home Adviсe How many hours should an adult sleep in deep sleep? What is deep sleep and how long does it last?

How many hours should an adult sleep in deep sleep? What is deep sleep and how long does it last?

The normal amount of sleep for an adult is 7-8 hours. However, each body is individual, and therefore rest time is calculated differently. For some, 4-6 hours are enough full recovery their vitality, and for others, 9-10 hours of sleep will be optimal. Regardless of what regime a particular person follows, he has a phase of shallow and deep sleep.

Phase change

When our night journey to the kingdom of Morpheus begins, we are immersed in deep dream. It lasts approximately 60 minutes, followed by a phase REM sleep. The full cycle, starting from the slow phase and ending with the fast phase, takes approximately 90-120 minutes for an adult.

From 4 to 6 cycles take place during the night, depending on people’s biorhythms. In the first cycle, deep sleep lasts the longest, then its duration decreases. The closer we get to waking up, the more time we spend in paradoxical sleep, during which the brain actively processes and sorts all the information we have received during the day. In the last cycle it can take a full hour.

Slow Phase Stages

NREM sleep is also called orthodox or deep sleep. It is in this that we need to immerse ourselves at the very beginning of our vacation in order to fully restore our vitality. important functions. This phase, unlike the fast one, is divided into main stages:

Drowsiness - at this time we are just starting to fall asleep, our brain is still actively working, that’s why we see dreams, they can be intertwined with reality, often at this stage a person can find answers to questions that remained unresolved during the day.
Falling asleep is the stage at which our consciousness begins to turn off, but the brain still reacts sensitively to external stimuli, it is very important that nothing disturbs the person at this time; he is easily awakened by even the slightest noise.
Deep sleep is a time when all functions in our body gradually fade away, the body relaxes, but weak electrical impulses still pass through the brain.
Delta sleep is the stage of deepest sleep, when we are most relaxed, at this time the brain stops responding to external stimuli, body temperature becomes lowest, blood circulation and breathing rate decrease.

The meaning of slow-wave sleep

Scientists became seriously interested in studying sleep in the 70s of the last century. In various experiments on volunteers, it was found that depending on the duration of slow-wave sleep, people's mental and physical indicators change.

The trial took place at Stanford University and involved football students. If orthodox sleep lasted longer than usual, the athletes' endurance and productivity increased.

It is also known that athletes sleep not 7-8, but 11-12 hours a day.

What is the reason for this amount of sleep? The thing is that it is in the slow phase that the process of restoration of all cells of the body occurs. At this time, the pineal gland produces growth hormone, which triggers catabolism. This means that protein compounds are not broken down, as during anabolism during the day, but, on the contrary, are synthesized from amino acids. When falling asleep and when immersed in delta sleep, tissues and organs self-heal.

Scientists have also found that if sleep is deep and of the required duration, the immune system works much better. If you don't get a good night's rest, then protective functions the body will decrease, and we will become susceptible to infectious and inflammatory diseases.

Our youth depends on how well we sleep - if slow phase will not last as many hours as needed, the aging process will take place at an accelerated pace.

The effect of deep sleep on intelligence

Scientists have been able to prove that slow sleep affects not only physical endurance, but also a person’s mental abilities. During the experiment, subjects were given lists of the most important things before going to bed. different words, completely unrelated to each other, and asked to remember them. It turned out that people who slept longer in the delta stage performed better - they were able to remember more words than those who had shorter deep sleep.

Research has also shown that artificially depriving a person of deep sleep is equivalent to sleepless night. If fast phase tends to be compensated in subsequent nights, it is impossible to slowly “get enough sleep”.

Symptoms such as deterioration in concentration, memory loss, decreased ability to work and other signs of insomnia are also observed if a person does not spend as much time in the orthodox phase as he needs.

Regardless of how many hours a person sleeps, the slow phase always “opens” his rest. It is very different from REM sleep and has its own characteristics. For example, scientists have proven that under certain conditions, delta sleep can last longer than usual. This happens if a person rapidly loses weight, he experiences hyperfunction thyroid gland(thyrotoxicosis), or the day before he spent a lot of energy on physical work.

