If you determine it, you will sleep much better.
Finding your sleep window helps improve your sleep quality. “This method is also one of the strategies of French people with sleep disorders such as insomnia” argues Dr. Marc Rey, neurologist. According to the sleep specialist, sleep cycles are subject to a certain number of biological rhythms specific to each person. “These rhythms mean that we speak of a sleep window. This is the most favorable time to fall asleep. The sleep window is not given at birth: from a very young age, the infant must build his sleep rhythms by learning that he must sleep at night and be awake during the day. From the moment these rhythms are established, it is very important to respect them and that they are regular, even if the sleep window changes. certain key moments of our life: it is not determined once and for all.”
The perfect time to fall asleep
In theory, the sleep window is therefore the perfect time to fall asleep. To determine yours, you must:
► be alert to signs of fatigue (drop in energy, yawning, desire to sleep, etc.) and watch when they appear in the evening. It is better not to ignore these signs of fatigue, at the risk of waiting for a new cycle to start and delaying falling asleep.
► respect your sleep rhythm: Some people are on edge in the evening and have difficulty falling asleep before midnight, while others sleep easily by 9 p.m. If the average duration of a night’s sleep in adults is between 7 and 8 hours, short sleepers sleep less than 7 hours while long sleepers sleep more than 8 hours. “Knowing your typology is important for know when is the best time to fall asleep, even though most of the population falls asleep around 10:30 p.m. The main problem is trying to know yourself and organize your time in order to respect your own biological rhythm.”
► keep a sleep diary: “Note the time you go to bed and the time you get up. Record any nighttime awakenings you may have. Keep this diary for one week during the work period and for another week during the vacation period.” You can keep your sleep diary at several stages of your life, when you are a young adult, when you become a parent or when you are retired… In short, every time you change your daily rhythm.
Today, one of the major problems of the French is the lack of sleep linked to the pace of life. We must therefore relearn how to listen to ourselves, to give ourselves time to rest, by avoiding going to bed at varying times, but rather by finding our own sleep window.
Thanks to Dr Marc Rey, neurologist, sleep specialist and President of the National Institute of Sleep and Vigilance (INSV).