Tag: education

You will feel better and function better if you can work and sleep at times of day the body naturally prefers for these activities.

Most adults need between seven to nine hours of sleep per day, ideally at night, to feel optimally alert and perform at their best, according to Daniel Cohen, MD, MMSc, formerly of Harvard.

Daniel Cohen, MD, MMSc, formerly of Harvard, explains how we can recharge our internal battery to avoid sleep debt. He also explains how scientists measure sleep needs

Most adults need between seven to nine hours of sleep per day, ideally at night, to feel optimally alert and perform at their best, according to Daniel Cohen, MD, MMSc, formerly of Harvard.

People who get less sleep than they need build up a sleep debt. An eight-hour sleeper who sleeps only six hours is two hours in debt.

People who frequently short-change themselves on sleep forget how great it feels to be well-rested. They get used to feeling tired all the time and try to convince themselves that they can manage just fine. They often cling to sleep myths.

Your body clock also directs manual dexterity, ups and down in reaction time, and the the rise and fall of body temperature and blood pressure over the day. It sparks hunger pangs before your usual meal times, controls how fast medications work, and directs the timing of hundreds of functions that make your body run smoothly.

These two seemingly opposed internal processes—the body clock and the sleep drive—work together to make it possible for people to stay awake for 15 or 16 hours, and then sleep roughly seven to nine hours straight.

Your body clock adjusts to schedule changes. This process moves slowly, however. After switching between day work and night work, for example, most people find it takes several days to feel as alert and sleep as soundly as they usually do.

Learn to tell time on your body clock. Then use body time to organize your day.

People who frequently short-change themselves on sleep forget how great it feels to be well-rested. They get used to feeling tired all the time and try to convince themselves that they can manage just fine. They often cling to sleep myths.