How much to sleep

Sleep is essential. During sleep, your body recuperates (repairs itself). You also dream while sleeping. Many scientists say that it is during dreams that the whole day’s memory is recognized in the brain.

The time a person requires to sleep varies. Some people require more than 8 to 10 hours of sleep while others may need just 5 or 6 hours. Sleeping between 4 to 10 hours is normal. Most people sleep between 6 to 8 hours a day.

While too little sleep may make you feel restless, too much sleep can make you feel lazy. If you sleep well, you will feel energized on waking up and ready for a new day. 

You can do the following to get good sleep:

•     Keep your room quiet and dark. If you do not have a separate room, you may not be able to do this. At least, you can request the other members of your family to try to be quiet.

•     Eat less of sugar, salt, fats (oils and ghee), difficult-to-digest foods, especially at night.

•     Take time to slow down. If you are doing something very active and suddenly you go to bed, you may not get sleep. So spend the last hour or so doing relatively unstressful activities.

•     Try to go to bed at the same time every night.

How do you know that the amount of sleep that you got is sufficient?

If after eight hour of sleep, you still feel drowsy, this means that you need more sleep. Once you have understood the exact amount of sleep that you need, ensure that you get it – at any cost. The cost of lack of  sleep, outweighs any possible benefits (such as more time to study etc). If your answer to any one of the following is a yes, you may be suffering from lack of complete sleep.

1.   Feel drowsy during the day.

2.   When you are bored, you got to sleep

3.   Feel tired most of the time

4.   Cannot concentrate most of the time

5.   Feel anxious most of the time

6.   Don’t feel alert

7.   Low energy levels during the day.

Remember we had discussed before that sleep is a necessary ingredient for almost all mental faculties including:

1.   Memory

2.   Creativity

3.   Problem solving skills

4.   Retention

Sleeping for a little while (half an hour to over one hour) during day time is of great value. An afternoon nap means two fresh mornings in 24 hours. After you have studied for 5-6 hours, the brain is swimming with facts, a nap of 30-45 minutes is required to recharge the brain. For example, you can sleep when you come back from school. This will make you fresh again. So, you can study more efficiently in evening and night.

Try it for sometime and if you like it, continue.