✓ ▪Try to sleep a minimum of seven to a maximum of nine hours of sleep per night: Oversleeping can be as detrimental as sleep deprivation.
✓ ▪Establish regular sleep hours: Try to go to bed and wake up in the morning around the same time every day, even on the weekends.
✓ ▪Go to bed before 11:00 pm: Preferably by 10:00 pm. Our stress glands, the adrenals, recharge between the hours of 11:00 pm and 1:00 am.
✓ ▪Avoid using a loud alarm clock: Waking up suddenly can be a shock to your body. If you are regularly getting enough sleep an alarm clock should be unnecessary. Sleeping though an alarm or requiring an alarm daily indicates you may be sleep deprived. If you do use an alarm, you should awake just before it goes off.
✓ ▪Sleep in complete darkness: Your room should be as dark as possible to maintain balance and have no distraction from light.
✓ ▪Do not turn on the light if you go to the bathroom during the night: Turning on the light, even for just a second, shuts down melatonin production (sleep chemical) and can contribute to sleep deprivation or insomnia.
✓ ▪Turn on the lights or open the blinds as soon as you wake: Allow the daylight and the sounds of the morning to stimulate and wake the brain. This helps to reset your body clock and ensures that your melatonin levels remain on ‘awake’ until the evening.
✓ ▪Ensure adequate exposure to daylight by spending time outside during the day: This also helps to regulate the day and night’s natural cycle on the brain.
✓ ▪Try not to nap during the day or early evening: If you must nap, sleep for no longer than 30 minutes, maximum.
✓ ▪At night, do not work past the point of feeling drowsy: If you’re feeling sleepy while watching television, using the computer or reading, go to bed!
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