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Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

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Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#81

Post by huntaub »

superuser2 wrote: post #76
drostie wrote: post #29

One tip which I didn't see: set an alarm for going to bed , not waking up . You should be able to wake naturally, but artificial lighting changes your perception of when you should go to sleep, shifting you from a naturally 23-hour circadian rhythm to a 25-hour one. So just set an alarm for 11pm, and when you hear it, immediately stop what you're doing, save any open documents, turn the TV or computer off. The next 3…

You're clearly not a student :). I'd love to choose when to go to bed, but that's not really compatible with a workload challenging enough to appease admissions counselors.

You can get all of your work done before a certain time. It just involves more rigorous organization. It is never good to put anything at a higher priority than your health.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#82

Post by nateweiss »

gerjomarty wrote: post #48
codewright wrote: post #35

"Turbo shots" or "red eyes" in your coffee are a placebo btw. Espresso has a lower concentration of caffeine than standard drip. So by putting a "turbo shot" in your cup, you're actually lowering the caffeine concentration. Wants to be hyper-rational and metric-aware about his sleep but didn't know anything about caffeine? Okay.

I hear a lot about cutting caffeine after 3pm to have it not affect your sleep, but I generally assume people are talking about coffee when they mention this time. I care more about when I should stop drinking tea, which apparently contains less caffeine. Can I just halve the time required if tea has half the caffeine (let's say)?

There are some pretty good decaf black teas (not herbal) which are reasonably satisfying if you want to have a cuppa later in the day.

If you're in the US, the Stash decaf range is IMO the best of the common supermarket brands (the normal American teas like Lipton and Tetley are pretty terrible in their decaf versions). If there's a gourmet store around, they may have the English brands such as Typhoo or PG Tips in decaf, which are pretty great. If you're in the UK then any advice on tea from the likes of me should just be ignored out of hand... :)

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#83

Post by ics »

tptacek wrote: post #67
drostie wrote: post #29

One tip which I didn't see: set an alarm for going to bed , not waking up . You should be able to wake naturally, but artificial lighting changes your perception of when you should go to sleep, shifting you from a naturally 23-hour circadian rhythm to a 25-hour one. So just set an alarm for 11pm, and when you hear it, immediately stop what you're doing, save any open documents, turn the TV or computer off. The next 3…

A plug here for F.lux, which attempts to correct for the unnatural color balance of computer screens and seems to have more or less eliminated my insomnia problems; the only times I have trouble sleeping anymore are traceable either to caffeine after noon, or forgetting that I've disabled F.lux.

I recommend F.lux as well, but I've noticed a very unfortunate effect over the last few months... because of how soft it is on the eyes at night, I've learned that with it enabled I can continuously work 16-26 hour sessions without even realizing that I missed a sleep cycle. Obviously, this isn't a problem with F.lux itself, and I've tried very hard to tweak my settings so that this doesn't happen (it is auto-on/off, have experimented with different temp. levels too). In fact, I've gotten so used to it that when I know I need to go to bed soon I disable it entirely– once the blue light starts irritating me, I switch to a lamp and paper until I'm ready to get some shut-eye.

Notes: I don't drink coffee, green tea once in a while, and minimal late-night stimuli (lights mostly off, no music, ...).

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#84

Post by maroun »

gingerlime wrote: post #75

Interesting post, but I'm not sure if some of this advice can work for me. I've tried earplugs, but to be honest, it makes me paranoid that I won't hear the fire alarm or burglar coming in, which makes me much less relaxed. This isolated feeling is also weird for me. Covering my eyes just feels uncomfortable and also isolating. It's probably just me. Also, I'm not entirely sure where I heard/read it, but I thought it…

When you first see sunlight in the mornings it helps regulate your circadian rhythm and it tells your body "The sun is out this is when I should wake up". Which is why if you're traveling you want to make sure you wake up at the right time locally and open the windows right away, it'll help reduce the # of days in which you're jetlagged.

