As you get less sleep, it’s tempting to reach for an energy or caffeinated drink to stay awake during the day. Believe it or not, consuming these types of drinks to combat sleepiness, can lead to a vicious cycle.
Yes, caffeine will help you stay awake, but it can easily take up to eight hours to wear off. This means it can also reduce your sleep time and decrease the quality of your sleep.
So, how do can you stay awake naturally?
In one well-known study, Robert Thayer, PhD, a professor at California State University, Long Beach, studied whether people were more energized by eating a candy bar or taking a brisk 10-minute walk.
Though the candy bar provided a quick energy boost, participants were actually more tired and had less energy an hour later. The 10-minute walk increased energy for two hours. That’s because walking pumps oxygen through your veins, brain, and muscles.
If you work at a desk, get up frequently for short walks. At meal breaks, walk to a restaurant or, if you bring your lunch, head for a nice spot to eat it. Whether you take a walk outside or just in the building where you work, it will make you feel more alert and refreshed.
There are two things to remember about naps: Don’t take more than one and don’t take it too close to your bedtime.
“Nap between five and 25 minutes,” says Barry Krakow, MD, author of Sound Sleep, Sound Mind: Seven Keys to Sleeping Through the Night. It’s best to nap about six or seven hours before you would normally go to bed. If you must take a late nap close to bedtime, make it a short one.
Napping on the job can be touchy. If you need to nap at work, do it during your break and use a vibrating alarm clock, if necessary, to make sure it doesn’t spill over into your work time.
Sleeping at your desk is usually not a good idea, but many companies now provide nap rooms for employees.
“If you can’t nap, even resting quietly with your eyes closed for 10 minutes or so will help,” says Allison T. Siebern, PhD, a fellow at the Stanford University Sleep Medicine Center in Redwood City, Calif.
Continuous fixation on a computer screen can cause eyestrain and worsen sleepiness and fatigue.
Look away from the screen for a few minutes periodically to relax your eyes.
Sugary snacks give you a quick energy boost followed by the sugar “lows,” when low blood sugar produces mental fogginess and lethargy.
Snacks such as these will provide better overall energy in the long run:
If you’re fading fast, engaging in conversation can get your mind moving again.
“Talk to a colleague about a business idea, politics, or religion,” says Krakow, medical director of Maimonides Sleep Arts and Sciences, Ltd. in Albuquerque, N.M. “It’s a very strong behavioral stimulator — especially when it’s a conversation about politics.”
Environments with dim lighting aggravate fatigue. Studies have shown that exposure to bright light can reduce sleepiness and increase alertness. Try increasing the intensity of your light source at work.
Deep breathing raises blood oxygen levels in the body. This slows your heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and improves circulation, ultimately aiding mental performance and energy.
The idea of deep-breathing exercises is to inhale to the abdomen, not the chest. You can do them at your desk. Sitting up straight, try this exercise up to 10 times:
Your chest should not move. Another technique, called stimulating breath, is used in yoga for a quick energy boost and increased alertness:
“Driving while sleepy is as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol,” says Siebern. Common tricks such as opening the windows and turning on loud music won’t keep you awake for very long behind the wheel. “Have someone else drive or pull off the road and take a nap until you’re no longer sleepy,” Siebern says.
If you’re on an extended trip, change drivers often. Stop at least every two hours to take a walk and get some fresh air.
In 2004 Finnish researchers who studied people working 12-hour night shifts found that monotonous work is as harmful as sleep loss for alertness.
At work or home, try to reserve more stimulating tasks for your sleepy times. Or switch to more engaging work responsibilities when you feel yourself nodding off.
Dehydration can cause fatigue. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids and eat foods high in water such as fruits and vegetables.
Our circadian rhythms, which regulate our sleep-wake cycle, are influenced by daylight. Try to spend at least 30 minutes a day outside in natural sunlight. (Sleep experts recommend an hour of morning sunlight a day if you have insomnia.
