often hear people talking about alcohol making them sleepy. While there is truth in this, having an alcoholic beverage robs you from the depth of the very beneficial REM stage (discussed in another article), and tends to keep you in the lighter stages of sleep.
- Avoid heavy and large meals at night, including drinking beverages. Large meals make it more difficult to fall asleep, and many beverages can make you urinate more frequently which accounts for waking up often during the night.
- Be smart when taking medicines. A lot of prescription medications for blood pressure, cough, allergy medications and the like have the ability to disrupt your sleep. Talk to your healthcare provider about accommodating the times to take these medicines so they are not taken close to or immediately before bed.
Goran Stevanovski MD, MA
