Sleep Hygiene(睡眠衛生=睡眠健康習慣)
美國睡眠基金會的資訊
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene
What it is, why it matters, and how to revamp
your habits to get better nightly sleep
Written by Eric Suni, Staff Writer
Medically Reviewed by Dr. Nilong Vyas, Pediatrician
Paying attention to sleep hygiene is one of the most
straightforward ways that you can set yourself up for better sleep.
Strong sleep hygiene means having both a bedroom
environment and daily routines that promote consistent, uninterrupted sleep.
Keeping a stable sleep schedule, making your bedroom
comfortable and free of disruptions, following a relaxing pre-bed routine, and
building healthy habits during the day can all contribute to ideal sleep
hygiene.
Every sleeper can tailor their sleep hygiene practices to
suit their needs. In the process, you can harness positive habits to make it
easier to sleep soundly throughout the night and wake up well-rested.
Why Is Sleep Hygiene Important?
Obtaining healthy sleep is important for both physical
and mental health, improving
productivity and overall quality of life. Everyone,
from children to older adults, can benefit from better sleep, and sleep hygiene
can play a key part in achieving that goal.
Research has demonstrated that forming good habits is
a central
part of health1.
Crafting sustainable and beneficial routines makes
healthy behaviors feel almost automatic, creating an ongoing process of
positive reinforcement. On the flip side, bad habits can become engrained even
as they cause negative consequences.
Thankfully, humans have an
impressive ability2 to make
our habits serve our long-term interests. Building an environment and set of
routines that promote our goals can really pay off.
Sleep hygiene encompasses both environment and habits,
and it can pave the way for higher-quality sleep and better overall health.
Improving sleep hygiene has little cost and virtually no
risk, making it an important part of a public
health strategy3 to counteract the serious problems of
insufficient sleep and insomnia in
America.
Having trouble sleeping?
@ What Are Signs of Poor Sleep Hygiene?
不良睡眠習慣的徵兆
-
Having a hard time falling asleep,
-
experiencing frequent sleep disturbances,
-
suffering daytime sleepiness are the most telling signs
of poor sleep hygiene.
-
An overall lack of consistency in sleep quantity or
quality can also be a symptom of poor sleep hygiene.
@ How Do You Practice Good Sleep Hygiene?
建立健康睡眠習慣的四個重點
Good sleep hygiene is all about putting yourself in the
best position to sleep well each and every night.
Optimizing your sleep schedule, pre-bed routine, and
daily routines is part of harnessing habits to make quality sleep feel more
automatic.
At the same time, creating a pleasant bedroom environment
can be an invitation to relax and doze off.
A handful of tips can help in each of these areas, they
aren’t rigid requirements. You can adapt them to fit your circumstances and
create your own sleep hygiene checklist to help get the best sleep possible.
(1)
Set Your Sleep Schedule建立睡眠的時程表
Having a set schedule normalizes sleep as an essential
part of your day and gets your brain and body accustomed to getting the
full amount of
sleep that you need.
·
Have a Fixed Wake-Up Time: Regardless
of whether it’s a weekday or weekend, try to wake up at the same time since a
fluctuating schedule keeps you from getting into a rhythm of consistent sleep.
·
Prioritize Sleep: It might
be tempting to skip sleep in order to work, study, socialize, or exercise, but
it’s vital to treat sleep as a priority. Calculate a target bedtime based on
your fixed wake-up time and do your best to be ready for bed around that time
each night.
·
Make Gradual Adjustments: If you
want to shift your sleep times, don’t try to do it all in one fell swoop
because that can throw your schedule out of whack. Instead, make small,
step-by-step adjustments
of up to an hour or two4 so that
you can get adjusted and settle into a new schedule.
·
Don’t Overdo It With Naps: Naps can
be a handy way to regain energy during the day, but they can throw off sleep at
night. To avoid this, try to keep naps relatively short and limited to
the early afternoon.
