If you search “sleep” on the internet, you can check the definition of sleep: “The state of rest in conscious activity.” Namely, sleep is the only time that people can rest in an unconscious state. In Korea, there is a common saying: “Sleep is the best medicine.” That means that sleep is very important for human beings. However, many modern people can’t sleep well for various reasons. The Pharos is going to examine the habits and reasons why modern people can’t sleep well and look at proper sleeping habits.

The habit of drinking alcohol before you go to a bed is bad for sleep. Most people think that drinking alcohol before they go to a bed is helpful for getting a good night’s rest. In fact, drinking alcohol is helpful for falling asleep but quality of sleep drops dramatically. Alcohol disturbs REM sleep. Why is it a problem to disturb REM sleep? REM sleep improves memory and learning ability, so disturbing REM sleep is not good for memory and learning ability. Plus, drinking alcohol before going to bed causes diuretic effects, leading you to need the bathroom at dawn.

Next, the habit of looking at your smartphone before you sleep drops your sleep quality much more than you think. Blue light from your smartphone is 5 times that of a TV. Strong blue light from your smartphone disturbs melatonin synthesis, which is asleep hormone in the body. The most important clue that person’s body distinguish day from night is light. Above all, blue light is more effective than other light in informing our bodies that it is daytime. On the grounds that you can’t fall asleep, looking at your smartphone before you go to bed is a very bad habit.

Lastly, do not try to sleep too much on weekends. Most people try to make up for the lack of sleep during the week on weekends. In other words, they’re just trying to increase their total sleep time. However, according to research about sleeping, making up for the lack of sleep during the week on weekends is not helpful for relieving fatigue. In addition, it makes Monday morning harden. So, although you felt that you lacked sleep during the week, a study found that just eight hours of sleep on weekend days was enough to balance the sleep that had been lose during the week.

What is the best way to sleep? Experts say that having a regular sleep pattern is the best way to sleep. Sleep is a kind of rhythm. If you have a strong rhythm, a pattern of sleeping and waking at a fixed time, you can sleep easily and your brain that worked hard during the daytime can rest. Plus, regular sleeping habits help to remove accumulated waste from the body, regenerate damaged cells, and control hormone levels efficiently. If there is no rhythm or irregularity, these things can’t happen properly when you sleep, and you keep getting tired.

Modern people are very busy. Most of us may have to go to sleep late because we have work to do. This problem is out of control. However, don’t forget that drinking alcohol before you go to bed, looking at your smartphone, and making up for sleeping are the things you can avoid. Doing good things to sleep well is good, but not doing bad things that disrupt sleep is much more effective and important!

74th Reporter•LEE JOOHAENG•silkyshine@naver.com