How to sleep well on a Sunday night before work
If you want to get a good night’s sleep and avoid the issue of “social jet lag” on a Sunday you should do this.
Sleep
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Aussies sleep best on a Sunday night and even better if they cuddle up with their pet dog rather than sleeping solo or with the cat.
That’s the findings of a new survey by wearable technology company WHOOP out Thursday to celebrate World Sleep Day.
The key to a good night’s sleep is, according to the experts, consistency with bed and wake times.
It is not rocket science, but the experts remind us that keeping the time you go to bed and rise regular, including on weekends, helps to avoid the dreaded “Sunday scaries”.
This is the technical term for that feeling of panic for many on a Sunday night that the school or working week is looming and you need to get to sleep.
Sleep scientist Dean Miller says to avoid them, go to bed at a regular time, keep the bedroom cool and the lights dimmed.
“We call it social jet lag because it’s conceptually similar to what we know as normal jet lag,” Dr Miller said.
“But it’s just the mismatch between the weekday and weekend sleep.”
“And what we actually don’t want to see is that difference to be too marked, because it can have a negative impact on our body clock. It means we get to Monday and our body clocks have moved.”
He says a quick 45-minute nap before 4pm is a better alternative.
Dr Miller, who has a PhD in examining sleep patterns in athletic populations, has a scientific understanding of sleep. He advised the Australian Institute of Sport about the impact of jet lag on our Olympians and Paralympians before they jetted off to Paris last July.
He says people are interested in their own sleep and want to know how to optimise it.
“Most people will need between seven to nine hours per night. If you are consistently achieving that, then you are doing a great job,” he said.
“If you consistently get insufficient sleep, let’s say four hours per night, there can be a point where your performance plateaus and you don’t notice that you’re performing at reduced capacity, because that’s just your status quo.”
The WHOOP study found that Australians overall were pretty good at getting some shut-eye.
It also revealed women outsleep men on average by about 20 minutes a night, which adds up to five extra days of sleep for them in the year.
Dr Miller, who was not part of the study, said women usually need more sleep than men.
“In terms of the gender differences, I’m not surprised that there’s recent data showing that female sleep need is higher than male sleep need,” he said. “It’s potentially due to the menstrual cycle and the additional strain that the female body experiences.”
The study found that while Gen Z stay up the latest (12:21 AM on average) they also have the longest and most efficient sleep.
Most in the survey said they woke at 6.55am, while those who did exercises such as pilates, walking with a pram or netball clocked a better night’s sleep.
Dr Miller said wearable devices do a good job measuring sleep duration, provided they are not making people anxious about sleep.
There’s even a scientific term for that: orthosomnia which is described as “an obsessive pursuit of optimal sleep that is driven by sleep tracker data”.
He says stick to the raw data and to look at trends over time, rather than focusing on daily data.
“If you try sleep tracking and it’s having a negative effect, it is okay to take it off, but if it helps your sleep, then it can be a tool that works for some.”
Dr Miller’s sleep tips:
AVOID artificial bright lights at night – these are not optional for how our brains have learnt to go to sleep
SWITCH from bright lights to dimmers and lamps a few hours before bedtime
PHONE use is OK, interruptions to sleep are usually more behavioural such as scrolling and watching videos
IF there is an underlying cause, there is a place for supplements in some cases, but always discuss these with your GP
TAKE a nap rather than sleeping an extra two hours on the weekend
IF you track your sleep, look at weekly trends rather than nightly data
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