“Hit the pillow, it’s good for you.”
Young professionals brag about getting by on four hours of sleep. Boomers accept interrupted sleep as a fact of life. Wrong. Very wrong.
You need your sleep to:
- Protect your heart. Sleep releases stress and allows the body to re-calibrate.
- Protect your waist. You eat when you are tired. And, your exhausted mind excuses it.
- Increase productivity. When you are well-rested, you perform better.
- Increase coordination and reaction time.
When you lack sleep, “you drink more caffeine and that makes you hungrier,” said Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Martha Grogan.
To get a good night’s sleep:
- Turn off your computer.
- Avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening.
- Avoid alcohol less than three hours before bed.
- A snack is OK but avoid a big meal late in the evening.
- Have sex. Intimacy helps you sleep, according to experts at the Mayo Clinic.
In addition to getting off the work treadmill by leaving emails closed until morning, there is a scientific reason to step away from electronic screens so you can wind down to sleep. The light from the screen of electronic devices blocks melatonin, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Melatonin is a hormone produced by the brain to let you know it’s nighttime. When you scroll through Facebook one last time, the light coming from the screen blocks nature’s way of helping you fall asleep and stay asleep. A book or magazine is a better way to relax. For more, check out our article: Do your devices keep you up at night?
“You should not feel guilty that you need sleep. It’s not a badge of honor that you only need four hours of sleep. The vast majority needs around seven,” said Grogan.
A confirmed night owl, the cardiologist is training herself to go to bed earlier.
“We get our kids into a bedtime routine, why don’t we do that as adults?” asked Grogan. “I tell myself, I’ll worry about it in the morning.”
