Keep a sleep diary
A sleep diary will give you important insights into your sleep habits.
For one week, write down:
- The time you go to bed and the time you wake up.
- The number of hours you sleep and whether you took naps or woke up during the night.
- Notice how you feel in the morning—refreshed or fatigued?
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Sleep needs vary from person to person. Age, genetics, lifestyle, and environment all play a role.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults need 7-9 hours of sleep a night. People who sleep seven hours a night are healthier and live longer. While the guideline is helpful, you are the best person to judge how much sleep you need.
To really find out what your individual sleep needs are, do the following experiment for at least two weeks:
- Pick the same bedtime every night.
- Turn off your alarm.
- Record the time you wake up.
You may sleep longer during the first few days, but over the course of a few weeks, a pattern will emerge of how much sleep your body needs each night.
If you often feel tired, your body is telling you that it's not getting enough sleep.
If you're getting eight hours of sleep a night but still feel tired, you may be suffering from a sleep disorder or interrupted sleep.
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- Many people have trouble sleeping and need to set a path toward better sleep.
- The first step to the path is to wake up at the same time every day, including weekends.
- It does not matter what time you decide to wake up, as different people have different lifestyles and sleeping patterns.
- Try to go to sleep and get up at the same time every day;
- Avoid sleeping in, even on weekends;
- Limit naps to 15 to 20 minutes in the early afternoon;
- Fight after-dinner drowsiness. If you get sleepy way before your bedtime, get off the couch and do something mildly stimulating.
- It’s not unusual to wake up feeling a bit groggy. For many people, it’s nothing a cup of coffee or shower can’t fix.
- Chances are, your morning grogginess is just sleep inertia, which is a normal part of the waking process. Your brain typically doesn’t instantly wake up after sleeping. It transitions gradually to a wakeful state.
- During this transition period, you may feel groggy or disoriented. If you aren’t careful, you can easily fall back asleep.
- Sleep inertia slows down your motor and cognitive skills, which is why it sometimes feels impossible to do anything right after you wake up.