![]() ![]() Sleepiness means you feel drowsy and have a hard time staying awake, Maller says. ![]() Next, figure out whether you're sleepy or fatigued. So if you're getting only 7 hours, start by upping that to 8 or even 9. Solution: Expert groups like the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommend that most adults get 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night. Blue light suppresses your body's production of melatonin, a hormone that helps signal to your brain that it's time to sleep. In the few hours before you turn away from your TV and phone, consider shielding your eyes from their glow by using blue-light-blocking glasses or an app like f.lux or Night Shift. And avoid all screens for at least a half-hour before bed. It's also helpful to establish a consistent bedtime and wake time, so your body gets used to falling asleep when you need it to. One small 2018 study found that people who spent 5 minutes creating a to-do list before bed fell asleep faster than a control group. Longer-term, have a plan for heading off nighttime fretting: Before getting under the covers, make a habit of writing down the next day's tasks, rather than holding it all in your head. Wait until you feel sleepy again before returning to your bedroom. If you've been in bed for a while and still can't nod off, go to another room and do a calming activity, rather than lying there watching the minutes tick by. (The app's makers say it's not a replacement for therapy.) You can also teach yourself strategies to employ when you can't fall back asleep, such as taking some slow, deep breaths, aiming for about six breaths per minute. Consider using an app, like CBT-i Coach, which Stanford University developed in collaboration with the federal government. Though you can ask a sleep doctor about CBT-I, you can learn to do it on your own, too, Pelayo says. If that cuts down on unwanted wake-ups, they may slowly add back in-bed hours. For example, people who spend 9 hours in bed at night but only 6 hours sleeping might be instructed to lessen their in-bed time by 2½ hours for a week. CBT-I offers techniques that can help you identify and modify thinking patterns and habits that keep you from sleeping. The best way to address this is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) known as CBT-I-the "I" stands for insomnia, for which it's often the go-to treatment. This leads to an acute awareness of your environment and, paradoxically, can make it harder to sleep. In this context, hypervigilance refers to focusing too much on what might disrupt your slumber-before you doze off and even while you're sleeping. Many people, however, sleep lightly because of "hypervigilance," says Rafael Pelayo, MD, clinical professor at Stanford University's division of sleep medicine and author of "How to Sleep: The New Science-Based Solutions for Sleeping Through the Night" (Artisan, 2020). You might also want to cut back on-or cut out-caffeine (which can keep you perky long after you've consumed it) and alcohol (which can interfere with deep sleep). Solution: If light coming into your bedroom is the issue, light-blocking products like blackout curtains or a sleep mask may do the trick. ![]()
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