Failure to get a proper night’s rest could send you to the big sleep faster.
In a new study published this week, researchers from Oregon Health & Science University found that, far more than diet, exercise or loneliness, sleep quality stood out as a primary predictor of life expectancy, second only to smoking.
“I didn’t expect it to be so strongly correlated to life expectancy,” said senior author Andrew McHill, Ph.D., “We’ve always thought sleep is important, but this research really drives that point home: People really should strive to get seven to nine hours of sleep if at all possible.”
Over a third of adults fail to get the recommended seven hours of sleep each night, and according to government estimates, 50 to 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders.
While previous research has shown that prolonged sleep loss can lead to several health problems — including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, stroke, obesity and depression — this study is the first to reveal the correlation between sleep and life expectancy for each US state.
“This research shows that we need to prioritize sleep at least as much as we do to what we eat or how we exercise,” said McHill.
But just because you know more sleep is better for you doesn’t mean getting those extra ZZZs is easy. If you’re struggling to get a solid eight hours, these tricks might help.
Cognitive shuffling
Similar to shuffling a deck of cards, cognitive shuffling is a technique that rearranges thoughts, distracting the mind from the problematic patterns that prevent sleep.
To begin, pick a non-emotional word such as lake.
Take the first letter of the word, and think of several other words that begin with the same letter; list, last, lost, etc. Move on to the remaining letters. When you reach the end of the word, pick a new one and keep going.
Experts claim cognitive shuffling works by easing the restless mind into a relaxed, ready-for-sleep state, signaling that it is safe to slumber.
Voodoo eye trick
Social media is ablaze with this simple hack for getting back to bed if you find yourself wide-eyed in the middle of the night.
Keeping your eyes closed, you look to the right, then to the left, up, down, then around in a circle and around the other way — repeating the process as many times as needed to drift off.
One TikTok enthusiast was so blown away by this sleep hack, she said it felt like “some type of voodoo magic.”
Experts liken the hack to EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) therapy, in which eye movements are used to calm the body as it processes traumatic memories. Evidence suggests that these eye movements may increase parasympathetic nervous system activity and help you return to a state of rest.
Alpha bridge method
The alpha bridge method is a sleep technique originally developed by the US Navy to support pilots who needed to snooze on command.
It boosts alpha brain wave activity, which is crucial to calming the mind and supporting the transition to sleep.
Here’s a quick rundown:
- Get as comfortable as possible, either lying down in bed or sitting on an airplane or train.
- Close your eyes and count to 30.
- Open your eyes, but only a little, creating a “half moon” effect, and count to five.
- Go back and repeat steps two and three.
- Close your eyes one more time and concentrate on your slow breathing, inhaling and exhaling through your nose.
5-minute cognitive offloading trick
Writing a short list of tasks to tackle the following day, and one good thing that happened during your day, can help you hit the hay unburdened.
Experts say writing down a few tasks lets you jettison your worries, so you don’t need to think about them while trying to sleep. The concept is called “cognitive offloading.” It reduces the mental effort required to complete an assignment, in this case, sleep, which can ultimately lead to better performance or rest.
A 2017 study found that participants who wrote a to-do list before bed instead of journaling about their accomplishments fell asleep “significantly faster.”
Pre-dreaming method
Dreams are visual, and experts say the more you can invoke the visual system, the faster you’ll be setting sail to slumberland.
If you’re struggling to sleep, picture a beautiful scene that makes you feel relaxed, such as floating on your back in a canoe on a serene lake.
This process, known as “pre-dreaming,” slows down the verbal thinking mind, which can be a source of anxiety, and puts the focus on visualization.