An interesting fact is that it is in deep sleep that disorders such as sleepwalking, enuresis, and sleep-talking begin to express themselves; a person has nightmares.

If you wake up a sleeping person at this time, he will not remember anything about his dreams or actions, and will be disoriented in time and space. This condition is associated with the slowdown of all processes in the body, which occurs during delta sleep.

Let's sum it up

Each person needs to sleep as much time as is required for the body to fully recover.

Deep sleep has a lot useful functions, it is simply necessary for normal physical and intellectual activity.

Those who want to increase its duration should exercise during the day and solve logic puzzles, solve crosswords or train the brain in some other way in the evening. Moderate activity during the entire period of wakefulness will help you quickly fall asleep and have a quality rest at night.

We'll sleep it off in the next world!
People's Hope

Indeed, why spend approximately a third of your life sleeping if the “lost” time can be used for good purposes? For example, announce on the grid: “Go! I created! Or read the summary. In the first case, we play and relax the brain, and in the second, we enrich it. It would seem like a profit! But it says the opposite: lack of sleep does not give the brain proper rest and leads to a decrease in cognitive functions, worsening reactions and memory lapses.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that people cannot soberly assess the weakening of their mental and physical abilities, believing that they are in optimal condition. Thus, a sleep-deprived person begins to lose at least in front of himself, but who sleeps normally. Lost hours of sleep certainly have an impact bad influence both on the professional and personal life of each person.

You've probably heard that the average amount of sleep for an adult varies around 7-8 hours every day. Is it really? Maybe you need to add a little or, conversely, subtract? How much sleep do you need in childhood, adolescence and adolescence? The answers to these questions are presented in a detailed study by the American National Sleep Foundation (USA), non-profit organization with a 25-year history of studying sleep-related phenomena.

A group of 18 researchers studied more than 300 (!) scientific works in the field of sleep and based on them made a number of conclusions about the norm of rest.

This is the first time that any professional organization has developed age recommendations sleep duration based on a rigorous systematic review of the global scientific literature on the effects of sleep duration on health, productivity and safety.
Charles Czeisler, professor at Harvard Medical School

As expected than younger person, those more quantities His body needs sleep to rest. Thus, newborns should sleep up to 2/3 of the day, while seven hours will be enough for older people.

The report by Charles and his colleagues confirms the previously stated framework of 7-9 hours of daily sleep. Of course, this is an average figure, which some will find too exaggerated, such as supporters. But science does not have reliable information confirming the safety of such recreational techniques.

But scientists boldly say that. Stick to the norm, and your remaining 15–17 hours of wakefulness will be marked by quality, benefit and pleasure!

But what to do if sleep doesn’t come? Find out how to get rid of insomnia.

Sleep is amazing, important and difficult process. A person spends a third of his life in this state, but its functions and purpose are still not fully understood.

One thing is clear - the dream is a necessary condition physical and mental health. But how much sleep do you need to feel vigorous and full of vitality?

Duration of healthy sleep

In fact, the duration of sleep for an adult is a relative indicator. It is widely believed that in order to be healthy and productive, an adult must sleep 8 hours a day. But these are average statistics.

Someone spends 6 hours in a state of sleep, while feeling great, while others need to devote everything to this process

Other factors also influence the difference in duration: age, health, fatigue, climate change, stress and other reasons.

In the first year of his life, a child “steals” up to 700 hours of sleep from his parents(about 2 hours a day).

Let's get back to the statistics. Depending on age, the need for sleep changes as follows:

Newborns should sleep an average of 15 hours a day;
Children - 10 hours;
Adults - 8 hours;
After 65 years - 6 hours.

But these numbers should not be taken as an axiom.. You need to listen to yourself. Because need is an individual thing. The human body itself definitely knows how many hours it needs to rest, so you need to listen carefully to your body.

