Get better sleep 5 powerful tips from research

Get better sleep 5 powerful tips from researchGet better sleep 5 powerful tips from researchEver have trouble getting to sleep? Or staying asleep? Or you get plenty of shut-eye but youre not refreshed? Everyone wants to get better sleep. But sleep trouble is incredibly common.And feeling tired the next day isnt the half of it. By not getting enough sleepyoure reducing your IQ.ViaBrain Rules 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and SchoolTake an A student used to scoring in the top 10 percent of virtually anything she does. One study showed that if she gets just under seven hours of sleep on weekdays, and about 40 minutes mora on weekends, she will begin to score in the bottom 9 percent of non-sleep-deprived individuals.And losing beauty sleep really does make you less attractive.Seriously. Want to be miserable? Being tired actually makes itharder to be happy.ViaNurtureShockThe result is that sleep-deprived people fail to recall pleasant memories, yet recall gloomy memories just fine.And if thats not enough, lack of sleep could contributeto an early death.ViaNight SchoolThe results, published in 2007, revealed that participants who obtained two hours less sleep a night than they required nearly doubled their risk of death.We need answers before sundown. So I figured Id call somebody who has them.Richard Wisemanis professor of psychology at the University ofHertfordshire and the bestselling author of many books includingNight School Wake up to the power of sleep.On hisYouTube channelhe has a number of great videos including this one onsleep tips.Richard is going to tell you the 1 mistake you make when it comes to sleep, how to take awesome naps, how to get morequality sleep and the surprising secret to why youwake up in the middle of the night. And much more.If youre not too tired to keep reading, lets get to itThe 1 mistake thats screwing up your sleepIf youre already exhausted, heres the main takeaway you need from this interviewYour smartpho ne is the devil. Your iPad is Lucifer. Your TV cackles with glee when you have insomnia. They all give off blue light that your brain mistakes for sunshine. And that tells your grey blob its time to wake up, not go to bed.Stay away from them during the hour before you try to nod off.Heres RichardTen minutes of a smartphone in front of your nose is about the equivalent of an hour long walk in bright daylight.Imagine going for an hour long walk in bright daylight and then thinking, Now Ill get some sleep. It aint going to happen. Inthe middle of the night youwake up and think, Aw, Ill just check Twitter, email or Facebook, and, of course, youre being flooded with thatblue light. Yourenot going to be getting back to sleep very easily for the next hour or so.So your smartphone is the devil? Okay, not really.In fact,sometimesit can be the best friend your sleep schedule has. Huh?When youre dealing with jet lag,I encourage you to indulge in all the blue light device bliss you so urgently crave.Theycan help shift your circadian rhythm forward. Awesome, right? Your phone has a newfeature you didnt even know about. Heres RichardYou can use that blue light to your advantage, because when youre bathed in blue light you become more alert. To get your circadian rhythm where it needs to be in the new time zone you can stimulate yourself with the blue lightfromsmartphonesandiPads.(To learn the 4 things astronauts can teach you about a good nights sleep, clickhere.)Okay, modern technology is a double-edged sword. What else are you doing wrong?A good nightly routine is keyJust like agood morning routineis incredibly powerful, one before bed is a game changer as well. First step?No booze. It seems like it helps but its actually a big no-no.Heres RichardDrinking alcohol an hour or two before you go to bed is not a good idea. Youll fall asleep quicker, but it keeps you out of deep sleep. In the morning you wake up feeling pretty terrible.Richard says thinking positive thoughts be fore you go to bed is helpful and can promote good dreams. One of the biggest things that causes insomnia is thatanxiety about getting to bed.When thoseawful thoughts startrunning through your head at night, try this little game.Heres RichardJust think about a country or a vegetable or a fruit for each letter of the alphabet. You just slowly work your way through and that can take your mind offnegative thoughts.Worryingkeeping you awake? Richard says to keep a pad and pen by the bed and write those thoughtsdown to dismiss them.Mindfulnesstraining can help with this too so give meditation a try. (Heres how.)Stillcant sleep? Get up. Dont accidentally make a Pavlov-style association between your bed and not sleeping.Heres RichardThe issue is often theyre staying in bed awake for ten minutes or more and they start to associate bed with being awake instead of beingasleep. Get up, do something which is not stimulating, and then get back to bed.