提升生活質(zhì)量最簡單的方式：睡覺

Imagine this: Someone walks up to you and pitches you on a brand-new, magical pill.

想象一下：有個人走過來為向推銷一款全新的神奇藥片。

This pill can measurably improve your memory, overall cognitive performance, ability to learn new information, receptivity to facial cues, mood, ability to handle problems, metabolism, risk for heart disease and immune system.

這種藥片可以顯著改善你的記憶力、整體認知表現(xiàn)、學習新信息的能力、對面部表情的接受能力、情緒、處理問題的能力、新陳代謝、心臟病和免疫系統(tǒng)的風險。

Would you buy it?

你會買嗎?

Yeah, yeah, you saw this coming: That pill exists, but not in pill form. You can have all of those benefits cost-free, and all it takes is going to bed a little bit earlier. That’s it.

是的是的，你猜到了：這種藥片真實存在，但并不是以藥片的形式。你可以免費享受所有這些好處，而且所需的一切只是早點睡覺而已。就是這樣。

And yet! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called sleep deprivation a public health crisis, saying that one-third of adults don’t get enough sleep. Some 80 percent of people report sleep problems at least once per week, and according to a 2016 study, sleep deprivation “causes more than $400 billion in economic losses annually in the United States and results in 1.23 million lost days of work each year.”

但是!疾病控制和預防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)把睡眠剝奪稱作是一場公共衛(wèi)生危機，它表示三分之一的成年人睡眠不足。大約80%的人每周至少報告一次睡眠問題，并且，根據(jù)2016年的一項研究，睡眠剝奪“對美國經(jīng)濟造成的損失每年超過4000億美元，并導致每年123萬個工作日的損失”。

If that’s not enough, here is a non-comprehensive list of the ways your sleep deprivation is personally harming you:

如果這還不夠，這里有一份關(guān)于睡眠剝奪如何損害你個人的不全面清單：

■ Your overall cognitive performance — particularly your visual attention and ability to form memories — deteriorates. (More colloquially, this is that “brain fog” we all experience after a late night.)

■ 你的整體認知表現(xiàn)——特別是你的視覺注意力和形成記憶的能力——會衰退。(更通俗地說，這是我們在深夜后都會經(jīng)歷的“腦霧”。)

■ Your ability to learn new information is impaired, both by sleep deprivation before you learn new information and afterward.

■ 在你學習新信息的之前和之后，你學習新信息的能力都會因睡眠不足而受損。

■ You’re less likely to correctly read facial expressions, even interpreting some expressions — even neutral ones — as threatening.

■ 你可能無法正確地解讀面部表情，甚至會將一些表情——甚至是中性的那些——解讀為威脅。

■ You’re likely to be more cranky and react worse when presented with obstacles.

■ 當遇到阻礙時，你可能會更暴躁并且反應(yīng)更糟。

■ Beyond your severely impaired mental abilities, your body is affected, too: A lack of adequate sleep can contribute to weight gain, puts you at a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease, and makes you far less resistant to the common cold.

■ 除了嚴重受損的心智能力之外，你的身體也會受到影響：缺乏足夠的睡眠會導致體重增加，使你患糖尿病和心臟病的風險更高，并使你對普通感冒的抵抗力大大降低。

That is insane! All of this from just not getting enough sleep! 這太瘋狂了!所有這一切只因睡眠不足!

So what are we to do? We’ve got you covered with The Times’s guide to getting a better night’s sleep.

那么我們該怎么辦呢?我們?yōu)槟銣蕚淞藭r報的指南，以幫助你獲得更好的睡眠。

First, learn how much sleep you need. Generally, if you’re waking up tired, you’re not getting enough.

首先，了解您需要多少睡眠。一般來說，如果你醒來覺得疲憊，那你就睡得不夠。

However, the gold standard of eight hours per night might not be right for you. A study from 2015 brought into question whether we need that magical number, so following your body is the best way to figure out the right rhythm. The only real guideline is to get as much sleep as you need to feel refreshed and energized the next day, and then do that every single night. Keeping a sleep diary — like this one — can help you figure this out.

但是，每晚睡八小時的黃金標準可能并不適合你。2015年的一項研究質(zhì)疑我們是否需要這個神奇的數(shù)字，所以遵從你的身體是找出正確節(jié)奏的最好方法。唯一真正的指導方針是獲得盡可能多的睡眠，以讓你在第二天感覺精神煥發(fā)、精力充沛，然后每一晚都這么做。堅持記錄睡眠日記——就像這樣——可以幫助你解決這個問題。

Next, figure out your body’s natural rhythm. Maybe after years of trying, you need to acknowledge that you’re just not a morning person. And that’s perfectly fine! Take this quiz to find out what kind of sleeper you are, and don’t fight your body’s natural sleep tendencies.

接下來，弄清楚你身體的自然節(jié)奏。也許經(jīng)過多年的嘗試，你需要承認你不是早起的那類人。這非常好!做一下這個測試，找出你是什么類型的睡眠者，不要對抗你身體自然的睡眠傾向。

Last, keep a consistent sleep schedule. This can be the most important part of your overall sleep hygiene. We’re all equipped with a circadian clock, which is that internal 24-hour timer that naturally tells us when to sleep, and the best way to getting rest and feeling rested is to keep this consistent. Fall asleep and wake up at the same time every day (including weekends), and try to build as much regularity into your schedule as possible, including meal times, exercise routines, screen time (and when to shut off the screens) and morning sunlight time. And don’t forget to keep your bedroom cool.

最后，保持一致的睡眠時間表。這可能是整體睡眠健康中最重要的部分。我們都有生物鐘，這是身體內(nèi)部的24小時計時器，它能自然地告訴我們什么時候睡覺，休息和感覺精力充沛的最佳方法是保持這種生物鐘。每天(包括周末)在同一時間入睡和醒來，并嘗試使你的日程安排變得盡可能規(guī)律，包括用餐時間、鍛煉習慣、看屏幕的時間(以及何時關(guān)閉屏幕)和早晨曬到陽光的時間。別忘了保持臥室的涼爽。