Brain Bulletin #79 - Nine Bad Habits that Can Steal Your Sleep

in Brain Bulletin

How well did you sleep last night? How long did you sleep?

These are two good questions.

"A day well-spent brings happy sleep." ~ Leonardo da Vinci

If you want a better brain, and to live longer, and to be younger, get enough sleep. Your brain needs 7-9 hours of good sleep ever day.

When you don't get enough sleep your brain has a hard time dealing with stress. It gets irritable, and it has a hard time paying attention. On the other hand, getting adequate sleep helps your brain learn new things, and develop new habits.

Here's the deal. When you are awake you have new experiences and learn new things. When you sleep brain processes help you integrate those new experiences and learnings into your memory. Both declarative and procedural memory are consolidated during sleep. This makes you more effective in the future.

Many people I meet in my live presentations on the brain tell me they don't get enough sleep. I believe them. Everyone is busy. There's plenty of stress to go around. 

Sleep deprivation has also been shown to damage brain cells.

Here are nine habits that can steal your sleep:

  1. No caffeine after lunch. Caffeine can stay with you for up to 12 hours leaving you wide awake at bedtime. General rule: if you need an energy jolt try going for a brisk walk outside.
  2. Unplug. Cozying up to your laptop in bed could disrupt your sleep. The content stimulates your brain. And the emitted blue light mimics daylight. It can stop the production of melatonin - the sleep hormone. General rule: turn off all gadgets an hour before bedtime.
  3. Exercise early in the day. Exercise is great for reducing stress and this helps sleep. But it also increases your body's core temperature, making it harder to fall asleep. General rule: exercise at least 2 hours before bedtime. Earlier would be even better.
  4. Downsize dinner. Large meals take a long time to digest, delaying the onset of sleepiness. General rule: try and make lunch your big meal of the day...or at least eat a bit more for lunch and little bit less in the evening.
  5. Skip the "nightcap". Period. That is the rule. 
  6. Don't work in bed. Especially on your computer. General rule: stop working at least an hour before bedtime.
  7. Sleeping pills? Very sparingly. Better not at all. A recent study reported in the BMJ Open journal found regular sleeping pill users were 4.6 time likelier to die prematurely. General rule: don't.
  8. Make your bed. The National Sleep Foundation found that 44% of people who make their beds tend to sleep more soundly than those who don't. General rule: don't leave your bed in a heap.
  9. Sleeping in on the weekend. Wide variations in your sleep-wake cycle can cause insomnia. General rule: if you are dying for a sleep-in, try and keep it to just an hour more than your normal "get up time".

I also read recently that a small cup of cherry juice is great for inducing sleep.

A great book on this topic is "Sleep Thieves" by Dr. Stanley Coren.

I have increased my sleep time the last few years, and and my brain feels younger, sharper, more flexible....

Congratulations on learning something about your brain today. The Brain Bulletin is committed to help to do just that. If you missed any Brain Bulletins you can find them in the Brain Bulletin Archive: Brain Bulletin Archive

If you missed my TEDxGreatWall talk "Brain Without Walls" here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1ac3xX1JG4

Something great and ongoing for your brain:

Follow the Brainguy on Twitter:

You can join Terry Small's 1830 followers for free on Twitter: www.twitter.com/terrysmall

Twitter is a great way to learn and fuel your brain. I just posted an interesting article on why you are not nearly as good at paying attention as you think you are (something I have been telling people in my live presentations for years).

I will be posting, or tweeting as it's called, regularly about the brain. What I'm reading, watching, thinking, doing....all as it relates to your brain. Twitter restricts tweets to 140 characters, so it is always quick and to the point. No time wasting!

Twitter has the easiest sign up page in the world. Even if you are not on Twitter you can check out my tweets here: www.twitter.com/terrysmall

You can also follow the Brain Bulletin of twitter: www.twitter.com/brainbulletin

Well, it has been a busy 6 weeks. The big highlight was presenting twice at the ECIS Early Childhood Conference in Athens, Greece. My topic was "Growing a Child's Brain - Developing Everyday Genius". I loved Athens. It's a great city for walking and exploring. Plus, walking is good for the brain. So is exploring new things and dodging traffic. Plus, because I walked so much, I got to eat more! The food was amazing.

I keynoted the Aboriginal Head Start Program and keynoted the 50th Anniversary MART Provincial Conference in Manitoba.

I also did lots of public seminars and spoke at MDA Corporation, Metro Vancouver, BC CEO Forum, The Dental Technicians of Assoc. of BC, Pensions BC, and others. Everyone has so much to learn these days....

My favorite book this month was "Brain Power - Improve Your Mind as You Age" by Michael Gelb and Kelly Howell. An excellent summary of current findings and tools to improve your mind and life.

Next week I leave for Toronto soon to keynote and close the Ontario Board of Funeral Directors Provincial Conference.