Scientists from Japan conducted a large-scale study that lasted many years. The results of this event showed that those who sleep 7 hours a night live significantly longer those who spend less or more time sleeping.

In order for Morpheus’ hug to bring maximum benefit, you need to follow some rules, which we will discuss later.

6 principles of healthy sleep

Source of strength, youth, beauty, full life... All this has been said about sleep. He is inseparable and very important part our existence.

In order for sleep to truly be a source of strength, experts give the following recommendations:

Mode required. To do this, you need to go to bed and wake up at a certain time. If you do not follow this principle, your biorhythms will be disrupted, which will lead to sleep disturbances, irritability, decreased concentration, frequent changes mood and other troubles, including illness. So it’s worth taking a close look at organizing your sleep and not deviating from your routine even on weekends.
After waking up, you need to get out of bed immediately. If you fall asleep again, it will have a negative impact on your well-being. And it’s even better to make the bed so that the temptation of a soft blanket doesn’t pull you back into the arms of Morpheus.
An hour before bedtime is the time that should pass in a peaceful environment. Therefore, no physical activity, activity or fuss. It is better to leave all this for daylight hours. It’s also good for this hour to come up with some kind of calming ritual of preparing for bed, all the actions of which will always need to be performed in a certain sequence, in other words, to set a psychological anchor.
Don't eat 2 hours before bedtime. And let this dinner be easy.
Abuse of drinks such as coffee and tea, as well as smoking and alcohol, has a negative effect on sleep.

Another tip: It’s better to go to bed at 10 or 11 pm. Sleep is most beneficial for health from 23.00 to 5.00. IN as a last resort, we must try to capture the period from two o'clock in the morning to four - this is the time of the most powerful and sound sleep.

Daytime sleep: is it necessary?

Siesta (short - about 30 minutes - rest and sleep during the day) reduces the risk cardiovascular diseases. If you do it at least three times a week, you can immediately feel the healing effect on yourself - your mood, attention, memory, reaction, etc. improve.

Particularly useful nap for those who for some reason cannot get enough sleep dark time days. Just don’t spend more than half an hour on it - this can lead to difficulty falling asleep at night.

It's good to have the opportunity to take a short nap during the day. But there is a category of people for whom this vacation creates problems, causing sleep disorders. If such complications arise, then it is better to exclude the siesta from your routine.

Lack of sleep and its harm

Constant disruptions to less than normal sleep duration lead to chronic lack of sleep. This is bad for your health. And trying to make up the deficit on weekends only makes the situation worse. So, lack of sleep leads to:

To reduce the body's resistance to viruses and infections;
Decrease in performance;
Deterioration of attention and memory;
Development of heart and vascular diseases;
Headaches;
Excess weight;
Depression;
Insomnia.

In men, the consequences of lack of sleep are reflected in a decrease in testosterone production, and this is a decrease in endurance, strength, libido, an increase in adipose tissue and other manifestations, including inflammation of the prostate.

Obesity occurs when trying to eliminate a sensitive lack of energy through high-calorie foods. More With lack of sleep, cortisol, which is a stress hormone, begins to be actively produced. And some people often get stuck with nervous problems.

Often causeless rage, anger, wild irritability, general depression. Of course, the lack of precious sleep primarily affects nervous system. But this also causes blood pressure to rise, the heart begins to seize, and problems with the gastrointestinal tract arise. And outwardly it is easy to identify a person suffering from lack of sleep: red eyes and dark circles under them, swelling of the face, etc.

Also, a lack of healthy sleep is dangerous due to jet lag, which can lead to serious health problems.

Sometimes lack of sleep leads to disturbances in the functioning of the body that a person cannot cope with on his own. And in order to return to a normal, fulfilling life, you have to contact a specialist.

You should think about it - if everything around you is annoying, infuriating, nothing is going well, you are not satisfied with your own appearance - maybe you just need to get some sleep before this condition becomes chronic.

