Quality sleep supports your performance and well-being every day. You don't have to sleep 8 hours to get enough sleep and feel great every morning.
Sleep supports the health of the immune system, helps the body to repair itself, and ensures the normal functioning of brain functions such as speech, memory, thinking. Read the tips from the book "The Source of Energy" and you will see that quality sleep is not a luxury in the modern world. To get enough sleep and feel great every morning, you do not need to sleep 8 hours, it is much more important to properly prepare for bed and have a positive attitude after waking up.
Try 6 hours sleep
Eight hours of sleep is a common paradigm for quality, healthy sleep. But the question of quantity is not so straightforward. For example, Kripke's six-year study of more than a million people between the ages of 30 and 102 found that people who sleep six to seven hours a night have lower mortality rates than those who sleep. who sleeps eight or more hours a day.
You should get rid of the mental attitude that you need to sleep for at least eight hours. Forget about this prejudice for a couple of weeks and try to get enough sleep in less time by getting up 10 minutes earlier every day. In this way, bring the duration of sleep to 6 hours.
Don't make sleep deprivation a problem
People often look at their watches before going to bed and immediately after waking up to calculate how much sleep they have to or managed to get. Depending on the outcome, they determine how tired they should feel.
If you went to bed late or slept poorly at night, that does not mean that the whole day should be ruined. As soon as you stop thinking about it, you will notice that fatigue or the desire to sleep recedes. All you need is a positive attitude. Find reasons to be happy, and the joy and excitement can help you cope with periods of sleep deprivation.
Practice switching between feeling fatigued and energized. Try to let go of the thought "I am tired" or replace it with the thought "I feel cheerful and energetic." By focusing on what you feel refreshed, energized, or inspired, you trigger those sensations - and fatigue disappears!
Relax before bed
The main factor that reduces the quality of sleep is an overworked brain or a stressed body. Anything that stimulates mental activity, such as anxiety, watching a thriller, or surfing the Internet, can put your brain into an active state, which will affect the quality of your night's rest.
A good way to relieve tension is to do a simple stretch or do some yoga exercises.
Relaxation exercise
Go to bed.
Breathe in your belly. Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, make sure that the stomach is actively involved in this, and the chest remains practically motionless.
Tighten your entire body.
Continuing to breathe with your stomach, relax and turn your attention first to your calves, then to your knees, hips, pelvis, groin, buttocks, abdominal muscles, chest, back, shoulders, wrists, forearms, hands, neck, throat, head, eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Pay special attention to the skull and brain. Check that every muscle is relaxed.
Get ready for bed wisely
To get a good rest, minimize the stress on the body.
Avoid drinking coffee four hours before bed.
Give up alcohol. You will fall asleep, but you will not be able to fall into deep, relaxing sleep.
Try not to work or surf the Internet before bed. Working and surfing the Internet can keep your mind highly active, making it harder to fall asleep.
Avoid sleeping pills. Sleeping pills will help you fall asleep, but it will not induce deep sleep and will be addictive.
Don't exercise before bed. Vigorous physical activity for one to two hours before bedtime has a stimulating effect and raises the body temperature. It is good when you are awake, but in order to fall asleep quickly, it is better to exercise in the morning, afternoon or early evening.
Go to bed only when you feel tired. Your brain associates bed with sleep. If you are trying to sleep without feeling tired, not only are you wasting your time, but you are also weakening this associative array.
Don't read or watch TV 2 hours before bed.
Dim the lights and ventilate the bedroom well one hour before bed.
Go to bed with a clear head; if you don't let go of your anxious thoughts, your brain will remain in the alpha state and will not be able to go into the delta state. Freewriting will help free your head.
Exercise "Unloading the brain" (freewriting)
Write down everything that keeps you awake. You can use some of the following hints:
What keeps me awake?
Which of the problems I am facing I cannot solve?
What worries or concerns do I have?
What urgent task do I need to solve?
Divide the resulting items into two categories:
Questions with which you are able to do something. Plan these activities in your day planner.
Anything that you think you currently can't handle, for which you don't have an obvious solution. Convert these points to questions. By doing so, you will tune your mind to find a solution.
After that, give yourself the instruction that there is nothing to worry about, because everything you need to do is already planned and soon all problems will be solved.
If you sleep well and feel tired at the same time, you may have unconscious fears about the future. Ask yourself: How do I see my future? Am I looking forward to it? Or do I fear him, resist him and see him just like “another ordinary day”?
What we think about sleep has a big impact on the quality of sleep and provides a framework for our feeling of fatigue. Stop worrying, do a series of preparatory steps, and you'll fall asleep easier, sleep better, recover faster, and accomplish a lot more during your waking hours.
