Sleeping Beauty...?

With our work schedules, social lives, and overall stressors from our days some of don't get the right amount of sleep or the right type of sleep.  So we compensate for this be consuming our energy drinks, which supplement our bodies adrenaline needs (we won't have as much available for fight or flight if we use an outside source), coffee or my new favorite add 5 hour energy (they got me with the 230 feeling I would get a bit sleepy around then) but now it gives you "A Whole Lot of Hours" but the bottle says five.  I am adapting this post from an article done by US News & World Report but getting adequate sleep is good for us all (this was geared towards high school students)

Tip 1 Be Consistent:  Now I know it might be tempting to sleep in on the weekend or even "catch up on sleep" but keeping a regular sleeping schedule is key to keep our bodies in a rhythm.  According to sleep researchers we should be going to be around 11pm and waking up around 7am.  I am more on the 11pm to 530-6am schedule but as I have mentioned no more than 7 1/2 hours of sleep.

Tip 2 Become a morning person:  I know, I know I have heard it before and we all know someone if it is not us that is "just not a morning person"  Set a pattern of time to wake up, this will work better for us who wake with the sunrise or slightly after.  It will take at least 30 days for this to become a habit, but once you get it down you will see the wonders of the morning.  Going for a walk, run, or just getting outside before it gets too hot and enjoying the world around will not only work for your physical wellbeing but also for your mental health.

Tip 3 Schedule carefully:  Now I know that I just said become a morning person, but even if you get up at 7 and have something scheduled at say 9 that will give you time to wake up and not rush.  Now this will also give you a little extra wiggle room if you don't want to hit the snooze button, but I suggest getting out of bed even if its only to catch up on TV from the week.  Getting out of bed also breaks the pattern of your body wanting to sleep more.

Tip 4 Compensate:  Just be flexible with your time, if you have a race or something that is early in the morning on the weekend chances are you have know about this for a while and should have been preparing for a few days if not weeks.  Don't try and stay up the night before to finish a project if it will effect you over the course of the weekend.  Break it down into smaller steps and finish in a few sessions.