According to experts, sleep disorders and sleeplessness affects an extremely large number of American citizens - one study rounded the number to 1/3rd of all Americans. That is a major problem, as sleep is one of the most important factors that impacts a person's overall level of health, cognitively, ambition and alertness. The conclusion is that the better your sleep is, the higher the chances you are going to live a longer, more prosperous life. Here is how you can improve your sleep:
One of the primary factors that influence our circadian rhythm is the amount of Vitamin D that is flowing throughout our body. While there are several types of food products that contain Vitamin D (like eggs and some fish, such as sardines), the highest amount of Vitamin D can be absorbed by our own cells, but that process only happens when we are under direct sunshine.
One problem with soaking up more sunshine is that some people can easily burn, while at the same time there are problematic scenarios even for people that don't easily burn. One such scenario is the risk of skin cancer (called melanoma), which can appear if a person spends a lot of time under the sun. For that reason, you should always wear sunscreen, and you should try not to tan between 11 AM and 4 PM.
Naps are something that some people believe to be a sign of laziness, but that couldn't be further from the truth. While in an ideal scenario you shouldn't have to nap, sometimes you may be tired from your day-to-day activities, amount of exercise or lack of sleep. For each of these cases, it is perfectly acceptable to have a nap, as the nap is only going to improve your sleep patterns, so there is no downside to it.
One recent study showed that even just 18 minutes of napping can cause a dramatic improvement in the reaction time for air traffic controllers - a highly demanding type of job that requires people to be at their best. That is just one of the many reasons why you should always sneak away for a small nap, as your day can only further improve from that point.
While electronics (such as computers, TVs, and cell phones) are here to improve our lives and overall productivity, there are certain downsides to (over)using them. One such downside is that they can wreak havoc on how our sleep pattern is functioning, which is why many sleep experts advise people to stop using these devices a few hours before sleeping. Even one hour can be enough for many people to feel dramatic improvements in their sleep quality.
A much better alternative, instead of spending time on your computer or cell phone is to read a book. Not only is reading a book a high pleasure activity, your life is also going to become richer because of it. Plus, it has been shown that reading books, magazines and newspapers don't have nearly the same amount of detrimental effect on your sleep that electronics have.
