Making time to unwind
Bad news for email addicts according to recent Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts’ research. Emailing before going to bed has the equivalent effect on the body of drinking a double espresso. British workers are losing on average one night’s sleep a week to this sleep-deprivation epidemic by failing to switch off gadgets early enough before going to bed.
Light from a mobile phone or laptop is intense enough to halt production of sleep-enhancing melatonin and experts are warning workers to switch off at least an hour before light’s out.
Top sleep expert Dr Chris Idzikowski, of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, has identified the top five factors for a good night’s sleep – and the five things most likely to keep us awake at night:
Sleep solutions
- Quiet (Q)
- Complete darkness (CD)
- Cool temperature (CT)
- Comfy and clean bed (CCB)
- Daytime exercise (DE)
Sleep disruptors
- Electronic device usage 1hr before bed (EDU1)
- Late-night eating (LNE)
- TV
- Caffeine (C)
- Alcohol (A)
So the formula for the perfect night’s sleep looks like this:
Q+CD+CT+CCB+DE–EDU1–LNE–TV–C–A = Zzz
Silence, darkness and comfort are key to ensuring a decent night’s sleep, according to the findings, along with incorporating essential wind-down time into the day. Surprisingly even the light from a Blackberry is concentrated enough to signal the brain to stop production of melatonin, a natural hormone known to aid sleep.
Stress is one of the major factors when it comes to sleeping at night with the average Brit suffering 55 nights of poor quality sleep a year, according to travelpulus.co.uk. This is even more important when away on business when heavy use of word-related electronic equipment within the hour before sleeping can leave the next day’s meeting on the mind until the early hours.