Sound sleep, then, is an essential element of your overall health strategy. But let’s face it, putting long life ahead of live Leno may take some adjusting. As Dr. Stevenson puts it, “You have to work at sleeping well.” Here’s how.

Get steady. Your “circadian rhythm” is simply the pattern of biological functions (such as the release of certain hormones or changes in body temperature and metabolic rate) that vary with how and when you feel sleepy or alert. The first commandment of circadian rhythm obedience is to keep regular sleeping hours, say sleep researchers. You sleep best when you go to bed at about the same time every night and wake up about the same time every morning.

Haphazard sleeping schedules, on the other hand, can sabotage your circadian rhythm. “Your body temperature does not go up and down as much if you keep a random sleep schedule,” Dr. Bonnet says. “So you get into this zombie state where you never feel very alert or very sleepy either.”

Stay steady. Why do we sleep late on weekends? Because we can.

Bad idea, Dr. Stevenson says. “The part of your brain that generates sleep doesn’t know the difference between Wednesday and Saturday,” he points out. “When you sleep in on Saturday and Sunday, you push your sleep cycle forward. It’s better to sleep consistently seven days a week.”

Catch up on the front end. It’ll happen. An important deadline-or a more important party-is going to cut into your sleep time. You can make up for some of that lost sleep (but never all of it) the next night. But do it by going to bed earlier, rather than waking up much later than usual, says Dr. Stevenson. Otherwise, you’re sleeping right through your circadian rhythm’s wake-up call. And then all you’re catching up on is lousy, unrestorative sleep. Besides, Dr. Stevenson says, “what matters is how you sleep over the long haul. What you do in a single night is less important.”

Ease your way down. You don’t bounce your two-year-old on your knee all evening, then throw him straight into the crib and expect him to sleep. He needs to relax first. So do you, if you want healthy sleep. “Give yourself a half-hour or 60 minutes to fade out,” Dr. Stevenson says. “You’re entering another part of your life, and you can’t do it in an instant. You need to withdraw slowly.”

You know best what you find relaxing. By definition, it can’t be something potentially upsetting. No checkbook-balancing. No doing your income taxes. Television works for some but upsets others. Remember that a lot of tried-and-true sleep-inducers-such as a warm bath or a glass of milk – probably work because you find them relaxing.

Count sheep. We’re serious. Dr. Stevenson suggests a sleep-baiting technique you can do once your head hits the pillow. “Keep your eyes open, focus on deep breathing, and try to stay awake rather than try to go to sleep,” he says. “Then visualize something you find calming-like fishing on a lake.” Or counting sheep? You bet. “That old cliche is actually distracting, relaxing, and kind of hypnotic,” Dr. Stevenson says.

Wait until you’re sleepy. So you’re not sleepy, you say? That’s fine, but stay out of the bedroom until you are. That’s especially true when you want to sleep but can’t. “You start to see your bedroom as this place of torture where you can’t sleep,” Dr. Stevenson says. “If you’re not sleepy, you should get out of there.”

In fact, sleep experts urge you to use your bedroom for nothing but sleeping-no television, no writing desk, no rowing machine. Of course, they make an exception for sexual relations, but only if the sexual relationship is going well. Hmmm…

Keep naps short. There’s actually a downward blip in your alertness level around mid-afternoon, a fine time for a restorative power nap. But keep it limited to a half-hour to an hour, says Timothy Roehrs, Ph.D., director of research at the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit. Longer naps can actually work against your circadian rhythm.

And any time spent napping is time you won’t sleep at night. “A nap is a perfectly good thing if you can deal with that trade-off,” Dr. Vitiello says.

*68/36/5*

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