(2) Follow a
Nightly Routine 遵守夜間睡眠例行習慣
How you prepare for bed can determine how easily you’ll
be able to fall asleep. A pre-sleep playbook including some of these tips can
put you at ease and make it easier to get to fall asleep when you want to.
·
Keep Your Routine Consistent: Following
the same steps each night, including things like putting on your pajamas and
brushing your teeth, can reinforce in your mind that it’s bedtime.
·
Budget 30 Minutes For Winding Down: Take
advantage of whatever puts you in a state of calm such as soft music, light
stretching, reading, and/or relaxation exercises.
·
Dim Your Lights: Try to keep away from bright lights
because they can hinder the production of melatonin, a hormone
that the body creates to facilitate sleep.
·
Unplug From Electronics: Build in
a 30-60 minute pre-bed buffer time that is device-free. Cell phones, tablets,
and laptops cause
mental stimulation that is hard to shut off and also
generate blue light that may decrease melatonin production.
·
Test Methods of Relaxation: Instead
of making falling asleep your goal, it’s often easier to focus on relaxation.
Meditation, mindfulness, paced breathing, and other relaxation
techniques can put you in the right mindset for bed.
·
Don’t Toss and Turn: It helps
to have a healthy mental connection between being in bed and actually being
asleep. For that reason, if after 20 minutes you haven’t gotten to sleep, get
up and stretch, read, or do something else calming in low light before trying
to fall asleep again.
(3)Cultivate
Healthy Daily Habits 培養健康的白天作息方式
It’s not just bedtime habits that play a part in getting
good sleep. Incorporating positive routines during the day can support
your circadian rhythm and
limit sleep disruptions.
·
Get Daylight Exposure: Light, especially
sunlight, is one of the key drivers of circadian rhythms that can
encourage quality sleep.
·
Be Physically Active: Regular exercise
can make it easier to
sleep at night and also delivers a host of other
health benefits.
·
Don’t Smoke: Nicotine stimulates the body in ways
that disrupt sleep, which helps explain why smoking is correlated with numerous
sleeping problems5.
·
Reduce Alcohol Consumption: Alcohol may make
it easier to fall asleep, but the effect wears off, disrupting sleep later in
the night. As a result, it’s best to moderate alcohol consumption and avoid it
later in the evening.
·
Cut Down on Caffeine in the Afternoon and Evening: Because
it’s a stimulant, caffeine can keep
you wired even when you want to rest, so try to avoid it later in the day. Also
be aware if you’re consuming lots of caffeine to try to make up for lack of
sleep.
·
Don’t Dine Late: Eating dinner late, especially if
it’s a big, heavy, or spicy meal, can mean you’re still digesting when it’s
time for bed. In general, any food or snacks before bed should be on the
lighter side.
·
Restrict In-Bed Activity: To build
a link in your mind between sleep and being in bed, it’s best to only use your
bed for sleep with sex being the one exception.
(4) Optimize
Your Bedroom 調整適宜的臥室環境
A central component of sleep hygiene beyond just habits
is your sleep environment. To fall asleep more easily, you want your bedroom to
emanate tranquility.
While what makes a bedroom inviting can vary from one
person to the next, these tips may help make it calm and free of disruptions:
·
Have a Comfortable Mattress and Pillow: Your sleeping
surface is critical to comfort and pain-free sleep, so choose the best mattress and best pillow for your
needs wisely.
·
Use Excellent Bedding: The sheets and
blankets are the first thing you touch when you get into bed, so it’s
beneficial to make sure they match your needs and preferences.
·
Set a Cool Yet Comfortable Temperature: Fine-tune
your bedroom
temperature to suit your preferences, but err on the cooler
side (around 65 degrees fahrenheit).
·
Block Out Light: Use heavy
curtains or an eye mask to prevent light from interrupting your sleep.
·
Drown Out Noise: Ear plugs can stop noise from keeping
you awake, and if you don’t find them comfortable, you can try a white noise
machine or even a fan to drown out bothersome sounds.
·
Try Calming Scents: Light
smells, such as lavender6, may induce a
calmer state of mind and help cultivate a positive space for sleep.