7 Keep it cool.
8 IF YOU’RE A TEENAGER,
YOU’RE ON A DIFFERENT
SCHEDULE.
Teens have a circadian rhythm
that naturally has them falling
into and out of the sleep cycle
later than their parents, and they
also need a little more sleep. This
is why at age 16 you probably
feel most comfortable going to
bed after midnight and rolling out
of bed at 9 a.m. It’s also why
school schedules that usually
force teens to get up early create
sleep deficits (and inattentive
students). Teens: When possible,
follow your body’s circadian
rhythm to make sure you get
eight to nine hours nightly.
9 TAKE ZMA.
After your last meal, ingest a
ZMA supplement to boost your
hormonal levels during sleep.
DIFFERENT
SCHEDULE
“I’m on a different schedule than other
people. I’m always up late. I probably
don’t get to sleep till at least two in the
morning, and that means I’m not out of
bed until 10. That’s just the schedule
that works for me, but I still get those
eight hours in.” —R ONNIE C OLEMAN
10 WIND DOWN.
Relax mentally and
physically before turning the
lights out. Avoid anything
stressful. Reading or listening
to a sedate podcast in bed
will let your melatonin rise
and ease you into sleep.
11 AVOID SLEEPING PILLS.
Except for special circum-
stances when slumber just
will not come, avoid sleeping
pills like Ambien. The sleep
they induce is, in effect,
artificial, lacking all the
recuperative power of
uninduced sleep. Sold as
natural sleep aids, melatonin
pills aren’t exactly that. If you
crash after popping two,
it’s mostly from a placebo
effect. This is because
melatonin doesn’t generate
sleep but instead regulates its
timing. A good use of melatonin
pills is to alter your circadian
rhythm on international trips,
which will minimize jet lag.
12 DIM LED LIGHT.
With the prevalence of
incandescent light in the 20th
century, we started staying
up later, unmoored to the daily
darkness caused by the rotation
of the Earth on its axis. And with
the prevalence of LED light in
the 21st century, we often can’t
get to sleep until even later.
Even more than incandescent
light, the blue spectrum of
LED light—generated by
computer screens,
smartphones, and many
modern TVs—simulates daylight,
hampering our release of
melatonin and delaying sleep
cycles. Turn off LED screens at
least two hours before bedtime
and use an app that dims your
screen’s blue spectrum in the
hours before you sleep.
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