Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Top 10 Ways to Sleep Smarter and Better





Top 10 Ways to Sleep Smarter and Better








Nothing kills your ability to get things done faster than a bad night's sleep. Studies show that sleep deprivation costs Americans significant work productivity; yawning employees can't stay alert, make good decisions, focus on tasks or even manage a friendly mood at the office. There are lots of ways to beat insomnia, increase the quality of your sleep, and master the power nap. Today we've got our top 10 favorite sleep techniques, tips and facts. Photo by dkaz.



10. Reduce Screen Time Before Bed
nightcomputing.jpgStop checking your email or watching TV just before bedtime and you'll sleep better. A recent study shows that people who consume electronic media (read: stare at a backlit screen) just before bedtime report lower-quality sleep even when they get as much sleep as non-pre-bedtime screenheads. Lifehacker reader JFitzpatrick says this makes perfect sense:

Using a light-emitting device before bed like a flickering TV or computer monitor stimulates the brain in a different way than the way the body was intended to move towards sleep (gradually as the sun set) That's why it is so easy to waste sleepless hours flipping from channel to channel (or reading Lifehacker or Digg). The exposure to light stimulates the brain and creates a false alertness and stimulation.


9. Exercise to Enhance Sleep
race_running_speed_267198_l.jpgYou already know that exercising provides lots of good health benefits???a good night's sleep being one of them. But make sure you exercise in the morning or afternoon, not at night, to see the benefits while you dream. CNN reports:

The National Sleep Foundation reports that exercise in the afternoon can help deepen shut-eye and cut the time it takes for you to fall into dreamland. But, they caution, vigorous exercise leading up to bedtime can actually have the reverse effects. A 2003 study found that a morning fitness regime was key to a better snooze. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center concluded that postmenopausal women who exercised 30 minutes every morning had less trouble falling asleep than those who were less active. The women who worked out in the evening hours saw little or no improvement in their sleep patterns.
Oh yeah, exercise enhances that other bedtime activity, too: sex. (But that's a whole other top 10.)


8. Eat to Enhance Sleep
Some foods are more conducive to a better night's sleep than others. You already knew about warm milk, chamomile tea and turkey, but Yahoo Food lists others, like bananas, potatoes, oatmeal and whole-wheat bread. You find yourself fighting off afternoon droopy eyelids at the office? Here are some pointers on eating a less nap-inducing lunch.


7. Master the Power Nap
sleeppod.jpgSlowly but surely, the benefits of the classic, 20-minute power nap are getting more recognition, with big companies installing sleep pods at the office and more software applications like Pzizz helping to set the right power nap aural scene. Here's how to get the perfect nap from the author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life, and more on how and why power naps work.


6. Avoid the Soul-Shattering Alarm Buzzer
No one likes starting the day by getting ripped out of bed by that evil BEEP BEEP BEEP of the alarm clock, but some sleepyheads ignore anything gentler. Lifehacker reader Jason beats the buzzer with a dual clock radio system:
alarmbuzzer.png

Put one alarm clock on your nightstand, the other across the room and make sure they're in sync. Set the alarm clock on your nightstand to go off at, let's say, 6:30 a.m., if that is when you need to get up. I set that one to use the radio, and make sure it is loud enough to wake me up, but not too loud (I don't want to wake my wife on purpose). The second alarm clock on the dresser is set to go off exactly one minute later, but using that dreadful buzzer. So, when my alarm goes off in the morning, it doesn't startle me like the buzzer. Then, I know I have about 60 seconds to get up and turn the other one off before I hear a buzzing sound. At that point, I am out of bed, and no buzzer.
Of course, some particularly talented sleepers can program themselves to wake up before the alarm clock goes off naturally. (The rest of us hate you.)


5. Solve Problems in Your Sleep
Wrestling with a tough decision, stuck in a creative rut or having a hard time solving a complex problem? Studies show that a little shut-eye can help you tackle problems and make tough decisions.

4. Beat Insomnia with Visualization
There's nothing worse than laying awake throughout the night, watching the clock tick away seconds knowing you'll be a zombie the next day. When insomnia's kicking your sleepy butt, use a self-directed meditative visualization technique to quiet the whir of a racing mind. Guest contributor Ryan Irelan runs down how to beat insomnia with "Blue Energy."


