I got a few comments following the last post in which I shared with you the study that revealed that A LOT of workers are chronically sleep deprived…

So I thought I’d just share with you just a few pointers to get you on the right track if you are suffering from lack of sleep. Please share your comments at the end of this post

According to Harvard Health Publications’s Press release, Repaying Sleep debt, more than 60% of us don’t regularly sleep the brain’s required seven to nine hours of sleep per night.

This is quite a significant number of sleep-deprived people! But don’t fear, there’s hope. They also say that you CAN ward off the negative effect of sleep loss because you CAN repay even a chronic, longstanding sleep debt.

So how do we counter the effects of chronic sleep loss?

Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests:

If you’ve missed 10 hours of sleep over one week, make up for it over the weekend and the following week. If you’ve missed sleep for decades, it could take a few weeks to repay the debt. Plan a vacation with a light schedule, and sleep every night until you wake naturally. Once you’ve determined how much sleep you need, factor it into your daily schedule.

BrainBasedBusiness further discussed this in an article last year, showing that this really has been/is an ongoing problem.

Dr. Mercola says in a short article about lengthening workweeks robbing people of their precious sleep:

While sleepy workers know they’re not performing well, work is what’s keeping them up at night. Workdays are getting longer and time spent working from home averages close to four-and-a-half hours each week.The average waking time is 5:35 AM, and the average bedtime is 10:53 PM.

The good news? It’s not all bad news. You can do something about it.

I’ve also compiled a few tips for you, to get you started on helping yourself sleep better, ASAP:

8 tips to better sleep

• Don’t nap too long during the day so you can sleep better at night
• Exercise regularly, earlier in the day, not before you sleep
• Finish eating at least two to three hours before you sleep
• Avoid alcohol, caffeine and nicotine before you sleep
• Maintain a regular sleep/wake schedule, including during weekends
• Make your sleep environment cool, peaceful and comfortable
• Use relaxation techniques if they help you sleep
• Start a relaxing bedtime before-you-sleep routine

However, the battle is only just beginning, because:

Bodies don’t ’spring ahead’

By Kim Painter, USA TODAY

A bold prediction: A week from today you will be feeling sleepy, very sleepy.

You will have trouble getting out of bed. If you are a teenager, you will have even more trouble than usual. If you are an early-morning commuter, you may struggle to keep your eyes open as you drive along darkened streets.

What will trigger this mass bout of drowsy driving, this predictably mopey Monday? It will be the first weekday of daylight saving time — that once-a-year "spring ahead" that robs us of one hour of sleep (which is returned when clocks "fall back" in November).

It’s just one hour, but experts in chronobiology — the study of our internal body clocks — say it takes most people several days to adjust. (The fall change also is disruptive, but less so.) One recent study from German researchers, published in the journal Current Biology, found that some habitual night owls have trouble getting enough sleep for weeks after the spring shift — which, in effect, demands that we all go to bed and get up an hour earlier.

At best, "we’ll have a lot of groggy people on the highways the first couple of days," says Michael Smolensky…

……….(click here to continue reading this article)

You can also take a look at:

• Dr. Mercola’s 33 Secrets to a Good Night’s Sleep.
• 25 Tips For a Better Pre Sleep Ritual on Sleepybed.com.
• On Better Sleep by the Better Sleep Council.
• 10 tips for better sleep on MayoClinic.com.
• Tips for a Good Night’s Sleep:Getting the Sleep you Need on Helpguide.org.