A Quick Sleep Education

Knowing about sleep and getting sleep are two very different things.  In fact, sometimes laying there thinking about sleep can be a cause of insomnia in and of it self.  The trick is knowing what to do and putting it to practice!

According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults ages 18 and over are recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night, varying for each individual. On average, college students get about 42 hours of sleep per week, which adds up to less than six hours every night.

It is proven that students who pull all-nighters tend to have lower GPAs and perform worse on exams than those who allot an adequate amount of time for sleep each night. It is important to have proper sleep hygiene, which is

defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as "the promotion of regular sleep."

Sleep is not only needed to maintain physical, emotional, and mental health; it is actually a physically engrained part of a person's bodily functions, similar to breathing and digestion. During adolescence, an individual's circadian rhythm, or internal clock, shifts into a pattern that makes him or her feel more alert later at night and to wake up later in the morning, making it difficult for most young adults to fall asleep before 11 p.m.

Quick tip for napping:

For short-term alertness, a 20-to-30 minute nap can help without making you feel dazed, unsteady, confused, and weak for the rest of the day and without interfering with your nighttime sleep. Although seemingly useless, 10-minute naps prove to be the most helpful at improving mood, alertness, and performance throughout the day. Napping for more than 30 minutes is more likely to cause sleep inertia, which is a feeling of grogginess after waking up.

Another concern for many tired individuals is staying awake while driving. In fact, fatigued driving can produce the same effects or outcomes of drunk driving. Every state in the U.S. considers a person with 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content (BAC) to be legally drunk. 17 straight hours of being awake produces performance impairment equal to 0.05 percent BAC, and after 24 hours, impairment is equal to 0.10 percent BAC.

Sleep Hygiene Tips from the CDC:

1) Go to bed at about the same time every night, and get up around the same time in the mornings.

2) Make sure your room is quiet, dark, relaxing, and not too hot or too cold.

3) Use your bed only for sleeping, not for other activities such as reading, watching television or listening to music.

4) Exercise two hours before going to bed. The physical activity will get your blood flowing, raise your body temperature, and make you more alert, so try not to exercise right before you want to go to sleep for the night.

5) Avoid eating large meals right before bedtime.

Five tips to staying awake on the road:

1) Get enough sleep the night before your trip.

2) Schedule breaks every 100 miles or every two hours if driving long distances.

3) If possible, don't drive alone if you know you did not get enough sleep the previous night or if you are feeling drowsy that day.

4) Take a 20-minute nap before you begin your drive.

5) Consume caffeine — coffee, tea, chocolate, soda, energy drinks, or chewing gum — to keep yourself awake and alert. Two cups of coffee, for example, can increase your alertness for several hours after being in your bloodstream for 30 minutes.

Original Article Here

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Nathan says: now that your sleep IQ just jumped a couple of points let me know what has worked for you!

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