7 Steps to a Better Night's Sleep

by Aaron Jubar

Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

Sleep experts say that the average adult requires a full 8 hours of sleep per day in order to function normally. The average American has a life span of about 77 years. So, if you sleep 8 hours a day, you would be snoring away nearly 26 years of your life! In today's society, who has the time for that?

If you're like me, going from college life to the world of work was a traumatic experience. I went from being a college student who wouldn't schedule a class before noon, to being a working class guy who had to literally "roll" out of bed at 5 am. Like must routine events, I became used to getting up early and I can even see myself becoming a "morning person"... some day.

All Work, Less Play & No Sleep

In today's society, work usually takes precedence over all other daily activities. Our culture has developed a mindset in which we work more and sleep less. On top of this, we are conditioned to have less fun or recreational time.

Frankly, I'm not prepared to give up some of my leisure time activities in order to get the recommended amount of sleep every night. With my job, I would have to go to bed at 9 pm in order to attain a full 8 hours, and that's something I'm simply not prepared to do.

Most of us get used to living on less than 8 hours of sleep. We grow accustomed to the feelings of fatigue and sleepiness. We begin relying on things that can perk us up: coffee, caffeinated drinks, and energy bars.

Yet even with the help of stimulants such as coffee, a lack of quality sleep can have numerous negative effects in the long run. The effects of sleep deprivation may include:

• a lower quality of work
• decreased awareness while driving
• chronic fatigue and a general loss of focus
• weakened immune system

So What's To Blame?

Sleep deprivation is the result of a wide variety of circumstances, with the most important being the sleeping environment. Your bed and sleeping quarters are the two most important things when trying to get quality sleep. Fatigue alone cannot overcome an uncomfortable bed or a bedroom that is not conducive to sleeping.

Having young children is probably the single biggest reason for the occurrence of sleep deprivation in parents. Often, sleep loss by children and parents are interrelated. We've all heard about -- or experienced firsthand -- the late night bottle-feeding. Perhaps that is why most first time parents look like zombies during the daytime.

If you own pets that sleep in your bedroom or on your bed, they may also be disrupting your sleep, whether you realize it or not. According to a poll by the National Sleep Foundation, 77% of people who allow their pets to share their bedrooms and/or bed reported being awakened or disturbed by them. On the flip side, 82% of pet owners said the joy provided by their pet(s) outweighed any loss of sleep experienced.

So, what can you do to get better rest?

The Seven Step Sleep Strategy

Since we all can't get the 8 hours of recommended sleep per night, it's important to find ways to increase the quality of the sleep we do get. Here are seven simple things you can do:

1. Keep it dark. It's generally a good idea to keep your sleeping area as dark as possible. Some people have found a blindfold to be helpful. Also, much better rest is attained in a quiet, comfortable environment.
2. Play soft music or use sound therapy. The use of cassettes with soothing, natural sounds causes your heart rate to lower and slows breathing. (Personally, I cannot use such tapes for there is something about the sound of a babbling brook that makes me run to the bathroom every hour.)
3. Keep your bed almost exclusively for sleep. Don't watch TV, eat, or read for extensive periods of time in bed. Your body will become accustomed to being in a relaxed state in bed, but not a "sleeping" state.
4. Keep daytime naps to less than 30 minutes. A short "power nap" of about 20 minutes can refresh and revitalize most individuals. Longer naps will actually make you more fatigued and lower the quality of your nighttime sleep.
5. Don't eat within two hours of bedtime. This also includes drinking anything with caffeine in it. Not only can food in an idle stomach cause indigestion or heartburn, it also has a tendency to be stored as fatty tissue.
6. Don't exercise close to bedtime. Sure, you'll still be burning calories while you sleep, but you won't be getting quality rest. For good sleep, your heart rate should be at your resting rate, not at an elevated rate caused by exercise.
7. Relax, meditate and pray. This is a wonderful thing to do before hitting the hay -- and a great way to process the events of the day. Many of us, as children, would curl up in the covers or kneel down beside the bed to pray before we went to sleep each night. It was a part of our childhood routine. Our sleep -- and our lives in general -- will improve if we make it part of our adult routine, too!

Follow these Seven Steps and you may just get some quality sleep tonight!

Life Applications:

Do you think you get enough sleep?
If you don't get enough sleep, what is it that you are choosing to do instead?
Why could Jesus sleep on a boat in a storm? Do the stresses of the day stay with you through the night?

Copyright 2002-2007 by Aaron Jubar
All rights reserved.