Interrupted Sleep? Might As Well Not Get Any, Says New Study

I so wish that I'd listened when I was pregnant and people told me to enjoy my sleep before my son came because I wouldn't be getting much after his birth. They were right, I don't think I've slept more than four consecutive hours in the last two years.

Even if you don't have kids, you've probably lost sleep because of roommates, or a snoring spouse, right? Loss of sleep is actually a pretty big deal.

According to a Science Daily, if your sleep is interrupted, it’s almost as bad for you as getting no sleep at all.  No matter how long you spend laying in bed, if you wake up and then fall asleep over and over in a vicious cycle, your body is only getting about four hours of rest and that's not at all healthy.

So what can you do if you really need to give your body rest? The absolute best thing you can do is get yourself on a regular sleep schedule, which can be pretty tough. However, if you can get your body into a rhythm of feeling sleepy at the same time each night, you'll be able to actually sleep and wake up feeling refreshed. On the flip side, it's easy to think that because you had a good night of sleep the night before that you can reward yourself with an extra hour of TV watching or hanging out with friends, but doing that will completely undo your sleep pattern, so you want to try to avoid that.

Another thing you might want to lay off is napping. If you're always napping for more than an hour a day, you're going to sabotage your sleep pattern by leaving yourself less tire when it comes time for bed.

It might seem impossible, but try turning everything off before bed- the TV, your phone, your tablet. Instead of looking at those things, pick up a book, do some yoga, or drink a cup of tea.

[via Science Daily]