Sleeping tips or how to get up early?

A casual conversation with a colleague gave me an idea to write a compilation of my observations and knowledge that once helped me at the time to move to a stable sleep.

Why is healthy sleep so important?

• During sound sleep in the night-time period (from 23:00 to 4:00), melatonin is produced in the human body. Its absence can lead to type 2 diabetes.
• During sleep, brain undergoes neural restructuring process, leading to the assimilation of knowledge and processing of emotional situations.
• During the 8-hour sleep a healthy person burns about 1500 calories. Lack of sleep causes storing unburnt calories and weight gain.
• A person who has lack of sleep is experiencing a shortage of energy, which is compensated by an increased appetite, also leading to fattening.
• Abnormal sleep can cause bipolar disorder.

It is worth remembering that sleeping needs are changing over the years. There's been a lot of research and debates on the subject. I adhere to the idea that it is better to sleep 8 hours. However, I came across a study in which researchers examined the need for sleep at different ages. Here are their results:

• 20-30 years: 7.23 hours.
• 40-55 years: 6.83 hours.
• 66-83 years: 6.51 hours.

After I clarified the importance of healthy sleep, it is time now to talk about how to get enough sleep and come to work on time. It is no secret that in order to get used to that and and to have a good sleep - you need to go to bed early. So we need to calculate time to find out when to go to sleep and when to wake up, so that it is comfortable for us to get ready to go. To do this you need to calculate:

• Time spent on the road. For example: 1 hour.
• Packing time (shower, breakfast, water, gymnastics). For example: 30 minutes.
• Sleep time. For example, 8 hours.

It turns out that in order to come work at 9:00 you need to go at 23:30.
When a person is tired and had lack of sleep, he or she can go to sleep easily. But what if you do not want to sleep. How to help yourself? Firstly, try to secure a comfortable sleeping conditions:

• Fresh linen;
• Access of the fresh air;
• The normal level of humidity in the room;
• Try to drink at night a glass of clean water, as dry mouth and thirst interferes with sleep. Water must be plain (tea and coffee are not suitable).

To make it easier to go to sleep you need to consider several factors:

• Watching something bright and emotional before going to bed is not recommended.
• If you are overwhelmed by thoughts and plans, it is better to record and leave for the next day.
• Refrain from smoking for 1-2 hours before bedtime.
• It is better to give up alcohol a few hours before bedtime. On the one hand it will be easier to fall asleep, but on the other you won't reach the deep sleep phases, and therefore won't get enough sleep.
• Be careful with tea and coffee before going to bed. Tea has up to 6-8 hours stimulation level. Coffee, if it is a good one - 30 minutes of stimulation, then 2 hours of inhibition. In both cases there is dehydration, which may hinder sleep.
• Stop eating 3-4 hours before bedtime. Since food causes heaviness and gives a certain amount of stamina, it may be difficult to sleep.
• It is perfect, if you are physically tired. It is recommended to make 10,000 steps a day.

If you experience any problems, you should analyze the problems with sleep. Is there anything that can help you? Today there are a lot of applications and devices for sleep logging. They help to gather data and understand why you hace lack of sleep. Information you should gather:

• level of CO2 / O - the less oxygen and more carbon dioxide is in the room, the worse your sleep will be.
• noise level - noises attract our attention and take us to a light sleep phase.
• level of illuminance - bright light activates the nervous system and takes people to a light sleep phase.