Oversleep and its consequences

Consistently sleeping more than 9–10 hours a day is not normal for an adult. And it also threatens your health, and no less than lack of sleep. Here's what this can lead to:

Obesity. Both lack and excess sleep lead to excess weight gain.
Headache.
Back pain.
Depression. When depressed mental state the body requires more sleep. Here, overspray is more a consequence than a cause. But excess sleep can also make the disease worse.
Diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

It is necessary to be examined by a doctor if sleep, in the absence of illness, constantly exceeds 10 hours a day.

Scientists have proven that oversleeping reduces life expectancy.

Sleep disorders

When real problems occur, posing a threat health, you need to consult a neurologist or psychotherapist. Sleep disorders can be::

Insomnia (insomnia) - difficulty falling asleep. A factor in the appearance of this disorder can be neuroses and psychoses, as well as serious brain damage or somatic ailments.
Hypersomnia is, on the contrary, unhealthy sleepiness. Narcolepsy and lethargic sleep are particularly dangerous here.
Parasomnia - manifested by night walking, nightmares, etc. The cause may be ordinary neurosis.
Intrasomnia - repeated awakenings.
Bruxism is teeth grinding in your sleep.
Apnea is a breathing disorder.
Sleep paralysis is muscle stiffness that occurs before a person falls asleep or after waking up.

Sleep is a source of strength, energy, life. By establishing this process yourself or with the help of specialists, you can solve many health problems.

Are you sleeping correctly? How much rest do you get during sleep? What happens in the body when we sleep? These questions are natural, because a person spends about 24 years of his life in sleep! Agree, we need to learn from this maximum benefit- Well, you can’t spend 24 years of your life somehow. Scientists conduct numerous sleep studies, doctors use them in their work healing sleep, even traditional healers They say that sleep is health. But speculation is speculation, and in studying a topic one can and should rely only on scientific facts.

Oversleep or undersleep – which is better?

How much sleep do you need to get enough sleep? Almost everyone knows that night sleep should last at least 8 hours – that’s what doctors tell us. Indeed, many of us will agree that only after 8 hours of sleep do we feel rested. Better yet, sleep 9-10 hours... But psychiatrist, Professor Daniel Kripke specifically conducted research on sleep duration and came to an interesting conclusion:

People who sleep 6.5 to 7.5 hours a night live longer. They are more productive and happier. And excessive sleep can even be harmful to health. And you may feel worse after sleeping for 8.5 hours than if you slept for 5.

Try to conduct an experiment on yourself and sleep not 8 hours, but only 7.5 - just listen carefully to your internal state, to well-being. Kripke claims that with this sleep pattern the body feels more energetic, the person is ready to literally “move mountains,” and the mood will be excellent.
Are you more often content with 4 hours of sleep a night and consider yourself a hero? You are wrong! Lack of sleep is just as bad as oversleeping. Moreover, it is not known for certain what will have a more negative impact on health. It's like choosing the size of underwear - every person needs individual approach. Therefore, you should gently and unobtrusively experiment with your own body - if you sleep 8 or more hours every night, then safely reduce this time by half an hour. Do you feel that 7.5 hours is enough to rest? Try reducing the duration of rest by another half hour. Important:less than 6 hours of sleep a night is harmful. Therefore, when experimenting, do not overdo it - you need to find a “golden mean”. An interesting fact is that a person who has slept for 4 hours will be quite adequate and even so attentive that he can compare with a person who has slept for 7.5 hours. And even tests/exercises performed on these two people will give the same results. What's the catch? The fact is that even with complete sleep, the human brain periodically loses focus on the task. And this is where the difference between the two people that was mentioned at the beginning appears - with a full amount of sleep, the brain returns attention, but if there is a lack of sleep, then there will be no refocusing. In order not to put pressure on you, the readers, with scientific terms, but to convey the idea, we can formulate this:

The brain of a sleep-deprived person works normally, but from time to time something similar to a power failure in an electrical appliance happens to it.

