The Importance of Sleep:
Sleep is important for better health and well being; it is as important as regular exercise and eating a balanced diet. Here are some reasons why good sleep is beneficial to health:
1. Better performance and concentration:
According to different researches, sleep is linked to several brain functions such as:
- Concentration
- Cognition
- Productivity
2. Lower weight gain risk:
It is said that obesity is linked to poor sleep patterns. A healthier sleep schedule can in turn help with weight loss.
3. Better calorie regulation
4. Better athletic performance:
Sleep is vital for athletes for better performance. It helps the person to gain more energy, better coordination, better mental functioning, faster speed, and so on.
5. Lower risk of diseases:
Sleep lowers the risk of diseases including the likes of heart attack, blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.
6. Increases intelligence and creativeness
7. Preventing depression and anxiety
8. Lowers inflammation
9. Helps build a stronger immune system
The Sleep Calculator
The sleep calculator is a great tool to optimize sleep and overall health. It works by scheduling the best time to wake up based on the time you go to bed. Using this sleep calculator, a person can count their sleep cycle per night. It helps you determine what stage of the sleep cycle you are in.
The ideal sleep calculator tackles sleep quantity and it works in this way:
- The average sleep cycle is 90 minutes long
- A typical sleep cycle includes 5 full sleep cycles
- 90×5= 450 minutes or 7.5 hours
Bedtimes are based on:
- Person’s wakeup time
- Completing five or six 90 minutes sleep cycle
- Allowing 15 minutes to fall asleep
Why Is Sleep Efficiency Important?
Sleep efficiency is an important measure of sleep quality. A person needs to know a few basic variables regarding sleep schedule that include:
- The total amount of time a person spends in bed sleeping
- How long it takes to fall asleep
- The amount of time a person spends awake during the night.
Signs of not getting enough sleep are:
- Feeling drowsy during the day
- Feeling more irritable, moody, and depressed
- Being less productive and focused
- Figuring out appetite has increased than usual
- Poor judgment and decision-making skills
- Skin is affected (dark circles, dull complexion, droopy corners of the mouth)
Sleep Time Estimation
The amount of sleep a person gets daily depends on their age. Every age group requires a different amount of sleep for proper functioning. Babies need more sleep than adults. On average a person needs 7-9 hours of sleep. Here is a layout of how much sleep is needed for different age groups.
- Newborn (0-3 months) require 14-17 hours of sleep
- Infant (4-11 months) require 12-15 hours
- Toddler (1-2 years) require 11-14 hours
- Preschool (3-5 years) require 10-13 hours
- School-age(6-13 years) require 9-11 hours
- Teens (14-years) require 8-10 hours.
Time spent in each stage of the cycle varies between individuals:
Bedtime (5 cycles, 7.5 hours). wakeup time
9:30 pm 5.00 am
10.00 pm. 5:30 am
11:00 pm 6:30 am
11:30 pm 7:00 am
12:00 am 7:30 am
12:30 am. 8:00 am
Tips For Uninterrupted Sleep:
Sleep calculators help improves your overall sleep health. Here are some top tips for a night of uninterrupted relaxing sleep:
During the day:
- Exercise regularly but schedule your workouts at least a few hours before you go to sleep. Working out too close to bedtime may lead to disturbed sleep.
- Increase your exposure to sunlight during the day. This can help maintain the body’s circadian rhythms, which affect a person’s sleep-wake cycle.
- Avoid taking long naps, especially late in the afternoon.
- Try to wake up at the same time each day.
Before bed:
- Try not to drink alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine in the evening. These substances may interrupt your sleep.
- Switch off phones or any other electronic media for at least 30 minutes before going to bed. As the light rays can stimulate the brain and may disturb sleep
- Get yourself relaxed before bedtime, like take a warm bath.
- Turn down the lights before going to bed
- Set the thermostat to 65 Fwhich is an ideal sleeping temperature.
In bed:
- Avoid looking at screens like a laptop, phone, or TV once you’re in bed
- Reading a book may help you sleep better
- Close your eyes, relax muscles, and concentrate on steady breathing
Sleep cycles or phases:
Our sleep cycle comprises of these phases:
1) Rapid eye movement (REM) phase
2) Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) phase. Each night we go through these phases of the cycle.
Stage 1 (NREM): Stage 1 is considered light sleep, as the person can easily be woken up during this stage. In this stage breathing, muscular activity and heart rate slow down.
Stage 2 (NREM): In this stage, heart rate and breathing continue to slow down, eye movements cease. The unique feature about this phase is sleep spindles that are the consolidation of all the activities which a person does in the daytime.
Stage 3 (NREM): Stage 3 refers to deep sleep. The brain starts producing delta waves, muscular activity and eye movements nearly stop. Bedwetting, sleepwalking, and night terrors are common during this phase.
Stage 4 (REM): During this stage, breathing becomes faster and irregular with rapid eye movement in different directions. Blood pressure and breathing increase, the body enters paralysis. A person starts dreaming during this stage.
Final Thoughts
If a person is aiming to sleep 7-9 hours each night, a sleep calculator is the best way to optimize the sleep schedule. Sleep is as vital as an everyday meal. Not getting enough sleep can lead to mental, physical, and emotional health deficits. So, it’s important to schedule your sleep each night to wake up fresh and active.
The key to healthy sleep is determined by certain factors like meditation, comfortable mattress, dietary habits etc. Sleep deprivation can cause drowsiness, anxiety, skin problems, dark circles, and irritable mood. Getting adequate sleep helps prevent weight gain, heart disease and diseases.
A consistent sleep routine allows you to wake up with full energy, which in turn helps you achieve your daily goals. All of this is possible with a sleep calculator. Most people who have never used a sleep calculator feel the advantage of tracking the sleep cycle quickly.