If you’re not regularly getting 7-9 hours a sleep each night, you’re not alone. According to the Center For Disease Control (CDC) 1 in 3 Americans aren’t getting enough rest. Sure, you may be able to get through the day with large amounts of caffeine and the promise of sleeping in on the weekends, but sleep deprivation is a serious issue. Lack of sleep can lead to irritability, stroke, obesity and high blood pressure. Those 8 hours a night are important to maintain overall good health and you should never skimp on getting enough sleep. If you’re struggling with getting enough sleep, read on to discover 5 proven ways from experts to catch up on sleep the healthy way!
Take A Quick Nap
To get the most out of naps, it’s best to take them in the afternoon before 2PM for about 20 minutes. Brantner says, “This will keep your nap from affecting your ability to get to sleep on time at night.” Brantner says that 20 minutes is ideal because, “This keeps you in stage one and two of sleep, or light sleep. After about 30 minutes, you’ll go into deep sleep and it will be hard to wake up. Should you wake up during deep sleep, you’ll experience sleep inertia, where you’ll wake up feeling groggy and tired likely for the next hour or two.”
Soak Up The Sun
Sunshine is the key to improved sleep! Spending time out in the sun can help you regulate your body for restful sleep. Wellness expert Lissa Coffey says, “This will recharge your system during the day and help you to sleep well that night,….Getting out in the sun helps the body clock to regulate by producing melatonin. Melatonin tablets are sold as a sleep aid — but it’s much better to get melatonin from nature than from a pill! The fresh air helps, too.”
Cut Back On Your Caffeine Intake
Our morning lattes may be the thing we need to help us get up and out of bed, but you may want to skip that morning matcha – and all caffeinated beverages – if you want to catch up on your sleep. If you absolutely need a little something to help you get through the day, limit it to only 1 or 2 cups. Dr. Nada Milosavljevic, a physician and faculty member at Harvard Medical School explains, “Caffeine is a stimulant that can make it hard for you to fall asleep, so try to make your last cup no more than three hours before bedtime,”
If you enjoy having something warm and comforting before bed Milosavljevic recommends “… lemon balm and passionflower tea … Other teas with valerian root and lavender will also help to down-regulate your central nervous system, meaning you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.”
Go To Bed Earlier
Since it’s not a good idea to use the weekends as a way to catch up on sleep, Brantner suggests going to bed earlier. He says, “That way you can jumpstart the catch up but still wake up at a decent time in the morning.” Brantner continues, “If instead, you push to stay up late and sleep in until 11 or 12 the next day, you’ll have a hard time getting to bed that night, and you’ll be all thrown off leading into the week.”
Wake Up Earlier On Weekends
If you’ve been counting down the days to the weekend so that you can sleep in, you might want to rethink that. Brantner says, “The danger in sleeping in on the weekends to try and catch up on sleep is that if you aren’t careful, it can throw your entire body off schedule and make it very difficult to wake up on time during the next week.” Sleeping in all weekend can set your body up for failure when it comes to wake up on Monday morning. When you spend all weekend in bed, your body will have a hard time getting up on Monday.
The best thing you can do on the weekends is wake up at your normal time. Brantner recommends, “…set a sleep and wake time and stick to them…Your body craves routine. It wants to be able to expect when it’s time to wind down at night and when it’s time to wake up in the morning.”
