Sleep well – you can do it!
Deep relaxed sleep is a wonderful thing and an absolute prerequisite for good health and performance. Too little or disturbed sleep is detrimental to your well-being and output. The following tips will help you achieve optimal sleep quality – for restful nights and active days.
Do you sleep soundly? Do you sleep deeply like a bear in the winter? Or do you start like a nervous horse at the slightest disturbance? Everyone sleeps differently. The proverbial larks and night owls represent only a rough division into morning and evening people. Then there are the long sleepers and the short sleepers, the dreamers, the dozers and the snorers. Unlike in the animal world, human sleep habits aren't simply innate. Stressful circumstances and our lifestyles can sometimes make sleep pretty difficult. You will sleep well and better by following these tips.
Do you sleep soundly? Do you sleep deeply like a bear in the winter? Or do you start like a nervous horse at the slightest disturbance? Everyone sleeps differently. The proverbial larks and night owls represent only a rough division into morning and evening people. Then there are the long sleepers and the short sleepers, the dreamers, the dozers and the snorers. Unlike in the animal world, human sleep habits aren't simply innate. Stressful circumstances and our lifestyles can sometimes make sleep pretty difficult. You will sleep well and better by following these tips.
Most adults need between seven and nine hours sleep per night. If they get less, their metabolism changes and their craving for high-energy foods rises to meet their energy requirements. One hour of sleep deficit means an additional 140 calories. Sleep deprivation also reduces performance and increases stress. The risk of infection also rises.
How can we find out how much sleep we need? Go to bed at the same time for a week and don't set an alarm for the morning. In the first one or two days you will sleep longer to make up for your sleep deficit. Once your natural wake-up time has settled in, you can work out your ideal sleep duration.
How can we find out how much sleep we need? Go to bed at the same time for a week and don't set an alarm for the morning. In the first one or two days you will sleep longer to make up for your sleep deficit. Once your natural wake-up time has settled in, you can work out your ideal sleep duration.
People used to get up at sunrise and go to bed when it got dark. Today, thanks to electric light, we have permanent daytime. This is amazingly practical, but it disturbs our natural sleep rhythms because daylight boosts the release of serotonin. If there is too little of it, the level of the sleep hormone melatonin is reduced and we find it difficult to get to sleep.
Recommendation: Go out into the daylight for at least half an hour every day. If this is not possible or if the sky is constantly overcast, buy a daylight lamp with 10,000 lux and sit in front of it for 20 to 30 minutes a day.
Recommendation: Go out into the daylight for at least half an hour every day. If this is not possible or if the sky is constantly overcast, buy a daylight lamp with 10,000 lux and sit in front of it for 20 to 30 minutes a day.
Blue light from computers and cell phones late at night interferes with melatonin production and inhibits the urge to sleep. If you want to look at a screen late at night, you should definitely install a blue light filter or get some glasses that have the same effect. However, switching off your computer and mobile phone at least one hour before going to bed is much more effective. After all, it's not just the light from the device that robs us of sleep, it's also the content. So, if you avoid news, tweets and feeds in the evening, then you're sure to sleep more soundly.
A cup of coffee in the afternoon: how delicious and well deserved! After the midday slump, it perks you up for the afternoon. But please, not after 15:00! Caffeine, the stimulant in coffee, has a half-life of seven hours. In other words, after this time, half of the caffeine is still present in the blood and will hinder any thought of sleep. By the way, black tea, green tea, coke and energy drinks also have this effect on sensitive people.
Alcohol doesn't behave the same way as caffeine, but it will disrupt your sleep architecture just the same. If you don't want your liver working overtime at night, be sure to enjoy your nightcap in moderation.
Alcohol doesn't behave the same way as caffeine, but it will disrupt your sleep architecture just the same. If you don't want your liver working overtime at night, be sure to enjoy your nightcap in moderation.
Our ancestors swore by a glass of milk with honey before they went to bed. The protein in milk contains the amino acid L-tryptophan. And this is a real sleeping pill, because it is converted in the central nervous system into the happiness neurotransmitter serotonin and the sleep hormone melatonin. However, milk contains only a tiny amount of L-tryptophan. There is much more of it in some cheeses (e.g. parmesan, Emmental, Edam and brie), in cashew nuts, lentils, green beans and chickpeas, and in eggs. Attention: If you want serotonin to be produced, you should eat some carbohydrates at the same time. Or, instead of eating a whole meal, at least have a glass of milk with honey.
A bedtime story is perfect for children. Long before the prince and princess have found each other, the children have closed their eyes and are already in dreamland. Reading aloud should work equally well for adults. The only question is: Who reads to whom? Perhaps an audio book CD with short stories would make a good alternative?
To banish stressful thoughts from the realm of sleep, we recommend that you place a ban on news after a certain time every day. If you have jobs to do on the following day, write them down on a piece of paper and put them out of your mind.
To banish stressful thoughts from the realm of sleep, we recommend that you place a ban on news after a certain time every day. If you have jobs to do on the following day, write them down on a piece of paper and put them out of your mind.
If you haven't tried it already, you won't believe it. In fact, yawning is a really simple and effective relaxation technique: stretching your facial muscles gradually makes the brain relax. By the way, yawning, like laughing, can be done deliberately. You don't have to wait for a yawn to arrive on its own. Eight deliberate yawns act almost like a collective sleeping pill. Try it out – but not at work!
