Kristi King, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Do not hit that snooze alarm. Hitting the snooze button may feel good in the moment, but it doesn’t do a body any long term favors.
Restorative sleep that’s helpful to bodies and minds doesn’t happen within the 7- to 9-minute snoozes allowed by most alarm clocks.
A sleep expert quoted by Health.com says it takes at least 25 minutes to sink into deep sleep patterns most helpful to energy, focus and productivity.
The author of “The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan,” Michael Breus, says the best way to squeeze in extra minutes of helpful sleep is to set the wake up alarm for as late as possible.
A trick for restful sleep from the National Sleep Foundation is to keep a worry book by the bed. Wake up with a worry? Write it down with an action plan. Then forget about it until morning.
The Sleep Foundations offers a number of tips for a good sleep.
People here must have sleep tricks of their own. When it comes to getting a good night’s sleep, D.C. is among areas best in the nation for doing so.
A study detailed by Health.com finds D.C is among a limited number of places in the U.S. with populations experiencing the least number of “sleep disturbances.”
Other well rested states include Delaware, North Dakota, Iowa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. States with a high rate of “sleep disturbance” include Alabama, Oklahoma and West Virginia.
Researchers speculate that regional differences in sleep patterns may include everything from weather patterns to access to health care.
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