Get some rest before it kills you - Anthony Tornambe
All of the articles in this series so far have been about active things which you, the busy person, can do in order to live a healthier and longer life. And while activity is important, so is inactivity, specifically sleep. Yet, because we are just so busy, we neglect, as a whole, to get the proper amount of sleep each night.Gallup reports that about 40% of adults get less than the suggested 7 hours of sleep each night. I would venture to say that the number is higher simply based upon this fact. The time that you lay down to go to sleep and the actual hour you fall asleep are quite different. While you may lay down to go to sleep at 10pm if you do not fall asleep till 1am and have to get up at 5am you really only got 4 hours. For your health and fitness, you need to have sleep, there is no way around it. Anthony Tornambe
Why is sleep so important?
Sleep is your reset button on your body. When you sleep more is going on inside of your body than when you are awake. Your body is realigning itself and getting everything in working order for the next day. Your brain is cataloging information which is relevant and what information needs to go into your vault of information that is not relevant. Your muscles are relaxing from walking around, typing messages, going up and down stairs, running errands, etc. The less time that you allow for your body to recoup, the more fatigued the muscles and your brain will become.
How to fall asleep quickly
When I have visited friends and family members and they have complained about not being able to get to sleep, my first question is “well, is your room set up for you to sleep?”. In many cases I hear about the type of mattress that the person has and the type of pillows, but not really about the room. If you want to fall asleep quickly you need to make your room for two purposes and only two purposes: Sleep and procreation. That’s it. This means:
• Remove the television from the room. The odds are you have Tivo or a DVR, record and watch your program later.
• Remove distractions which can catch the eye
• Absolutely no cell phones in the bedroom. This eliminates the temptation to log onto social media. Anthony Tornambe
Additionally, I would argue against having a book beside the bed. Some people claim that reading relaxes them and helps them to sleep. This only works if the book is not engaging, and as a book which is not engaging is not often read, I would state that reading a book while in bed just encourages you to turn the page to see what happens instead of turning off the light.
What about naps?
Napping for short periods of time during the day is not a bad thing, unless of course you are on the clock in which case napping can get you fired. My suggestion in this would be to use your small breaks (15 or 30 min) to take a cat nap. Be sure to set an alarm that you will wake up to. Please note: If you are already extremely fatigued and you take a nap, then your body may actually become more fatigued as your consciousness is trying to tell you to slow down and reset.
Also Read About:- Anthony Tornambe
Also Read About:- Anthony Tornambe
I get a ton of sleep but I am still tired, why?
If you are one of the rare people that can get sleep in abundance, then you probably are not as busy as you think. But to answer the question, if you sleep more than 8 hours a night then you have reset your body’s clock. Studies from various universities have concluded that the pivot time for resetting your body is 8 hours (with a few exceptions). Once you get to 9 or 10 hours your body actually treats it as though you have only gotten 1 to 2 hours of sleep. So keep your sleep to 7 hours and you will be find. If you are anything like me, finding 7 hours will be hard enough to find.
Sleep
There is a big difference between rest and sleep, and busy people should know the difference. Rest is something that is done while the mind can still focus on other tasks which need to be conducted. It is a brief break before activity is conducted again. Sleep is an unplugging from the cares of the world to reset. Ensure that you allow yourself sleep every day, the troubles of tomorrow will be there when you awake.
Should you have abnormal sleeping habits or find that you just cannot sleep consult a doctor or go to a sleeping clinic. They may be able to help you find a solution to your problem without having to use a sleep aid. - Anthony Tornambe