The quote belongs to Clifford Saper: a Harvard professor who, together with a team of other scientists, studies sleep. Just look at the table below:
As soon as a person loses focus, activation processes automatically begin in the brain - they are indicated in the figure yellow. If a person has not slept enough, then such activity is manifested very weakly or completely absent. But the so-called “center of fear” begins its work (amygdalas - they are highlighted in red on the table) and the brain works in a specific mode - as if the person is in danger from all sides. Physiologically, this is manifested by sweating of the palms, rapid breathing, rumbling and colic in the abdomen, tension separate groups muscles. Important:The danger of sleep deprivation is that a person loses attention and focus without realizing it. He believes that he reacts adequately to the current circumstances and his productivity does not suffer. This is why doctors recommend stopping driving vehicle in case of lack of sleep.

Research on the effects of sleep on humans

Research into the effects of sleep on humans has led to several stunning conclusions:

Sleep disturbance, namely its insufficiency, leads to memory impairment. An experiment was conducted with bees - after they were forced to change their usual route of flying around the territory, the disruption of rest (bees do not sleep in our understanding of the word) led to loss in space - not a single representative of these insects was able to repeat the flight path studied for the day before.
Lack of sleep leads to increased... This is also confirmed by research; scientists associate this manifestation of lack of sleep with what an overworked/unrested body experiences.
Normal, full sleep significantly increases creativity. For example, in a dream one dreams of unexpected solutions to global problems, a person comes to an understanding/vision of some theories - and one does not have to look far for an example: Mendeleev dreamed of a table of chemical elements!
Sleep disturbance can be caused by increased background lighting in evening time. Quite serious research has been carried out on this matter. medical center at the University of Chicago. It was found that this fact provokes a later bedtime and reduces the duration of the sleep phase that precedes awakening.

In addition, sleep duration may influence food preferences. An experiment was conducted with children aged 6-7 years: when regular lack of sleep children began to consume more meat, carbohydrates and fats, almost forgetting about fruits and vegetables. All this happened against the background of the absence of any diet - scientists noted classic overeating in a group of tested children. It has long been known that the absence good sleep negatively affects neurotransmitters in the brain - they are simply depleted. The result of such exposure can be stress, because it is the neuroregulators that are responsible for good mood. It turns out to be a chain: lack of sleep - irritability - stress. And the consequence stress state may become a dangerous and complex condition that must be treated professionally.

How to regulate sleep

We recommend reading:

Too much sleep is harmful, but not enough sleep is also dangerous. What to do and how to determine how much sleep you need specifically? Firstly, if a person feels constant fatigue and always wants to sleep, then this means only one thing - you need to adjust the time daily sleep. And this does not mean that you need to set aside a day, simply sleep, turn off the phone and the doorbell - this will only have short-term action. It is necessary to increase the duration of night sleep:

try to go to bed as early as possible;
Before going to bed, do not watch TV or engage in too active work;
It is advisable to do this before going to bed a short walk on fresh air(without beer and strong coffee!), you can read a book - is this advice too banal? But it is very effective - it has been tested, as they say, for years.

Secondly, train your body to rest during the daytime. Some people absolutely need to sleep for at least an hour and a half during the day - they will feel great in the evening and not experience fatigue. But it would be wiser to gradually accustom yourself to rest for a maximum of 30 minutes during the day - don’t be surprised, such a quick sleep is quite enough to restore the normal functioning of the whole body. Thirdly, you need to adjust your sleep routine. You need to go to bed and get up at the same time - if this is problematic, then use an alarm clock. And even if it’s very difficult to get up at 7 am, don’t stay in bed - spend a couple of minutes of active wakefulness (going to the toilet, hygiene procedures, making coffee and a sandwich) is enough to wake up. If you don’t know how much sleep you need, then pay attention to the data below:

