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04/20/2020

Daily Buzz: How to Ensure Your Sleep Routine is Working

Quantity and quality both matter

It’s no secret that sleep is important for productivity and overall well-being. What might be harder to determine is if your bedtime routine is actually working for you.

“Two key metrics can help you determine whether you should change the way you wind down at night, according to June J. Pilcher, a psychology professor at Clemson University, who studies sleep,” writes Inc.’s Sophie Downes.

One is low sleep efficiency, or the ratio of the amount of time you spend in bed to the amount you spend actually sleeping. If it’s taking too long to fall asleep, you might need to change something about your sleep habits. But the definition of “too long” may vary from person to person.

“There’s no magic number, but once you feel like you’ve been lying awake for too long, get up,” Downes said.

Sleep quality is also something to keep in mind, and you can track it yourself. 

“When you wake up, rate the quality of your sleep on a scale of 1 to 10," said Pilcher. "If the number isn’t as high as you’d like, re-evaluate your routine."

If you still aren’t sleeping well, one strategy to improve sleep quality and efficiency is to sleep less. Pilcher recommends limiting your sleep to seven hours a night for a couple of weeks if you’re usually in bed for eight hours, which will “force your body to take full advantage of a shortened sleep time.”

Please select this link to read the original article from Associations Now.

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