(For more science-backed tips on a nightly ro utine that will bring you amazing sleep, clickhere.)So your winding down ritual is in order. What about naps? (Yes, I know theyre amazing.) How can you and I make them *more* amazing?How to nap like a proDont go down for more than an hour. 20-30 minutes is great - but even five minutes can give you a big boost.Heres RichardAnything over an hour is probably not a great idea, but twenty or thirty minutes of napping isincredibly good for creativity and focus. Naps can make a massive, massive difference. Even five minutes increases reaction time and focus.NASA found pilots who take a 25 minute nap are 35 percent more alert and twice as focused.ViaNight SchoolResearch by NASA revealed that pilots who take a twenty-five-minute nap in the cockpit hopefully with a co-pilot taking over the controls are subsequently 35 percent more alert, and twice as focused, than their non-napping colleagues.NASA found that naps made you smarter - even in the absence of a good nights sleep.ViaDreamland Adventures in the Strange Science of SleepIf you cant get in a full nights sleep, you can still improve the ability of your brain to synthesize new information by taking a nap. In a study funded by NASA, David Dinges, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and a team of researchers found that letting astronauts sleep for as little as fifteen minutes markedly improved their cognitive performance, even when the nap didnt lead to an increase in alertness or the ability to pay more attention to a boring task.Worried you wont wake up in time for something important?Richard recommends drinkinga cup of coffee immediately before laying down. The caffeine will kick in after about 25 minutes.(To learn the 5 scientific secrets to naps that will make you smarter and happier, clickhere.)All this is great for getting some sleep but what about when you cantstayasleep? bedrngnis a problem. Literally.Waking up in the middle of the night is naturalResearch shows we evolved to sleep in two dis tinct phases. So dont worry. Do something for a little while and then head back to bed for round 2.Heres RichardWeve evolved to have whats called segregated sleeping. If you wake up in the middle of the night thats perfectly natural. Before electric light people would talk about first sleep and second sleep. In between theyd go and visit their friendsorplay games. So if you do wake up in the middle of the night,thats fine. Get out of bed for twenty minutes and do something. Dont lay there feeling anxious.Isthis fragmented sleep bad? Far from it. Bloodwork showed that the time between the two sleeping periods was incredibly relaxing and blissful.ViaDreamland Adventures in the Strange Science of SleepThe results showed that the hour humans once spent awake in the middle of the night was probably the most relaxing block of time in their lives. Chemically, the body was in a state equivalent to what you might feel after spending a day at a spa(For more on the science of why we sleep in t wo chunks, clickhere.)But heres a problem everyone has had ever sleep for over eight hours and youstillfeel groggy and awful? Heres why.The 90 minute ruleYour body goes through sleep cycles of 90 minutes. Wake up in the middle of one and youll feellousy no matter how long youve been in bed. So plan your sleep schedule in increments of an hour and a half.Heres RichardSleep scientists all use the 90-minute rule which is basically a sleep cycle which is moving from light sleep, to deep sleep to dreaming and repeating that again and again. That cycle is roughly ninety minutes. Youre best off waking up at the end of a cycle. Plan your sleep inninety minute blocks to tell you the best time to be falling asleep. Then you go to bed about ten, twelve minutes before that because thats how long it should be taking you to fall asleep.(For more on how to have the best nights sleep of your life, clickhere.)I could use a nap now, frankly. But before any of us nod off, lets round up what Richard ha d to say so tonight is a restful one. (And well getone more tip that can help make sure your nighttime habits dont backfire.)Sum upHeres what Richard had to say about getting more quality zzzzzzzzsAvoid smartphones and devices at night.But theyre great when youre dealing with jet lag.A good nightly routine is key.No alcohol before bed, think positive thoughts and play the alphabet game.Naps are awesome.Just keep them under 30 minutes. Drink a cup of coffee before you lay down.Sleeping in two chunks is natural.Get up and do something for a little while and then go back to bed.Remember the 90 minute rule.Think about when you need to be up and count back in increments of 90 minutes so you wake upsharp.Sometimes were our own worst enemy. We stay up surfing the net or watching Netflix. How can we behave better?JohnDurantoffers apiece of advice I followforget the morning alarm clock set an alarm to remind you when to go to bed.ViaThe Paleo Manifesto Ancient Wisdom for Lifelong HealthA use ful technique is setting an alarm clock- not to wake up, but to get ready for bed.Set an alarm for an hour before bedtime. When it goes off, finish up any work on the computer, turn off the TV, turn off any unnecessary lights, and start to wind down for the day.I wish you great sleep and blissful dreams.And asAnthony Burgessonce saidLaugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.Join over 320,000 readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.Related posts5 Scientific Secrets To Naps That Will Make You Happier And Smarter4 Things Astronauts Can Teach You About A Good Nights SleepThese Six Things Will Bring You A Great Nights SleepThis column first appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.