Age/position
Babies	At least 16 hours a day. More often than not, babies require up to 18 hours of sleep per day.
Preschool age	Children should sleep at least 11 hours a day. It is better if the child gets an average of 12 hours of sleep.
School age (up to 15 years)	Schoolchildren should sleep at least 10 hours a day. Taking into account the activity of children and existing associated factors, sleep duration can be increased to 12 hours.
Adolescence	Sleep takes at least 9 hours a day, but no more than 10 hours.
Adults	Sleep should take at least 7 hours per day, ideally you should sleep 8 hours in a row.
Old men	Daily sleep should last 7-8 hours. But considering frequent awakenings And interrupted sleep (age feature), you definitely need to rest during the day - at least 1 hour.
Pregnant women at any stage	The duration of sleep is 8 hours; during the day you should definitely rest for at least 1 hour, but no more than 2.
Sick	Sleep duration is 8 hours, additional hours of sleep are necessary.

Of course, the table cannot be taken as indisputable data - these are just recommendations. But you can “start” from them when creating an individual sleep and wakefulness schedule. In some cases, the body requires more sleep than indicated in the table. This may indicate health problems, or simply be a necessity in a particular case. For example, pregnancy, emotional outbursts (exams, competitions, etc.), too much physical exercise– this is all considered normal, but it automatically prolongs sleep time. Note: if suddenly, without visible reasons If you experience sleep disturbances, fatigue and irritability, you should consult a doctor. Most likely, these signs will indicate health problems. Sleep is unconditional health. Therefore, you should not ignore emerging problems with falling asleep, intermittent sleep, or feeling tired after waking up. And drink medications sedative and hypnotic effect It also doesn’t make sense - they should be selected by a specialist, and these medications won’t solve the problem. Even with small but persistent violations sleep needs to go full examination– the cause of this condition may lie in any organ/system. Tsygankova Yana Aleksandrovna, medical observer, therapist of the highest qualification category.

We spend an average of 24 years of our lives sleeping. Quite a lot, right? And therefore, it is not only interesting, but also important, how to sleep correctly and how to get the maximum benefit from this process. Therefore, we try to regularly cover this topic and in this article we will talk about what is more harmful: oversleep or lack of sleep, and what exactly happens to our brain when there is a lack of sleep.

Let's dispel the myth that you need to sleep 8 hours

If you ask several people around you on the topic: “How many hours a day do you need to sleep to stay alert during the day?”, you will most likely get an answer like this: “They say 8 hours. Yes, I myself feel that I need 8 hours, or better yet, 9!”

And yet we will argue with this statement again. Here's what psychiatry professor Daniel Kripke, who has conducted many studies on sleep, says about this:

“People who sleep 6.5 to 7.5 hours a night live longer. They are more productive and happier. And excessive sleep can even be harmful to health. And you may feel worse after sleeping for 8.5 hours than if you slept for 5.”

Try to experiment and reduce your sleep to 7.5 hours, listen carefully to your feelings and feel if there is a difference. In this case, we are, of course, talking about those who sleep at least 8 hours a day. If you sleep 6, then you hardly need to cut back on anything.

And, of course, let's return to the fact that there is no universal recipe for everyone. It's like shoe size. You must choose your own individual schedule. That is why we are talking about a personal experiment. Now, based on Professor Kripke's statement, you can try to reduce the duration of sleep, what if your “lack of sleep” was actually oversleep?

By the way, here’s a secret for you: how to get up at the time when the alarm clock rings, and not set it several times five minutes later. You must have something scheduled for a specific time. For example, at exactly 7.30 you have breakfast. And not a minute later. Here, of course, it is also important that you have the willpower to fulfill the promise you made to yourself.

Too little sleep has a very negative effect on our brain

After reading the first paragraph, there were probably those who proudly said (or thought) that they often sleep only 4 hours a day. We have to disappoint you, this is also not a plus. Let's be honest, after sleeping for 4 hours, can you feel as cheerful and fresh as if you slept for 7.5?

But what’s interesting is that a person who has slept for 4 hours can be as attentive as someone who has slept for 7. Moreover, he can show the same results in tests and exercises.

