睡個好覺真的很重要：如何提高睡眠質量

Sleep is essential if you want to live a healthy and happy life. But what happens if you live a hectic life which prevents you from getting your 8 hours? That's when sleep quality over quantity comes into play.
如果你想過一種健康幸福的生活，睡個好覺是必不可少的。如果繁忙的生活不能讓你睡足8小時，那要怎麼辦？在這個時候，相比睡眠時間長短，睡眠質量就更爲重要了。

To make up for lost hours of sleep you must improve your sleep quality in the following ways:
爲了彌補失去的睡眠時間，你必須要在以下方面提高你的睡眠質量：

1. Do Some Light Reading Instead Of Watching TV
做一些輕鬆閱讀而不是看電視

Over 50% of America switch on the TV before they go to bed. TV disturbs your natural sleep habits by making you stay up longer than you usually would, especially if you are watching something of a violent or exciting nature.
超過50%的美國人在上牀睡覺前會打開電視。在夜裏看電視會讓你睡得比平時晚，於是影響了你的自然睡眠習慣，特別是如果你觀看的是暴力或驚心動魄的場面。

TV also disrupts the natural release of melatonin in the body, melatonin is responsible for regulating sleep cycles and helping you fall asleep at night. The human body is naturally accustomed to feel drowsy when the sun goes down and when it starts to get dark. By switching on the TV you fool your body into thinking it's still daytime, this is caused by the huge backlight in the TV.
電視也會擾亂體內褪黑激素的自然釋放，褪黑激素具有調節睡眠週期及在晚上助你入眠的作用。當太陽落下，天色開始變暗，人體自然而然會昏昏欲睡。打開電視，你會讓你的身體誤以爲仍然是白天，這是由電視裏的巨大背光造成的。

Instead of switching on the TV read a book, but make sure it's a hard copy not an ebook, as most e-readers have strong backlights. Light reading before bed can help you fall into a deep sleep quickly.
選擇看書而不是打開電視，但一定要是紙質書，不是電子書，因爲大多數電子閱讀器有強烈的背光。睡覺前的放鬆閱讀可以幫助你快速進入深度睡眠。

2. Avoid Caffeine 6 Hours Before You Sleep
睡覺前6小時內避開咖啡因的攝入

Having a cup of coffee within a few hours of bed time can have you tossing and turning for hours when your trying to sleep. Coffee isn't the only caffeine containing product, avoid chocolate, tea, pre-workout supplements and soda.
在睡前幾小時內喝一杯咖啡會在你想入睡時讓你輾轉反側數小時。咖啡並不是唯一含咖啡因的產品，請避免喝巧克力、茶、運動前補充飲料和汽水。

3. Create A Sleep Inducing Environment
創造一個有助睡眠的環境

Turn your bedroom into a sleep inducing chamber, turn the temperature down, install proper curtains which block out the light, and if noise is a problem use earplugs. Don't keep pets in the bedroom if they tend to wake you up during the night.
把你的臥室裝飾成有助睡眠的環境，調低溫度，安裝合適的窗簾以遮擋光線，如果還有噪音，就戴上耳塞。如果寵物常在夜間吵醒你，那就不要把寵物留在臥室裏。

You can help your brain associate your bedroom with sleep by using your bedroom solely for sleep and sex. Doing work and watching TV in your bedroom can lead to a non-sleep association with your bedroom and you may find it difficult to fall asleep.
你的臥室只作爲睡眠和性愛的房間，這可以幫助你的大腦把臥室和睡眠聯繫起來。在你的臥室工作和看電視，會讓你無法把睡眠和臥室聯繫起來，你會發現很難入睡。

4. Meditate
冥想

Clear your mind by meditating 15-20 minutes before you hit the sack. Mediation helps reduce stress and may even reduce cortisol levels. The main cause of long sleepless nights is stress, so get 15-20 minutes of meditation before your head hits the pillow.
在你一頭扎進枕頭前，通過冥想15到20分鐘來清空你的大腦。冥想可以幫助減少壓力，甚至可以降低皮質醇水平。造成夜裏長時間無法入睡的主要原因是壓力，所以在一頭扎進枕頭之前，冥想15到20分鐘。5. Train Hard & Train Early
刻苦鍛鍊和早作鍛鍊

The easiest way to feel tired at night is to physically exhaust your body, hence training hard. A 45-90 minute workout consisting of resistance and cardio should be enough to exhaust your system.
讓身體感到疲憊的最簡單的方法是在晚上耗盡你的體能，因此要刻苦鍛鍊。45到90分鐘的包括耐力和有氧運動的鍛鍊足夠耗盡你的體能。

Training at night has its drawbacks, elevating your heart rate prior to sleeping can cause restlessness in most people. It's common to feel too awake and alert after a good workout, so it would not be wise to workout at night if you already have trouble sleeping. Avoid training 4 hours prior to sleeping.
在晚上鍛鍊也有其缺陷，在睡覺前提高你的心率對大多數人來說會引起不適。在經過鍛鍊之後，常見的症狀是會保持清醒和警覺，因此如果在晚上你已經有睡眠困難，那麼在晚上鍛鍊是不明智的。避免在睡覺前4小時內鍛鍊。

