4 ways to get a good night's sleep

The truth is, all of our modern conveniences like email and microwave ovens and Johnny Depp (what?) mean that we're trying to cram that many more things into our day, having the cake, eating it too, working it off and then watching Rachael Ray make a better cake than the cake you just ate, only she did it in 30 minutes or less. You totes have something in common with both Marie Antoinette and Cleopatra and it is that you all only get 24 hours in the day, only I'm willing to guess that Cleo and Marie spent a lot more of those hours asleep. In fact, I'll bet as you're reading this, you're fighting to keep your eyes open. Even now, I imagine that your pillow is struggling with separation anxiety wondering "When? When is she coming home? Doesn't she love me? We used to have such good times together! Was it something I did?" Hey, wake up! I'm talking to you!

There's a reason that I know my Starbucks barista better than I know the woman who sits in the cubicle next to me. I wake up before dawn and go to sleep somewhere around midnight, which means that caffeine is my drug of choice. Kids, work, more work, sex, social life, projects, Jon Stewart--it's easy to see why the average adult only gets about 6.5 hours of sleep (or less). You can take that statistic with a grain of salt, but I know I personally am getting closer to 6 hours than that ideal sweet spot of 8 perfect hours. However, scary findings from a scientific study indicate getting less than 8 hours of sleep totally starts to affect your mental alertness and ability to react quickly, plus, it can really increase your stress level. Also, another study found that sleepers who hit the sheets for 7-8 hours a night were more successful at maintaining their weight, while those people studied who slept for 6 or fewer hours or more than 9 hours a night tended to gain weight.

Here are four easy techniques to make the most of your dream time:

* Schedule some "me" time with a little pre-dream meditation. Not only is it supposed to help with insomnia, but aligning your chakras will also help you lose some of the stress that might be preventing you from reaching those beneficial deep stages of sleep.

* Set the stage in your bedroom for the main event (no, the other main event), which means no Friends reruns, no laptop, and as little light or noise pollution as possible. Even a treadmill in the corner is a mental distraction and can keep you from getting your happy zzz's.

* Eat your main meals earlier in the day so that you're going to bed on a mostly empty stomach. Obviously, a growling stomach will prevent you from sleeping, but your goal is to get your body to focus on restoration, not digestion.

* Respect yourself! And your circadian rhythms! Skimping on shut eye during the week and then having 12-hour sleep binges on an occasional weekend builds a sleep deficit larger than the national debt. Try to go to sleep and wake up at roughly the same time every night. Okay, your friends may call you pathetic when you skip out of the club at 10:30 on a Saturday night, but really, do you need to wait until the beer goggle hour before you know it's time to go?

Haiku_Sociology

The Sociology
involves anything around,
time-worthing topic

the first time to use this blog

Our Sociology professor ask us to have a blog here in this website, actually I have one before but I forgot the password. That's one of my biggest problem in my life, the act of forgetting, or what do you call memory gap. I easily forget something even though it's important, that's why I didn't take nursing or any pre-med course because of the FORGETTING SYNDROME.

This blog will serve as my online diary. And I hope you will have time to view and comment my articles...

Thanks in advance!