3. Shortcut a Long Nap with the Clattering Spoon
spoon.jpgArtist and napper Salvador Dali had an interesting nap technique, based on the idea that your body benefits from just getting to sleep as much as a couple of hours worth of shut-eye. He purportedly used a spoon to wake himself up just as he lost consciousness. According to Question Swap (via 43F), here's what you do:

Lie down or sit in comfy seat holding a spoon in your fingertips. you should be holding it in a way that - when you loose consciousness (sleep) you drop it... the Clatter (put a big plate on the floor under your hand) will wake you.... and you get woken JUST as you enter the best "dreamy" bit of your sleep. Alternatively, hold a bunch of keys: same effect.


2. Take a Caffeine Power Nap

Need a turbo boost to beat the sleepy doldrums pinch? Try a cup of coffee followed by a quick 15-minute nap to reboot your brain and get you going again.


1. Teach Yourself to Lucid Dream
crazydreams.pngArrive at school naked in that terrible dream last night? Turn nightmares around by knowing you're dreaming while you do it. Lucid dreaming opens up all sorts of possibilities for controlling where and how your dreams go. Teach yourself to lucid dream by keeping a dream journal and learning reality checks and dream extending techniques. (Some great comments here by lucid-dreaming readers, too.) Intrigued? Here are more lucid dreaming FAQs.


What do you do to get to sleep, set up the best naps or otherwise trick out your sheep counts? Let us know in the comments.












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@Gina Trapani, Lifehacker Editor: Here's my take on the credibility of a couple of these:

8 - the problem with many of the foods Yahoo lists is dosage - many of them may have the effects stated, but you might need to eat 10 bananas for them to have any effect on your sleepiness

3 - This technique was not used to substitute micro-naps for real sleep, but to take advantage of the brain's creative burst at the moment of falling asleep, called a "hypnagogic state" in this article: [psychologytoday.com]

2 - while this will perk you up, afternoon coffee (the most likely time for needing a perk-up) is likely to disrupt your nighttime sleep.
4 - This one I don't dispute - meditation has helped me fall asleep plenty of times in the past year - but I think you invite argument from any who don't RTFA with the implication that energy of any specific color will help them get to sleep.



Reply























@AbramCove: Actually, if you read the list and its supporting sources, you'll see that almost all of the items are backed by scientific research and published studies.



Reply





















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Top 10 Ways to Sleep Smarter and Better

Top 10 Ways to Sleep Smarter and Better


Nothing kills your ability to get things done faster than a bad night's sleep. Studies show that sleep deprivation costs Americans significant work productivity; yawning employees can't stay alert, make good decisions, focus on tasks or even manage a friendly mood at the office. There are lots of ways to beat insomnia, increase the quality of your sleep, and master the power nap. Today we've got our top 10 favorite sleep techniques, tips and facts. Photo by dkaz.

10. Reduce Screen Time Before Bed
nightcomputing.jpgStop checking your email or watching TV just before bedtime and you'll sleep better. A recent study shows that people who consume electronic media (read: stare at a backlit screen) just before bedtime report lower-quality sleep even when they get as much sleep as non-pre-bedtime screenheads. Lifehacker reader JFitzpatrick says this makes perfect sense:

Using a light-emitting device before bed like a flickering TV or computer monitor stimulates the brain in a different way than the way the body was intended to move towards sleep (gradually as the sun set) That's why it is so easy to waste sleepless hours flipping from channel to channel (or reading Lifehacker or Digg). The exposure to light stimulates the brain and creates a false alertness and stimulation.


