Goodnight Mind Read Online Free PDF Page B

agitated to have to be in bed for the night when they still had energy, it makes you feel uncomfortable to remain in bed in the morning when your energy is already ramping up.
Compromise on when you expect each other to do things that require energy. A morning person can reduce demands on a night person in the morning, and a night person can reduce demands on a morning person in the evening. The afternoon may be the best time to enjoy shared activities.
For couples, accept your differences and agree to go to bed at different times but establish a “tuck-in” or a cuddle period so you can continue spending time together at night. For example, go to bed together and cuddle, but when the morning person is ready to sleep the night person can leave the bedroom and return to bed later when sleepy. Conversely, a night person may appreciate a cuddle in the morning upon waking up. The morning person, who has been up for a while, could return to bed to spend time with the night person. Remember that intimacy can occur independent of a sleep schedule.
    Step 2: Maintain Your New Schedule Every Single Day
    Once you determine a sleep window (that is, the regular time at which you provide yourself with an opportunity to sleep in bed) that matches your body clock type, you must use this same sleep window night after night. Do not vary your sleep window from one night to the next. Many sleep problems are caused by an irregular schedule, and an irregular schedule can cause insomnia and fatigue.
    Are You Suffering from Social Jet Lag?
    Jet lag is the result of a mismatch between the local time and the time your body thinks it is, as occurs when you travel significantly east or west by jet. When you are in a different time zone than usual, the clock in your body is no longer in sync with the clock on the wall. Common symptoms of jet lag are insomnia and fatigue. If you experience these symptoms without having traveled, we call this social jet lag . Social jet lag occurs when there are societal constraints on your sleep schedule because of work, your children, or other responsibilities such that you cannot keep a schedule consistent with your body clock type. To find out whether you are suffering from social jet lag, keep track of your sleep over the next two weeks (see chapter 1 for detailed instructions on keeping a sleep diary). Every day, as soon as you can after getting out of bed, record what time you physically got into bed and what time you physically got out of bed. These times may be different than when you intended to sleep or what time you woke up; you just need to record the time into and out of bed. For example, if you climbed into bed at nine to read a book for an hour before attempting to go to sleep, and you woke up at five thirty but tried to get another half hour of sleep before your alarm went off at six, just record 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. for that day. At the end of the two weeks, find the difference between the earliest time you got into bed and the latest time you got into bed. Then find the difference between the earliest time you got out of bed and the latest time you got out of bed. Is each difference an hour or greater? If so, you can expect symptoms of jet lag the same as if you had crossed a time zone. The greater the difference, the greater the possible changes in sleep, energy levels, and appetite you may have from day to day. For example, if you stay up two hours later than usual on Fridays and Saturdays and sleep in for two hours on Saturdays and Sundays, the effect on your body is much as if you lived in Chicago but traveled to Las Vegas every weekend. Perhaps, then, you can improve your energy and sleep simply by preventing social jet lag.
    Pick a Standard Rise Time
    For some, picking a standard time to get out of bed is an unappealing idea. Many people do not like getting up in the morning, so the idea of getting up at the same time even on mornings after a poor night’s sleep may seem unpleasant. Also, you