Sometimes with the tumultuous lives we live, sleep can elude us…
We’ve all been there. It’s half past two in the morning and you’re wide awake. Sleep refuses to come, leaving you frustrated, irritable and forlorn at the fact that you’ve to be up for work in less than five hours.
Many different fixes exist to help us get those much needed hours of shut eye so you’re not a walking zombie of passive aggressive rage the next day.
The effectiveness of these fixes varies wildly, and there are no sure things when it comes to boosting the quality of your sleep.
Sleeping tablets are known to have a variety of side effects on people with possible ones being impairment the next day, daytime drowsiness and in some cases, constipation.
But sleep medicine specialist W. Chris Winter, MD who wrote the book, The Sleep Solution, has said that there’s a straightforward way to ensure that you get a good sleep.
It involves setting yourself a wake up time, and sticking to it according to Health.
“Optimally, an individual should have a consistent bed time and perhaps more important a consistent wake time,” said Winter. “Unfortunately, this isn’t usually the case with individuals who have sleep problems.
“Sleep times can vary wildly in these people and they sadly do not seem to recognize that this haphazard lifestyle is a big part of their problem. In fact, they strangely often see it as working toward a solution.
Winter revealed how getting a good sleeping routine going on a day to day basis is crucial to consistently getting a good night’s sleep.
“Some people are in complete control of their sleep schedule,” Winter said. “No matter what happens in their lives, they are up at 6:00 a.m. and soon after in the gym getting their BodyPump class on. These individuals are dogs who wag their tails (the dog is in control, and it wags its tail).”
“Other individuals get up and exercise if their evening goes perfectly to plan, but if their sleep is problematic one night, their schedule goes down the tubes. If it takes them an hour or two longer than normal to fall asleep, they ditch their exercise plans and sleep in. For these individuals, their wake time depends on their sleep quality.
“They are not in control, so instead of the dog wagging its tail, for these individuals, the tail wags the dog. I call them ‘dog waggers.’ Their sleep schedule is dictated by their sleep successes or failures.”
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