Welcome back to our Q&A session this week about all things sleep! I hope I’ve gotten to your questions this week. Keep striving to sleep better, and thank you for allowing me to be of assistance. Check out these great questions regarding sleep routines:
Q: Is the snooze button actually worth pressing? Would it be more beneficial to set your alarm for later?
A: Great question! The majority of benefits from sleep occur during the last two hours of your restful sleep period, it’s where most sleep doctors believe the majority of the rejuvenation happens. With this in mind, I would advise setting your alarm to go off in 30 minute intervals. This will allow your body to go through one more additional sleep cycle instead of hitting the snooze button, which interrupts that additional sleep cycle. I personally prefer setting the alarm 30 minutes before I know I need to wake up, and then again at the time I need to wake up, the best approach if you need that snooze button. Thanks for asking!
Q: What’s the best way for nightshift workers to get sleep? Also, what type of sleep solution should someone who lives in a studio apartment implement?
A: I am a huge advocate of creating the ideal sleep environment for yourself, especially for any and all nightshift workers. This would include: blocking out light from your windows with black out shades or heavy drapes, keeping the room as cold as your comfort level can stand (63-68 F is ideal), and turning off all electronics including the television, computer, and smart phone. If you can’t fall asleep, I advise getting up and going to another room to do some light reading or a light activity until you feel ready to go to sleep, then return to bed. Whatever you do, don’t stay in bed if you are not falling asleep. I would apply this advice to your studio apartment and things should go great!
Q: Have you ever used any of the apps out there that are meant to help your sleep at night by waking you up at a particular point in your sleep cycle? What do you think of them?
A: I have used some of them, but I don’t like the ones that are a physical attachment. I feel as though they are intrusive to your sleep. The main reason I am uncomfortable with them is that they are not as exacting of a scientific measurement, compared to sensors you may soon see placed inside the mattress and which are not a physical attachment to your body (this is in the pipeline of mattress technology at this time). I am not saying they are evil, but even ones that are not a physical attachment, many of them to my knowledge use the camera of your smart phone to measure movement in the room, and any errors caused by say pets or other people who live in the home make me uncomfortable that they may cause the user to wake up. I do know people who find them beneficial as a general metric, but I do not use them.
Whatever method works for you that allows you to get 7-9 hours of high quality sleep without disruptions, stick to it! Everyone is different, but we all need to make sure we get our shut-eye!
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