9. Exercise to Enhance Sleep
race_running_speed_267198_l.jpgYou already know that exercising provides lots of good health benefits—a good night's sleep being one of them. But make sure you exercise in the morning or afternoon, not at night, to see the benefits while you dream. CNN reports:

The National Sleep Foundation reports that exercise in the afternoon can help deepen shut-eye and cut the time it takes for you to fall into dreamland. But, they caution, vigorous exercise leading up to bedtime can actually have the reverse effects. A 2003 study found that a morning fitness regime was key to a better snooze. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center concluded that postmenopausal women who exercised 30 minutes every morning had less trouble falling asleep than those who were less active. The women who worked out in the evening hours saw little or no improvement in their sleep patterns.
Oh yeah, exercise enhances that other bedtime activity, too: sex. (But that's a whole other top 10.)


8. Eat to Enhance Sleep
Some foods are more conducive to a better night's sleep than others. You already knew about warm milk, chamomile tea and turkey, but Yahoo Food lists others, like bananas, potatoes, oatmeal and whole-wheat bread. You find yourself fighting off afternoon droopy eyelids at the office? Here are some pointers on eating a less nap-inducing lunch.


7. Master the Power Nap
sleeppod.jpgSlowly but surely, the benefits of the classic, 20-minute power nap are getting more recognition, with big companies installing sleep pods at the office and more software applications like Pzizz helping to set the right power nap aural scene. Here's how to get the perfect nap from the author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life, and more on how and why power naps work.


6. Avoid the Soul-Shattering Alarm Buzzer
No one likes starting the day by getting ripped out of bed by that evil BEEP BEEP BEEP of the alarm clock, but some sleepyheads ignore anything gentler. Lifehacker reader Jason beats the buzzer with a dual clock radio system:
alarmbuzzer.png

Put one alarm clock on your nightstand, the other across the room and make sure they're in sync. Set the alarm clock on your nightstand to go off at, let's say, 6:30 a.m., if that is when you need to get up. I set that one to use the radio, and make sure it is loud enough to wake me up, but not too loud (I don't want to wake my wife on purpose). The second alarm clock on the dresser is set to go off exactly one minute later, but using that dreadful buzzer. So, when my alarm goes off in the morning, it doesn't startle me like the buzzer. Then, I know I have about 60 seconds to get up and turn the other one off before I hear a buzzing sound. At that point, I am out of bed, and no buzzer.
Of course, some particularly talented sleepers can program themselves to wake up before the alarm clock goes off naturally. (The rest of us hate you.)


5. Solve Problems in Your Sleep
Wrestling with a tough decision, stuck in a creative rut or having a hard time solving a complex problem? Studies show that a little shut-eye can help you tackle problems and make tough decisions.

4. Beat Insomnia with Visualization
There's nothing worse than laying awake throughout the night, watching the clock tick away seconds knowing you'll be a zombie the next day. When insomnia's kicking your sleepy butt, use a self-directed meditative visualization technique to quiet the whir of a racing mind. Guest contributor Ryan Irelan runs down how to beat insomnia with "Blue Energy."


3. Shortcut a Long Nap with the Clattering Spoon
spoon.jpgArtist and napper Salvador Dali had an interesting nap technique, based on the idea that your body benefits from just getting to sleep as much as a couple of hours worth of shut-eye. He purportedly used a spoon to wake himself up just as he lost consciousness. According to Question Swap (via 43F), here's what you do:

Lie down or sit in comfy seat holding a spoon in your fingertips. you should be holding it in a way that - when you loose consciousness (sleep) you drop it... the Clatter (put a big plate on the floor under your hand) will wake you.... and you get woken JUST as you enter the best "dreamy" bit of your sleep. Alternatively, hold a bunch of keys: same effect.


2. Take a Caffeine Power Nap

Need a turbo boost to beat the sleepy doldrums pinch? Try a cup of coffee followed by a quick 15-minute nap to reboot your brain and get you going again.


1. Teach Yourself to Lucid Dream
crazydreams.pngArrive at school naked in that terrible dream last night? Turn nightmares around by knowing you're dreaming while you do it. Lucid dreaming opens up all sorts of possibilities for controlling where and how your dreams go. Teach yourself to lucid dream by keeping a dream journal and learning reality checks and dream extending techniques. (Some great comments here by lucid-dreaming readers, too.) Intrigued? Here are more lucid dreaming FAQs.


What do you do to get to sleep, set up the best naps or otherwise trick out your sheep counts? Let us know in the comments.