) Even a step outside for a breath of fresh air will revive your senses.
In a 2006 analysis of 70 studies involving more than 6,800 people, University of Georgia researchers found that exercise was more effective in increasing energy and reducing daytime fatigue than some medications used to treat sleep problems.
Regular exercise also improves quality of sleep. Try to exercise 30 minutes a day.
If you decide to exercise hard some days, your energy level may drop for a bit and then surge for a few hours.
Eating a meal that contains both protein and carbohydrates within two hours after a heavy workout will lessen the initial energy loss. Be sure to finish your workout a few hours before bedtime so you are not energized when you try to sleep.
The team at Salem Health is here for you. Call our Sleep Center providers today!
Sometimes the dreaded all-nighter just can’t be avoided.
Maybe you have a new job working night shifts, it’s finals week, or you’re having a sleepover party. Regardless of your reasons, staying up all night is tough.
Human sleep patterns follow natural circadian rhythms. Your circadian rhythms are like internal clocks affecting the way you think, feel, and behave throughout the day. Circadian rhythms are based on the lightness or darkness of your environment.
When your brain perceives darkness outside, your body begins to release a hormone called melatonin. Melatonin makes you drowsy and prepares your body for sleep.
Staying up all night means fighting this natural process, which is not only difficult, but also unhealthy. Sleep deprivation can impact your ability to learn and focus. It can even be dangerous. In 2013, there were at least 72,000 car accidents caused by drowsy driving.
If you must stay up all night, the following tips can help you do it safely.
The easiest way to stay up all night is to reset your internal clock.
This can take up to one week, but it’s possible. You may experience serious drowsiness at first, but your body does catch on.
If you’re switching to the night shift, give your body a few days of practice. Your circadian rhythms still rely on light cues, so make sure you’re sleeping in a very dark room during the day. Blackout curtains and eye masks are particularly helpful.
Caffeine is a helpful pick-me-up and can increase your alertness. It helps fight one of the natural substances your body releases to make you drowsy.
Studies have found that moderate doses of caffeine (600 milligrams [mg] or more than four cups of coffee) can improve your ability to think and perform tasks, but high doses (900 mg or more) have the opposite effect. High doses of caffeine can cause symptoms like anxiety and shakiness that make it harder for you to concentrate.
To stay up all night, don’t rely on one big dose of caffeine. Too much coffee can lead to stomach upset. Instead, try taking several smaller doses throughout the night such as espresso shots, caffeine pills, or caffeinated gum.
Energy drinks contain varying amounts of caffeine, typically the equivalent of one to five cups of coffee. They also contain guarana, an ingredient that also contains caffeine, which makes the total amount of caffeine higher than it appears.
When using energy drinks, it’s difficult to know exactly how much caffeine you’re ingesting, and extremely high doses of caffeine can be toxic. They’re especially dangerous when mixed with drugs or alcohol. In 2011, more than 20,000 people went to the emergency room because of energy drinks.
Taking a series of small naps throughout the night may help you stay alert. Although it’s not equal to a full night’s sleep, short naps can be restorative. Most studies on night-shift workers find that naps reduce sleepiness and improve performance.
Try to catch 15 to 20 minutes of sleep during a break. If you’re driving through the night, pull into a rest stop for a quick nap.
Daily exercise helps you maintain a healthy sleep schedule, but experts recommend avoiding exercise late at night, if you want to sleep well at night.
That’s because your body produces a lot of energy when you exercise, which can keep you awake.
If you’re trying to stay up all night, try 30 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise. If you don’t want to exercise, try getting up and moving around. Pace back and forth for 10 minutes, take a walk outside, or do a few jumping jacks.
Darkness cues your body to release melatonin, a hormone that makes you feel sleepy. One study found that using bright lights at night and creating darkness during the day can help night-shift workers reset their circadian rhythms.
Find a lamp that can distribute light widely throughout the room. Look for an LED bulb that can simulate sunlight. This should help you stay awake longer.