The problem is different. Whether we get enough sleep or not, we sometimes lose focus on a task. And this is where a sleep-deprived person falls into a trap. If a person has gotten enough sleep, then when he begins to lose focus, his brain can return attention, but the brain of a sleep-deprived person cannot refocus.

As Professor Clifford Saper of Harvard says: “The brain of a sleep-deprived person works normally, but from time to time something happens to it, similar to a power failure in an electrical appliance.” In the image below you can see what this means. As soon as you lose focus and your attention wanders, processes in the brain begin to activate focus (the zones in which this happens are indicated yellow spots). In people who have not slept, such activity barely manifests itself or does not manifest itself at all, but the amygdala (red zones) is activated, which is a kind of “center of fear”, as a result of which the brain begins to work in such a mode as if the person is in danger from all sides. Physically, this is manifested by muscle tension, sweaty palms, rumbling in the stomach, and an unstable emotional state.

But the problem also lies in the fact that a person who lacks sleep may not notice a decrease in his productivity. May appear false feeling safety and correctness of actions, which sometimes has severe consequences. That's why you should never drive if you haven't gotten enough sleep.

On the way to healthy sleep

So, oversleeping is harmful, not getting enough sleep is even more harmful. However, it is lack of sleep that most people now suffer from. Let's try to give some tips that may help you reconsider your habits and adjust them so that your sleep is complete and your work day is productive.

Yes, yes, we already foresee a storm of indignation in the comments: “Where can I take a nap in an office where there are 10 other people besides me?!”, “What kind of boss will allow you to sleep in the workplace?” etc.

Well, to this we will say that we are all human, and we can still try to find mutual language with your boss and colleagues and at lunchtime ensure yourself a 20-minute nap.

And to make you want to do this, we will give several reasons in favor of short sleep, although we have already talked a lot about it in our blog:

Taking a nap for just 20 minutes will restore your alertness and increase your productivity.
Determine at what time you feel a particular decline in energy? It is at this hour that a respite should be appointed;
at the end of the day you will still be full of energy, and not squeezed out like a lemon, and as a result, you will be more productive and spend the evening with more pleasure.

For those who think that they cannot sleep for 20-30 minutes, that after such sleep they feel even more exhausted, we advise you to still try to take a regular nap for several days, but strictly no more than 30 minutes. Soon the body will get used to this schedule and you will be able to appreciate all the benefits of a day's respite. By the way, this is important - it is advisable to take a nap at the same time every day and for the same number of minutes.

2. Create a bedtime routine

Why not a ritual of washing and brushing your teeth, for example? But it's not that simple. The ritual should be pleasant for you, you should want to perform it, while washing and brushing your teeth is rather a necessity, a habit.

And most importantly, the evening ritual should free you from the worries of the past day, preparing you for Good night. Here's what you can try to use as a ritual:

A short (20 minutes) walk. You will be refreshed and get your thoughts a little in order during it.
Reading fiction. It is artistic, because, unlike professional, it will allow you to immerse yourself in another world and, sympathizing with the heroes, forget about your own affairs for a while.

3. Get tired!

As my English teacher used to say: “Last but not least.” The last piece of advice, but not the least important. To fall asleep quickly and sleep soundly, you must be tired! Both mentally and physically. This is why it is so important not only to work productively with your head during the day, but also to engage in physical exercise. You should be practically exhausted before your body can fall into a deep, healthy sleep.

Small interesting fact ↓

Women need a little more sleep than men. On average - 20 minutes, but perhaps more. Why? Because the female brain is somewhat more complex, and therefore requires more time to reboot.

Sleep is a very interesting and very diverse topic. We constantly find something new and interesting about it, but we understand that we are still very far from saying that we know absolutely everything about how to sleep correctly, how much sleep and how it affects the brain or body.

By the way, if you know some new interesting fact about sleep or you have personally conducted some experiments with sleep time and its quality, be sure to write to us in the comments. It is very interesting.