Below is Dr. Jade Wu, sleep expert and author of an upcoming book. hello sleep, shares bad sleep habits they suggest avoiding in order to set yourself up for an optimal snooze. As a refresher, getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep each night will help you focus, boost your mood, regulate your blood pressure, and keep your immune system at peak performance. and other benefits.
4 Surprising But Common Bad Sleep Habits That May Be Preventing You from Closing Your Eyes, According to a Sleep Doctor
1. Random naps
Just like hunger and appetite, sleep needs (how much sleep your body and brain need) have limits. As a result, just as snacking kills your appetite, randomly napping throughout the day eats it up. According to Dr. Wu, when it’s time to go to bed at night, there’s less desire for sleep than you need to eventually easily snooze. “This is especially true if you take long naps during the day or naps in the evening (for example, nodding your head while watching TV after dinner),” she says.
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That being said, it’s not all Naps are considered a bad sleep habit, says Dr. Wu. Rather, what happens later in the day unplanned or over a long period of time disrupts the circadian rhythm (confuses the body about when to go to sleep and when to wake up) and again reduces overall sleep motivation. There is a possibility. If you want to take a nap, take a power nap (20 to 30 minutes) sometime during the day before 3 p.m. and try to be consistent throughout the day, she says.
2. Work, study, or watch TV in bed
From a perimeter perspective, if you’re working remotely, it’s a good idea to separate your work from your bed (and your entire bedroom if possible). Work is less likely to affect sleep and leisure time when the two are physically separated. Physiologically speaking, working in bed isn’t the most helpful option for improving posture, posture, or avoiding back pain.
“When you’re used to it, it’s hard to stop your busy brain at night. Alert in the bedroom. —Dr. Jade Wu, sleep expert
But the work-from-bed setup has yet another downside. In other words, sleep. When you’re working in bed, “the brain begins to associate the bed with work and other types of stimuli, and it loses the distinction between work and rest, wakefulness and sleepiness,” says Dr. Wu. So she doesn’t recommend watching TV in bed at night either. especially If what you see is very attractive or attractive, or otherwise tends to make you angry. Alert in the bedroom,” she says.
If possible, keep your bed as a central location for sleeping, sex, snuggling, and reading for leisure, Dr. Wu suggests.
3. Stay in your room all day
Seeing the light of day at least once every day is more than just a boon for mental health. It is also a great aid to your sleep. Your circadian rhythm is set and regulated primarily by light exposure, so seeing at least some of that light during the day will help keep you moving smoothly, but indoors (especially in low light) If you stay in it, you may lose your temper.
The reason for this has to do with the contrast between day and night in light exposure. If the contrast is low (meaning you’re exposed to similar light from day to night while you’re indoors), “the brain confuses time. It makes it harder to fall asleep at night, But if you can increase that contrast by stepping into natural light at some point during the day, your brain will be able to navigate the time of day more effectively. Second, you take the darkening of the night as a cue to sleep, and it’s easier to doze off at that time.
You might think that the artificial lighting in your home is sufficient to provide plenty of light during the day, and therefore provides enough contrast between day and night light exposures, but that’s usually not the case. No. Sunlight is up to 10,000 lux (a measure of illuminance), while most indoor lighting is around 100-200 lux. Don’t go outside even for a minute every day.
Specifically, Dr. Wu suggests stepping into natural light for at least 30 minutes each day. If that’s not possible, he recommends spending as much time as possible by a window with bright sunlight (which can bathe in about 1,000 lux of light).
4. Sleep over for the weekend
It might seem like a smart idea to run a sleep marathon on the weekends to make up for lost sleep during the week. If you go to bed later than usual on weekends, can Delay your wake-up time the next morning to catch a few more zzzs. However, experts advise him not to sleep for more than an hour at most (only if he really feels it necessary) in order not to disturb his circadian rhythm. .
Consider that delaying your sleep schedule to sleep over the weekend is a lot like giving yourself jet lag (hence the term “social jet lag” to describe this scenario that occurs after a late-night outing). ”). “For example, if he goes to bed three hours later than usual on Saturdays and Sundays, it’s like flying from New York to Los Angeles and back every weekend,” says Dr. Wu. Your body and brain are going through changes in time that disrupt your body clock, she says.
Instead, to keep your sleep functioning optimally, “if possible, try to wake up and get out of bed at the same time each day,” says Dr. Wu.
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