Your electronic devices, including laptops, tablets, TVs, and phones, emit something called “blue light.” The blue light emitted from your devices can delay the release of melatonin, the sleep hormone. This can prevent you from becoming sleepy.
To keep yourself awake, use a device that you can interact with.
Try playing video games on your computer or tablet. The closer the blue light is to your face, the more awake you will feel.
Taking a cold or lukewarm shower can help wake you up when you start to get tired. If you don’t want to shower, splashing your face with cold water can help. Brushing your teeth can make you feel refreshed.
Staying up all night isn’t good for you and should only be done as a last resort. After staying up all night, you’ll feel very drowsy. Try to make up the sleep the next day.
For more sleep support, check out our sleep shop.
February 20, 2021 Health
Two reasons that prevent you from getting yourself to bed on time, as well as four ways to overcome them.
You can listen to this article. Turn on the podcast if you like.
It may seem that this problem is not a problem at all.
Well, just think, I stayed on the Internet until night or decided to watch the next episode of my favorite series at all costs. It's okay, tomorrow I'll definitely go to bed at ten (eleven, midnight)!
The trouble is that your promises to yourself will most likely not be kept. Procrastination before bed, as scientists call procrastination before a planned rest, is a massive and repetitive situation.
After examining more than 2,400 people, Dutch psychologists found that 53% of them went to bed later than planned on a regular basis - at least twice a week. And they continued to suffer from procrastination even when they seemed to be making the tough decision to go to bed at a well-defined time.
It wasn't because people didn't want to sleep. On the contrary, many of the subjects admitted that they were falling down in the evening, and during the day they felt sleepy, and this seriously affects their mood and productivity. But something prevented them from going to bed on time in the evenings.
The researchers tried to find out what these reasons are. And they came to the following conclusions.
Scientists analyzed the profiles of all the volunteers who participated in the study to find those features that would unite procrastinators and were absent from people who went to bed on time. There were two such features.
At least at the beginning of the working week — Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday — owls procrastinate before going to bed much more often than larks. Trying to explain this fact, the researchers put forward this version. Owls sleep well on weekends, and therefore they simply don’t understand why they go to bed early on the first weekdays of the week. Their body, accustomed to long night gatherings and late rises over the weekend, cannot quickly readjust.
At the same time, larks, who traditionally get up and go to bed early, have no problem going to bed. Their daily routine does not change either on weekends or on weekdays.
“I controlled myself too much during the day. Now I need the opportunity to relax without looking at the clock, ”- this is approximately how many explain their procrastination before bed. Scientists call this depletion of self-control reserves.
The more temptations a person has to resist during the day, the harder he has to control himself during working hours, the higher the likelihood that in the evening he will procrastinate, postponing sleep.
Procrastination before going to bed can and should be overcome, otherwise the lack of sleep associated with it can seriously harm your career and lower the quality of life in general. The researchers suggest several ways.
Of course, the temptation to spend the whole night from Friday to Saturday and then from Saturday to Sunday is very significant, because you can sleep off in the morning.
However, such parties confuse your body.
In order not to suffer from procrastination before bed and then from lack of sleep during the day, it is important to keep a sleep schedule even on the weekend.
If the day turned out to be difficult, you often had to pull yourself together and refuse something pleasant (chocolate cake for dessert during your lunch break, the temptation to postpone difficult work until tomorrow, suggestions sit with colleagues at the bar instead of working out), then an evening decrease in self-control is almost inevitable. Be prepared for this. And try to still find the strength in yourself to make the last jerk for today and go to bed on time.
Often there are a number of responsibilities between wakefulness and the pillow. For example, walk the dog, wash clothes, fold things, wash dishes, wash your face and brush your teeth.
You would like to go to bed, but you are so lazy to do the things from the mandatory nightly list that you unconsciously put off the process.
