Sleep is an important part of your daily routine — you spend about one-third of your time doing it. Quality sleep — and getting enough of it at the right times — is as essential to survival as food and water.
Without sleep, you can’t form or maintain the pathways in your brain that let you learn and create new memories. Lack of sleep makes it harder to concentrate and respond quickly, says the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
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But according to Healthline, a recent Gallup poll found that more than half of adults surveyed, or 57%, said they would feel better if they got more sleep. And with the changing of seasons, your sleep habits can go awry, a leading sleep specialist and clinical psychologist tells TODAY.
Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and sleep medicine expert, says the sleep solution could be as easy as 1-2-3 — or rather 3-2-1 in this case. Breus offers a sleep hygiene rule that is easy to follow:
• Three hours before bedtime, stop drinking alcohol
• Two hours before you go to sleep, stop eating food.
• One hour before you go to sleep, stop drinking fluids.
Besides the 3-2-1 rule for sound sleep, Breus shares these tips:
• Avoid blue light. Turn off devices and try not to watch television before you go to bed. You can also use a timer to turn off the TV for you if you tend to indulge in late-night viewing.
• Keep the room cool. The ideal temperature for sleeping is between 66 degrees Fahrenheit and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, says Sleep.org. With cooler weather, you can open the windows to let in fresh air.
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• Avoid late-night exercise. Breus does not recommend exercising before going to bed because that increases the body’s core temperature, the opposite of what you want to do to ensure quality slumber.
• Try the 4-7-8 breathing technique to help your relax if you are having trouble sleeping. Here is a video that features Dr. Andrew Weil demonstrating the powerful technique he created to help Navy SEALS calm down.
• Develop a regular wake-up routine. “Wake up at the same time, if you can, seven days a week,” Breus tells TODAY. “If you keep that steady, that makes your melatonin go at the right time every night.”