Sleep
Typography
Has it happened to you lately that you went to bed and instead of sleeping you rolled over on the bed and couldn't fall asleep? Do you wake up at night? Are you tired in the morning and don't feel like getting up when you need to? These issues may be caused by improper daily habits.
Sleep is one of the basic physiological needs essential for our life. If we sleep six hours or less, we strain and damage our immune system and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. People who don't get enough sleep have double the risk of developing cancer, and poor sleep also significantly contributes to the development of anxiety and depressive disorders. Currently, about one in six people suffer from sleep disorders. Up to twice as many people seek professional help compared to ten years ago.
When we are sleep-deprived, we cause problems not only for ourselves, but also for others. Apart from being unbearable due to our irritability, we can be outright dangerous to others. In recent years, many studies have confirmed that sleep deprivation has a similar effect as alcohol when driving vehicles. If we sleep less than six hours a night, then the risk of a traffic accident doubles. With less than 4 hours of sleep, this risk is almost twelvefold. If a person couldn't sleep the previous night and has been awake for 24 hours, their attention is equivalent to the condition of 1 per mille of alcohol in the blood. Just for interest – if you are driving and a check shows you have a blood alcohol level of more than one per mille, you are committing a criminal offense. Of course, insomnia has a similar effect on work errors or accidents.
And what has been happening to us lately? Nowadays, we are more open to evening entertainment, we often finish work in the evenings, sit at the computer or tablet or in front of the big TV screen. Having something good to eat with a glass of alcohol before going to bed is standard for many people. Going to bed early is not trendy enough, and society's pressure to maximize performance doesn't help much.
How to ensure better sleep and thus improve mood and concentration
2. Be more strict about bedtime planning than the wake-up time – if you need to get up earlier in the morning, go to bed earlier as well – ideally with a certain regularity.
3. Sleep at least 8 hours a day – sleeping on the weekend is less functional, similar to eating very little during the week and trying to "catch up" on food over the weekend.
4. Plan and get at least 30 minutes of exercise daily, but not right before bedtime.
5. Be careful with alcohol before going to bed and with a full plate of goodies.
6. Plan a calm activity before bedtime – reading, playing board games (quiet ones), listening to music.
7. If you spend more than 20 minutes in bed and can't fall asleep, you'd better read in your armchair for a short while. However, remember not to exceed the time when you feel like going to sleep.
8. If you are still dealing with a conflict or taking on a difficult decision in your mind, try mentally switching to another problem that is more solvable and not so emotionally exhausting. This works better than telling yourself ‚I'll think about something nice‘ or ‚I won't think about anything at all.‘
9. Before going to bed, it is better to warm up the body, for example with a hot bath. Getting out of a hot shower into the cooler air can make you feel sleepy.
10. Most authors suggest that 18 - 20°C is the ideal temperature for sleep.
11. Also, consider the lighting in the rooms – ideally, have only light with a luminous flux up to 150 lm in the bedroom, or use smart technology to benefit your sleep – such as biodynamic bulbs.
12. Ideally, 2 hours before bedtime, avoid exposure to blue light – such as all LED sources (tablets, mobile phones, laptops, televisions).
13. If you can't sleep, lie still and don't dwell on the fact that you're still awake. Even just lying with your eyes closed is beneficial for your body, and you'll get some rest that way.
It is important to emphasize that when implementing these tips into your life, you should use common sense and avoid creating an environment where you feel even more frustrated or introduce something that is not realistic for you. Choose as many points as you can realistically achieve, and trust that you will feel better.