Summer is the perfect time to get back on track with your sleep schedule, but it's not always easy to do. Check out the following steps to find the best regimen for your eight hours a night.
1. Develop a sleep schedule.
It may not sound helpful, but most young adults tend to have variable bedtimes as well as waking times, making it difficult for your body to adhere to its internal clock. Establishing a regular sleep pattern will allow your circadian rhythms to operate in your favor.
2. Calculate your sleep time.
Sleep cycles occur in approximately 90 minute intervals, and waking up in the middle of one can increase grogginess in the morning. Using a website such as http://sleepyti.me/ can help you figure out the best times for you to fall asleep so that you won’t wake up mid-cycle. If this tactic doesn’t work, you can also use apps like SleepBot that slowly increase volume to gradually pull you out of deep sleep.
3. Take Naps.
Naps are a good way of improving your mood, feeling more alert, and getting a bit more energy during the day. The National Sleep Foundation recommends a nap time of around 20-30 minutes before 5 p.m. to minimize grogginess and maximize sleep drive later on.
4. Get to know melatonin.
Melatonin, a.k.a. the supplement your friend told you to take when you complained about not being able to sleep, is a hormone released by your pineal gland to help regulate your sleep schedule. Its release into your body depends on your exposure to light (i.e. more light = less melatonin). This means that the more light you have in your room, or the more you look at your phone at night, the less melatonin your body will produce, in turn suppressing your sleep for the night. So at night, dim your lights, turn your phone off, and make sure you’re sleeping in the darkest setting possible to maintain melatonin production.
5. Find what works for you.
Our knowledge of the physiological processes involved in sleep is still evolving every day, so while there are many ways for you to utilize this knowledge, what’s important is how your body responds to what you’re doing. Most people have a sleep schedule that is monophasic (taking one period of sleep at night), while others have have biphasic and polyphasic schedules. Maybe working out at night has helped you sleep better in the past, maybe eating pepperoni pizza late at night keeps you up, or maybe you absolutely have to have a glass of strawberry milk every night to fall asleep. Different strokes for different folks. What’s important is that you take it upon yourself to find out what works for you.
