With Daylight Saving Time Coming Up, Ask Yourself: Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

We set our clocks ahead one hour for Daylight Saving Time March 8. So this is a good time to not only check your smoke detectors, but your sleep habits and health, Rockland County Health Department officials suggest.

“Getting enough continuous quality sleep helps us feel and perform well the next day. It has a large impact on the overall quality of our lives,” Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, county Commissioner of Health, said in a press release.

Not getting enough sleep can affect our health and safety, and the safety of those around us, she said. For example, it’s linked with an increased risk of drowsy driving; diabetes, heart problems, and obesity; depression and substance abuse; and a decreased ability to pay attention, react to signals, or remember new information.

She offered these tips:

• Make sleep a priority (schedule sleep like you do other daily activities)

• Create a relaxing bedtime routine so you can “wind down”

• Keep to a regular bedtime and wake-time, even on the weekends

• Keep your sleep environment dark, quiet, comfortable and cool

• Keep “sleep stealers” out of the bedroom (avoid watching TV, using a computer or reading in bed)

• Avoid caffeine and alcohol products close to bedtime

• Finish eating at least two-three hours before your regular bedtime

• Exercise regularly

• Quit smoking

Talk to your doctor if you are having sleep problems or regular daytime sleepiness. To help figure out the cause of your sleep problems, it may help to record your sleep patterns and the amount of sleep you get.

For more information visit the National Sleep Foundation website.