Sleep Health Tips

If you want to improve sleep quality, the core method is not to buy a latex pillow worth thousands of dollars or take imported melatonin, but to minimize the fluctuations in behavior in the hour before going to bed. At the same time, don't take "not sleeping enough for 8 hours" as a big deal - most people's sleep problems are either caused by messing around before going to bed, or they are frightened out by themselves.

When I was working as an Internet operator to work on the 618 project, I lay down at two o'clock in the morning for more than half a month. After watching the work group and short videos, I became more and more energetic. I often kept my eyes open until three o'clock and I was still awake. I tried incense, sleep aid spray, and various Internet celebrity products, but none of them worked. Following the advice given by my friend who specializes in sleep medicine, I first fixed the routine for one hour before going to bed: put my phone in the living room to charge, change into loose pajamas, pour a glass of warm milk, and turn over ten pages of prose with no plot. In less than a week, I was able to fall asleep within 15 minutes of lying down. Oh, by the way, there is currently no unified conclusion in the academic community about milk as a sleep aid. Some people say that tryptophan has no effect at all and is all a placebo effect. I don’t think it matters, as long as it can make you relax, it doesn’t matter what the principle is, it just works.

Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone has to follow my process. I always read bloggers saying that "early to bed and early to rise are the only criteria for health." I have a friend who changed his schedule for half a month. He used to go to bed at 1 o'clock and wake up at 9 o'clock every day to be very energetic, but he forced himself to lie down at 10 and wake up at 6 o'clock. Nowadays, the academic community has long stopped advocating unified work and rest standards. No matter you are an early bird or a night owl, as long as you have a fixed work and rest routine and do not feel constant fatigue during the day, you will be fine. You will not be guilty of following the argument of "waking up at 5 o'clock to cheat life".

Let me talk about a point that many people overlook: In fact, morning habits have a greater impact on sleep than before going to bed. When I adjusted my schedule, I tried various methods before going to bed, but they didn't work. Later, the doctor asked me to open the curtains immediately after waking up every day, and go out for ten minutes to bask in the sun. Even if it is cloudy, I should go out and stay. Sunlight will directly inhibit the secretion of melatonin and help you anchor the biological clock firmly. I would stop by to buy soy milk and fried dough sticks downstairs every day, and bask in the sun for ten minutes. In less than a week, I would not wake up without an alarm clock, and I would feel sleepy at night. No matter how much black coffee I drink, it is more effective.

There are actually many controversial points about sleep, and there is no need to stick to a certain "standard answer." As for the lunch break, my best friend and I have been arguing for almost two years. She is determined not to take a nap, saying that if you squint for half an hour at noon, you will have to keep your eyes open until two o'clock at night. My mother must lie down for forty minutes at noon, otherwise even the vegetables will be fried and salty in the afternoon. Later, after checking the clinical guidelines, I learned that this is really different: If you have difficulty falling asleep, try not to take a lunch break. Instead, lean on a chair and squint for 10 minutes at most, no later than 2 p.m. ； If you are easily tired during the day, as long as your lunch break does not exceed one hour and you do not go to bed after three o'clock, it will not affect your sleep at night at all, and there is no need to work despite being sleepy.

There is also the question that everyone always asks, "Can I play with my mobile phone before going to bed?" This does not mean that you are not allowed to touch it at all, as long as you don't watch short videos, don't watch work groups, and don't read cool articles that can make you feel emotional ups and downs. Sometimes I would watch pet bloggers' videos for ten minutes before going to bed. Watching the soft cats and dogs made me relax, and I fell asleep faster than forcing myself to read obscure professional books. If I couldn't help it, I would lower the brightness to the lowest and turn on the night mode to prevent the screen from being too bright. Oh, by the way, the room temperature is also very important. I used to sleep at 26 degrees in the summer, and I felt hot and dry after tossing and turning. Later I learned that it is easier to fall asleep when the core body temperature of the human body drops by 0.5 to 1 degree. The most suitable temperature in the bedroom is 18-22 degrees. I tried to adjust it to 20 degrees and covered myself with a thin summer quilt. Sure enough, I felt sleepy not long after lying down. Of course, this also depends on your physical constitution. My colleague is afraid of cold temperatures and is comfortable at 24 degrees. Try it twice and you will know the temperature that is most suitable for you.

As for the various melatonin gummies and sleep-aiding health products that are now popular, don’t just eat them blindly. Melatonin itself is only suitable for people suffering from jet lag or those over 60 years old who do not secrete enough melatonin. Young people can secrete enough melatonin by themselves. Eating too much will inhibit their own melatonin secretion. In the end, if you don’t eat, you will not be able to sleep at all, which is not worth the gain. Most of the sleep-aid gummies sold for tens of yuan a bottle have very few active ingredients and basically have a placebo effect. If you really can't fall asleep even if you lie down for an hour for a week or two in a row, and you still feel uncomfortable during the day, you can go directly to the hospital to see the sleep department, which is much more useful than buying health care products blindly.

In fact, after struggling with sleep for so long, my biggest feeling is that sleeping is a human instinct. The more you worry about the duration of the sleep APP, the more worried you are about not getting enough sleep and affecting your health, and the more you can't fall asleep. Instead of spending a lot of money on all kinds of fancy sleep aids, it is better to try to fix your schedule first. Even if you go to bed at 1 o'clock and then go to bed at 9 o'clock every day, as long as you do this every day, it will be much healthier than going to bed at 10 o'clock today and going to bed at 2 o'clock the next. After all, if you are energetic during the day, you are more reliable than any third-party health standards.