Tag: sleep

Your Daily Ups and Downs

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

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

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.

Do You Get Enough Sleep?

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

What Makes You Fall Asleep?

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.

Do You Carry a Sleep Debt?

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.

Sleep Myths Debunked

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.

The Time of Your Life

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.

How Your Body Clock Interacts with Your Sleep Drive

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.

Be a Clock-Watcher

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

Check Your Risk for Sleep Disorders Now

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.

Keep a Sleep-Wake Diary

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.

Test Your Reaction Time

The two self-tests below can help you identify problems to discuss with your doctor.

Where Are You on the Sleepiness Scales?

The two self-tests below can help you identify problems to discuss with your doctor.

Plan for Anchor Sleep

Sleep as much as you can at the same time every day—five hours or more, if able—preferably at night, when humans sleep best

Avoid the Danger Zone

Savvy railroaders have devised tactics to cope with their often unpredictable hours. They have figured out how to best get sleep in daylight hours, when sunlight, noise, and other factors make sleep shorter or less restful than it would be at night.

Why Better Sleep = Better Health

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.

Alertness Is a Shared Responsibility

It is your company’s responsibility to give you time off to obtain the necessary sleep. It is your responsibility to use your time off to get the sleep you need.

Why Sleep Matters

Robert Stickgold, PhD, of Harvard, tells how sleep helps you learn facts and remember them.