Contact information for this author is not available.

  • Follow us to see the most popular stories among your friends -- or sign up for our daily newsletter below.



Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

@Gina Trapani, Lifehacker Editor: Here's my take on the credibility of a couple of these:

8 - the problem with many of the foods Yahoo lists is dosage - many of them may have the effects stated, but you might need to eat 10 bananas for them to have any effect on your sleepiness

3 - This technique was not used to substitute micro-naps for real sleep, but to take advantage of the brain's creative burst at the moment of falling asleep, called a "hypnagogic state" in this article: [psychologytoday.com]

2 - while this will perk you up, afternoon coffee (the most likely time for needing a perk-up) is likely to disrupt your nighttime sleep.
4 - This one I don't dispute - meditation has helped me fall asleep plenty of times in the past year - but I think you invite argument from any who don't RTFA with the implication that energy of any specific color will help them get to sleep. Reply


@AbramCove: Actually, if you read the list and its supporting sources, you'll see that almost all of the items are backed by scientific research and published studies. Reply


In order to view comments on lifehacker.com you need to enable JavaScript.
If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark lifehacker.com as trusted.

Posted via email from Alex Tarling

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Fleeting Thoughts for the Auto Biography 5

Sitting up to breakfast on cold mornings, the riot of colour and paper
and pictures around us, and the cork tiles warm beneath our feet. A
great big pyrex jug full of Ready Break, with the dribbles of
explosions in the microwave baked crispy to the outside. I would
plunge my spoon into my bowlful to break up the slight skin to get to
the tender and soft, warm and filling oatiness. It would bulge
slightly against the bowl, having a soft rounded top, and the drizzle
of golden syrup would sink down into it, making a channel.

I would write my name with syrup, or swirl it in a spiral. And when
you took a mouthful, it would sit leaden and warm in your stomach,
like insulation for the long, dull school day ahead.

Fleeting Thoughts for the Auto Biography 5

Sitting up to breakfast on cold mornings, the riot of colour and paper
and pictures around us, and the cork tiles warm beneath our feet. A
great big pyrex jug full of Ready Break, with the dribbles of
explosions in the microwave baked crispy to the outside. I would
plunge my spoon into my bowlful to break up the slight skin to get to
the tender and soft, warm and filling oatiness. It would bulge
slightly against the bowl, having a soft rounded top, and the drizzle
of golden syrup would sink down into it, making a channel.

I would write my name with syrup, or swirl it in a spiral. And when
you took a mouthful, it would sit leaden and warm in your stomach,
like insulation for the long, dull school day ahead.

Posted via email from Alex Tarling

Friday, September 24, 2010

Evening thoughts

Entrelac

I really should get off my bottom and tidy the study.

Our living room is cosy.

Entrelac knitting is easy, complex and relaxing.

My hand still really hurts.

The film Troy promotes violence towards women, and is horribly
unhistorical but still... can't... help.. watching.

It's my birthday tomorrow!

Evening thoughts

I really should get off my bottom and tidy the study.

Our living room is cosy.

Entrelac knitting is easy, complex and relaxing.

My hand still really hurts.

The film Troy promotes violence towards women, and is horribly
unhistorical but still... can't... help.. watching.

It's my birthday tomorrow!

Posted via email from Alex Tarling

Really Odd - watch out cyclists,

Just cycled down Priory Road in Southampton, and between the railway
bridge and the junction with South Road, a green car with the
registration P262 UBH drove past me. Some man in the passenger seat
leant out and whacked me with one of those clear and black umbrellas.
My right hand now really hurts! Fortunately I kept my balance and got
his registration as they drove off laughing down Priory Road towards
the river, but if you're in that area, watch out!

Really Odd - watch out cyclists,

Just cycled down Priory Road in Southampton, and between the railway
bridge and the junction with South Road, a green car with the
registration P262 UBH drove past me. Some man in the passenger seat
leant out and whacked me with one of those clear and black umbrellas.
My right hand now really hurts! Fortunately I kept my balance and got
his registration as they drove off laughing down Priory Road towards
the river, but if you're in that area, watch out!

Posted via email from Alex Tarling