“The cumulous sleep debt” – scientists reveal the trick of getting a good night sleep

Millennials want it all. 24 hours does not seem enough for that. They work really hard and never miss on parties. And we all know what that means – late nights and early mornings.

After a hectic day,we craves to hit the bed but falls prey to scrolling their feeds on social media. The minutes roll into hours and in the blink of an eye it’s past midnight. Most of us can relate to such a situation.

It is a known fact that we require minimum 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night. Most of the times, life intervenes and we end up snoozing the alarm innumerable times before finally giving up… I mean waking up!

So, is there no solution to this vicious cycle?

In a utopian world, we’d be allotted time to nap at work. However, taking out time from the lunch hour to snooze won’t be beneficial.

We all need varying amount of sleep

According to Dr. Quan of the division of sleep and Circadian Disorders, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, there is no fixed duration of sleep required to sustain ourselves. It depends wholly on the individual.

Our ability to function does not depend only on the hours of sleep we get every night. Dr. Quan says that the “cumulous sleep debt” is a vital determining factor of our functionality.

What is a “sleep debt”? If you go to sleep at 2 a.m, only to wake up at 6 the next morning, you have accumulated a non-repayable “sleep debt”. You cannot simply take short naps all week to make up for it. The trick is to set a routine for the body. There should be consistency in the number of hours we sleep regularly.

We often indulge in unhealthy habits to compensate for sleep deprivation. These are certain things that you must avoid:

1. Waking up to an alarm

Omar Burschtin , M.D, director of the Mount Sinai Integrative Sleep Medicine Program believes waking up to the alarm may not be healthy. A person should wake up a few minutes before the alarm rings.

Waking up to the alarm always indicates that your sleep was insufficient. For a life around the schedule of school and work, alarm is a precaution that many abide by. It should be taken as a safety feature and not a need.

Try setting the alarm a few minutes later than usual and see if you can wake up prior to it. The body gets trained to wake up naturally if it is in a routine of school or work.

2. Caffeine compulsion

Try not to give into the caffeine craving. According to Dr. Burschtin caffeine products act as a quick fix only. Evaluate your need for coffee and check the addiction.

3. Quality over quantity

The hours don’t matter but the quality surely does. It determines your productivity. Switch off your mobile and do not step near the computer. Close your eyes, shut off the world and sleep.

Happy Sleeping, you all!

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Image source: Flickr/Alyssa L. Miller