Sleep

So people say that i dont get enough sleep and i should go to bed earlier and that i shouldn’t get up so late. So i did a quiz and these are the results:

Sleep Profiler Results

Your Score

0%	20%		40%		60%		80%	100%

Least optimised		Most optimised

Your profile summary

Your sleep is fairly well optimised, scoring 65 %.You said you do not have a problem with sleep and you are not very sleepy during the day, which means your body is probably getting the sleep it needs. Quality of sleep is more important than quantity. There’s room to improve your score. Your personalised advice below may be useful.

Body and Health

You are an “Owl”

• You are built to be at your best later in the day. Surprisingly, it also means your body clock is more flexible than people with standard or lark-like body clocks.
• Ideally, people should wake at the same time everyday, but being an owl, you can probably cope quite well when your sleep pattern is disrupted.

You like a lie-in

• You’ve admitted that you’re not at your best early in the day, but you’re not being lazy – there’s a biological reason why you can’t get up in the mornings. At about age 16, your biological rhythm shifts. You become more of an “owl” – a person who likes to go to bed later and get up later than other adults.
• If you have to get up on time, you can tune your body clock by winding down early in the evenings, and avoiding being outside (where the light is bright) in the summer evenings.

You could be snoring

• The size of your neck could mean that you snore. The snoring is caused by the weight around the neck restricting your airway, making it difficult to get air into your lungs. Although a small amount of snoring is fine, heavy snoring can be a serious problem.
• During heavy snoring there is typically a gagging noise, then you wake and gasp for breath. This can happen as many as 100 times an hour without you realising (you have to be awake for at least 30 seconds to remember waking), which is why it is possible to wake from a seemingly good night and still feel sleepy.
• Lying on your back will make this problem worse. Try sleeping in different positions if you can.
• Taking sleeping pills to combat snoring may only make it worse, as it can further relax your neck muscles. Sleeping pills are considered ineffective as a treatment for snoring. Get advice from your doctor if snoring is a significant problem for you.

Now you’re a teenager you need more sleep

• At your age, you need a lot of sleep – usually around nine hours is normal. This is due to all the changes your body is going through. If you’re feeling sleepy during the day, go to bed earlier to get the sleep you need.

Environment

Your bedroom should be mainly for sleep

• Sleep experts recommend that bedrooms should be for rest, relaxation and a good night’s sleep.
• If getting to sleep is a problem, remove distractions from your bedroom if you can. If you use your mobile telephone as an alarm clock, try to turn off the mobile to avoid getting any late night calls or text messages. The alarm clock function still works when the mobile is off.

Making your bedroom more comfortable

• As you’ve noticed, temperature has a big influence on how well you sleep. The body needs to cool by about 0.5°C at the start of sleep.
• If the weather’s too hot, it will be difficult to cool, even by this small amount. Keep the window open and buy a fan.
• If it’s too cold, your body will be working extra hard to produce heat, keeping your core temperature up.
• Think about what you wear in bed. Breathable natural materials such as cotton are best for comfort.

Lifestyle

Your work hours don’t suit your natural rhythm.

• You’re an “owl” (i.e. best in the evening) but you have to get up early – a difficult combination.
• To help in the morning try leaving your bedroom curtains open, allowing the natural light to wake you up (this works best in summer of course). As soon as possible after waking, follow this up with a walk outside. Exposure to daylight can help you feel more awake and alert. In winter, try to become active and busy as soon as possible.
• Getting up at the same time every day helps to anchor your body clock to a time more suited to your life style. This includes weekends and holidays; resisting the urge for a lie-in can pay dividends in alertness.
• Routine can also help alleviate the effects of not being at your best in the morning. Try setting the breakfast table and preparing your work things the night before. That way, on the following morning you carry out all the tasks without needing too much brain power.

There are things you can do to improve your sleep

• Health has a direct impact on sleep.
• Exercise is a good way of improving your the start to the day. But if you exercise too close to bed time, it will make it difficult for you to sleep. After a heavy workout, your muscles may be tired, but muscles only need to rest, not sleep. Your brain will be too stimulated to calm down quickly
• Smoking and alcohol also affect your sleep – causing you to wake more easily out of light sleep (a stage of sleep that occurs for about half a normal night’s sleep)

Have you considered caffeine as a way to increase your alertness?

• Sleep experts say caffeine is a safe, natural chemical that acts as a stimulant so is good way to alleviate tiredness.
• However, the effect only kicks in after about 20 minutes – so beware if driving – it won’t make you any safer until it is in your system. (The psychological effect of drinking caffeine is probably instantaneous, but only makes you feel more alert).
• Either as an alternative, or in combination, to alleviate tiredness, you could try napping for 15 minutes – test show a 30% improvement in concentration when you have a coffee and a nap.

Psychological

How to get past your worries and get to sleep

As you’ve spotted, trying to sleep when worried is very difficult, so it would be a good idea to try some techniques to help you relax before trying to sleep.

• Having a time to calm down after a hectic day is important – try taking a bath, reading a book or taking a gentle walk outside.
• Simple breathing exercises can also help
• Some people find that Lavender oil, Valerian or other herbs help them to sleep.
• If you still have problems, you could try massage, aromatherapy or acupuncture.

Avoid worrying, and let your body do all the work

• Although you feel you need more, you’re actually getting a healthy amount of sleep – as shown by the fact that you’re alert during the day. It sounds like you have a good approach to sleep, so you probably don’t need to worry about getting more on days off. Any time you lie-in is a nice treat, but not something your body particularly needs.

So ye. There are good and bad points. But am fine with it. If i want to life like this then i will. I like sleep as much as the next guy so people will have to put up with it. if i need to get up or go to bed earlier i will. I just like staying up at night.

Over ‘n’ Out =]