A good solution is to do some of the duties at other times, not before going to bed. For example, you can wash the dishes and brush your teeth right after dinner. Walk your pet - before. Move the organization of things in general to the morning. So you lower the height of the barrier that separates you from sleep. And in time to send yourself to bed will become easier.
There are a number of recommendations that allow you to prepare your body for sleep in advance.
Arrange a "curfew" in relation to gadgets: put away your smartphone, laptop, TV remote at least an hour and a half before the planned lights out. Dim the light. Ventilate the house and, if possible, reduce the temperature in it to 16-24 ° C. Take a hot bath and drink hot tea. When it's cool outside and warm inside, we begin to fall asleep.
This is physiology. Use it to achieve the desired result.
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October 1, 2020 Adviсe
Discomfort, coffee with chocolate and trolling will help you stay awake until the morning.
You can listen to this article. If it's more convenient for you, turn on the podcast.
Getting ready for bed usually involves a series of activities: putting on pajamas, drinking milk, reading a book. For ordinary days, this is an advantage: the body immediately understands that now you are going to bed. If you need to stay awake, these habits are best avoided.
Slight hunger will keep you awake, as you are supposed to be active in order to get your own food.
Do not change into pajamas, even if they are very comfortable. Wear something you can't sleep in, like brand new, unworn jeans. Another helper will be shoes with laces. It will not give you the opportunity to "just lie down for five minutes." Unless, of course, you are used to falling asleep in your shoes every Friday.
If you really want to sleep, you will fall asleep even on a hard chair, from which nails stick out in some places. A soft bed will not leave you a single chance to hold out until the morning. Therefore, choose not the most comfortable seats.
Studies have shown that bright light suppresses drowsiness. Turn on the overhead light, sconce, table lamp. It is impossible to overdo it in this matter. True, you should not pull this trick at parties: other visitors to a nightclub may be dissatisfied with the lights suddenly turned on.
Find a person with a questionable position on Facebook* and try to convince him. You can sincerely argue or frankly troll, but the effect will be the same: from indignation, you will not only fall asleep - you will not be able to sit still.
Not the most unexpected, but working way. A sleepless night the day before leaves you virtually no chance to be productively awake. Unless, of course, you flew from the future to save John Connor. Therefore, before a strategically important night, sleep as hard as you can.
Caffeine does suppress sleepiness. True, there are nuances of drinking coffee, depending on how you want to spend the morning. If you drink it too actively, there is a risk that you will be too alert even when it's time to go to bed. If you drink just a little bit of coffee, you will easily fall asleep when the caffeine leaves your bloodstream.
Instead of trying to pinch yourself to stay awake, outsource this activity. Eat a portion of spicy, burning food. It will irritate the mucous membrane in your mouth enough to make you forget about sleep.
On a sleepless night, just the property of fast carbohydrates, for which adherents of a healthy diet are scolded, will come in handy: they quickly break down into simple sugars and give a strong, albeit short-term burst of energy. So ignore the advice of grandmothers "do not eat sweets at night, otherwise you will not fall asleep" and stock up on sweets.
Keep an eye on your level of fatigue, as the energy will leave your body just as quickly: as soon as you feel tired, it's time to take another bite from the chocolate bar.
Rinse face and wrists. Cold water is a kind of stress for the body, and therefore it will inevitably cheer up to eliminate discomfort.
Research has shown that chewing will keep you awake. The brain receives a signal that food is on its way to the stomach, and does not allow the body to relax in anticipation of a portion of energy. In general, you can chew anything, but chewing gum will be a longer-lasting option than food.
Dehydration can make you tired, so listen carefully to your body's signals of thirst. The advice has an added bonus: Have you ever tried to sleep with a full bladder?
Physical activity invigorates, and if you get up every hour and do 15 squats or push-ups, this will significantly extend the period of wakefulness. But jumping is better to avoid, although communication with the police squad, which the neighbors will call because of the noise, can invigorate better than any squats.
Surely there are puzzles that make you forget about everything in the world. For some, these are puzzles, for others - a new level of computer games.