However if you're sleeping at home you want your body to sleep for as long as it needs to, uninterrupted. That means no sunlight, no noise and no alarms. If you get into a consistent schedule you're body will wake up at around the same time everyday. However if you have sleep debt that you need to make up, you also want to give your body the chance to sleep a little extra.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#86

Post by 0x09 »

dllthomas wrote: post #49

Consistency is key, I've heard time and again and my own experience seems to support (FWIW). However, perfect consistency is hard to maintain. Even if one avoids the late parties and whatnot, eventually emergencies get in the way or illness comes along and increases the amount of sleep required. My question is, when consistency must falter, what piece is most important? Going to bed at the same time, getting up at th…

This is the part I wish he hadn't glossed over, especially since at least a small handful of studies suggest that we naturally adopt > 24h cycles when left away from light cues and set time responsibilities.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#87

Post by adito »

drostie wrote: post #29

One tip which I didn't see: set an alarm for going to bed , not waking up . You should be able to wake naturally, but artificial lighting changes your perception of when you should go to sleep, shifting you from a naturally 23-hour circadian rhythm to a 25-hour one. So just set an alarm for 11pm, and when you hear it, immediately stop what you're doing, save any open documents, turn the TV or computer off. The next 3…

someone suggest the opposite[1]:

    If you sleep set hours, you’ll sometimes go to bed
    when you aren’t sleepy enough. If it’s taking you
    more than five minutes to fall asleep each night,
    you aren’t sleepy enough. You’re wasting time lying
    in bed awake and not being asleep. Another problem
    is that you’re assuming you need the same number of
    hours of sleep every night, which is a false 
    assumption. Your sleep needs vary from day to day.

    ...

    The solution was to go to bed when I’m sleepy 
    (and only when I’m sleepy) and get up with 
    an alarm clock at a fixed time (7 days per week).
I've done this tips and have good sleep each night (and also become an early riser as side effect).

[1]: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-ea...

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#88

Post by colkassad »

adito wrote: post #87
drostie wrote: post #29

One tip which I didn't see: set an alarm for going to bed , not waking up . You should be able to wake naturally, but artificial lighting changes your perception of when you should go to sleep, shifting you from a naturally 23-hour circadian rhythm to a 25-hour one. So just set an alarm for 11pm, and when you hear it, immediately stop what you're doing, save any open documents, turn the TV or computer off. The next 3…

someone suggest the opposite[1]: If you sleep set hours, you’ll sometimes go to bed when you aren’t sleepy enough. If it’s taking you more than five minutes to fall asleep each night, you aren’t sleepy enough. You’re wasting time lying in bed awake and not being asleep. Another problem is that you’re assuming you need the same number of hours of sleep every night, which is a false assumption. Your sleep needs vary fr…

The only time I fall asleep in less than 5 minutes is if I am completely exhausted. I have to go through a mental winding down period while I lay in bed. Usually through reading or just closing my eyes and thinking about something pleasant. This usually takes me about a half-hour on average. Anyway, from my point of view, I never understand how someone can just lay down and be asleep in a few minutes.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#89

Post by hndl »

dkersten wrote: post #66
drostie wrote: post #29

One tip which I didn't see: set an alarm for going to bed , not waking up . You should be able to wake naturally, but artificial lighting changes your perception of when you should go to sleep, shifting you from a naturally 23-hour circadian rhythm to a 25-hour one. So just set an alarm for 11pm, and when you hear it, immediately stop what you're doing, save any open documents, turn the TV or computer off. The next 3…

I agree with this. I have a wake up alarm, but I'm usually awake before it goes off. I've also never been a morning person, but when I keep to a strict go-to-bed time, I feel refreshed and awake in the morning even if its early. I guess part of this is that when I'm careful when I go to bed, I also time that I 1) get a plenty of sleep and 2) get up on a 90-minute boundary. Unfortunately I have a habit of ignoring my…

I thought I could wake up before my alarm went off too, but after a little retrospection I considered that perhaps I "trained" myself to get up at the time. That is, I used to use the alarm, then stopped using it, but continued to get up at the same time.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#90

Post by burriko »

gerjomarty wrote: post #48
codewright wrote: post #35

"Turbo shots" or "red eyes" in your coffee are a placebo btw. Espresso has a lower concentration of caffeine than standard drip. So by putting a "turbo shot" in your cup, you're actually lowering the caffeine concentration. Wants to be hyper-rational and metric-aware about his sleep but didn't know anything about caffeine? Okay.

I hear a lot about cutting caffeine after 3pm to have it not affect your sleep, but I generally assume people are talking about coffee when they mention this time. I care more about when I should stop drinking tea, which apparently contains less caffeine. Can I just halve the time required if tea has half the caffeine (let's say)?

Last year I made the decision to switch to drinking only decaf tea after 3pm, and since then I've found that I have much less trouble getting to sleep. Purely anecdotal of course, but I highly recommend it. Initially I was worried about the taste, but there's honestly not a huge difference.
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