6. Eat Light At Night
晚上要吃得少

It's common tradition to have the biggest meal of the day at night in the form of dinner. But for athletes, bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts it should be the complete opposite. The first meal and the post-workout meal should be the largest, with dinner being the smallest. As the day progresses you should taper down carbohydrates and increase protein.
傳統說法是在一天當中吃的最豐盛的一頓是晚餐。但對於運動員、健美運動員和健身愛好者來說應該是完全相反的。一天中的第一頓和運動後的那一餐飯應該說最豐盛的，晚餐應該要最簡單。隨着夜幕降臨，要減少碳水化合物的攝入，而要增加蛋白質的攝入。

Eating late at night is a surefire way to cause insomnia. Consuming a large meal prior to sleeping may cause indigestion and stomach aches during sleep. If your feeling hungry late at night have a casein protein shake or a bowl of cottage cheese.
晚上吃夜宵是一定會引起失眠的。在睡覺之前飽餐一頓可能會在睡眠過程中引發消化不良和胃疼。如果你夜裏感覺餓了，喝點酪素蛋白奶昔或泡一碗奶酪。

7. Don't Drink Too Much Water/Fluids
不要喝太多的水或液體

Drinking too much water/fluids late at night negatively impacts sleep quality. Excess fluids at night can cause you to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, disturbing your sleep cycle. Taper down your fluids as the day progresses.
在夜裏喝太多的水或液體會有負面作用，影響睡眠質量。在夜裏喝得過多會使你在半夜三更醒來去上洗手間，擾亂你的睡眠週期。隨着夜幕降臨，要減少液體攝入量。

8. Avoid Alcohol
避免酒精

Even though alcohol is very effective at making you feel drowsy and tired, it's horrible for sleep quality. Alcohol is a natural diuretic, which means it causes your body to excrete excess water, so you may find yourself waking up multiple times during the night to go to the bathroom.
即使酒精能有效地讓你昏昏欲睡和疲倦，但對於睡眠質量而言，這是很不好的。酒精是一種天然的利尿劑，這意味着它會讓你排出體內過多的水分，那麼你會發現自己在夜裏醒來好幾次要去上洗手間。

Alcohol induced sleep is not a restful sleep by any means, alcohol disrupts your body's natural sleep cycles, leading to an unrefreshed feeling upon waking.
因爲酒精作用而入睡絕對得不到寧靜的睡眠，酒精擾亂你體內的自然睡眠週期，從而造成醒來時還有宿醉的感覺。9. Go To Sleep When You Are Really Tired
當你真的很累時再去睡覺

We have all had days where we tried to go to sleep early thinking we will get a nice 9 or 10 hours sleep. 4 hours of tossing and turning later, combined with constant staring at the clock we realize it's not going to happen. Go to sleep only when you start to feel sleepy instead of wasting your time staring at the clock.
我們都有過這樣的經歷，當我們試圖早點睡覺時，想着我們能睡個9或10個小時的好覺。在輾轉反側4個小時之後，還盯着時鐘 看，我們這才意識到肯定是睡不着了。只有當你開始昏昏欲睡時再上牀睡覺，而不是浪費你的時間盯着時鐘看。

10. Don't Stare At The Clock
不要盯着時鐘看

Being a clock-watcher can actually increase stress and make it harder to fall asleep. Make sure the clock is not visible while your sleeping, if it's a digital one, cover it with a cloth or towel.
盯着鬧鐘看實際上會增加壓力，入睡會變得更難。當你睡覺時，一定要把鬧鐘放在你看不到的地方。如果是一個數碼鬧鐘，要用布或毛巾把它蓋住。

11. Have A Consistent Sleep Routine
堅持穩定的睡眠作息

Studies show that people who sleep and wake up at the same time everyday are more rested than those who have erratic irregular sleep patterns. Set your alarm to the same time everyday including weekends.
研究表明比起每天睡眠不規律的那些人，每天在同一時間睡覺和起牀的人休息的會更好。每天設置同一時間點，包括週末。

Studies also show that binge sleeping on the weekend to make up for lost sleep is counterproductive, you should aim to get the same amount of sleep everyday, whether that's 8 or 6 hours.
研究還表明，週末沉睡以求彌補睡眠不足是適得其反，應該是每天有相同的睡眠時間，不管是8還是6小時。

12. Limit Napping
限制打盹時間

Napping during the day might seem like the right thing to do when you feel tired, but if you plan on sleeping well at night think again. Napping during the day will interfere with your natural sleep patterns, if you do choose to nap, limit it to 30 minutes per day.
當你覺得累了，白天打個盹似乎是可以的，但如果你想要晚上睡得好，請三思。白天打盹會影響到你的自然睡眠模式，如果你選擇打個盹，每天限制在30分鐘以內。