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How to feel refreshed even after too little sleep - and why you
MUST have an afternoon nap. Never wake up tired again
Secret to waking up refreshed is to work out your sleep in 90 minute cycles
Napping will improve your memory, reaction time, and productivity
Professor Richard Wiseman says napping 'may even save your life'
PLUS: How to stop snoring forever!
By Prof essor Richard Wiseman
PUBLISHED: 23:43 GMT, 23 March 2014 | UPDATED: 12:31 GMT, 24 March 2014
11,143 shares
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If you f ollow Prof essor Richard Wiseman's tips, you could become a 'super sleeper' and never wake up
tired again
I
nsomnia is the modern malaise. But in a new book, Professor Richard Wiseman explains the simple
techniques you can use to get the sleep you need. On Saturday, he revealed why some lucky
individuals are super-sleepers. Today, he explains how you can become one, too . . .
We are
now living in a world that never sleeps. Because of this, scientists across the world have started to
examine what happens to peoples brains and bodies when they become sleep-deprived. Their results are
enough to keep you up at night.In the 1980s, a scientist f rom the University of Chicago conducted perhaps
the best-known, and most disturbing, study into the topic. He and his colleagues wired up a group of rats
to a machine that measured their brain activity, and then placed each of the animals on a stationary disc
above a bowl of water. Every time a rats brain activity indicated that the animal had f allen asleep, the disc
would slowly rotate. This, in turn, f orced the rat to wake up. Despite having access to more than enough
f ood, within a week these sleep-deprived rats started to lose weight and their f ur developed an unhealthy
yellowish tinge. Af ter a month, all of them had died, thus proving that sleep is essential f or lif e. Of course,
this was extreme sleep-deprivation. You might expect that losing a smaller amount of sleep say, just an
hour or so each night would not be especially detrimental. In f act, even a minor reduction can dramatically
increase the chances of you having a serious accident in everyday lif e.
In 2003, Gregory Belenky and his colleagues at the Sleep And Perf ormance Research Centre at Washington
State University staged one of the worlds most comprehensive studies into sleep loss.
Volunteers who obtained nine hours sleep each night remained highly alert, while those spending just three
or f ive hours in bed quickly became tired and inattentive.
However, the results f rom those getting seven hours sleep per night proved especially surprising.
Although these volunteers constantly assured the researchers that they were as wide awake as those on
nine hours, the data revealed a very dif f erent story. Af ter just a couple of days of getting seven hours
sleep they became signif icantly less alert, and remained sluggish f or the remainder of the experiment.
Scroll down f or video
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There are two rules to ensure you wake up ref reshed in the morning: The 90-minute rule and the power of
taking a nap. Pictured: File photo
Belenkys study revealed the highly pernicious nature of even a small amount of sleep deprivation. Spend
just a f ew nights sleeping f or seven hours or less and your brain goes into slow motion. To make matters
worse, you will continue to f eel f ine and so dont make allowances f or your sluggish mind. Within just a
couple of days, this level of sleep deprivation transf orms you into an accident waiting to happen.In another
study, researchers f rom University College London spent 20 years examining the relationship between
sleep patterns and lif e expectancy in more than 10,000 civil servants.The results, published in 2007,
revealed that participants who obtained two hours less sleep a night than they required nearly doubled their
risk of early death. In a similar study, another group of researchers analysed data f rom more than one
million Americans and f ound that getting less than seven hours sleep each night was associated with an
early demise.However, there are two invaluable techniques Id like to share with you that can of f set some of
the damage caused by getting too little sleep. The f irst is the 90-minute rule; the second is the power of
taking a nap.
THE 90-MINUTE RULE EVERY SLEEPER SHOULD REMEMBER
Speak to sleep researchers and you will soon discover that most of them use a little-known trick to help
them f eel ref reshed the next day. This is based on the knowledge that our sleep cycle contains f ive distinct
phases, divided into f our stages of non-REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, f ollowed by a stage of REM
sleep (in which we dream). Each of these cycles takes roughly 90 minutes, f ollowed by a brief interlude
when we are relatively wakef ul, bef ore a new cycle starts again. This process is repeated usually f or a total
of f our or f ive cycles a night. In other words, if we were to sleep completely naturally, with no alarm clocks
or other sleep disturbances, we would wake up, on the average, af ter a multiple of 90 minutes.This means
that you will f eel most ref reshed when you awake at the end of a 90-minute sleep cycle because you will
be closest to your normal waking state. To maximise the chances of this happening, work out when you
want to wake up, then count back in 90-minute blocks to f ind a time near to when you want to go to
sleep.Lets imagine that you want to wake at 8am and wish to go to sleep around midnight. Counting back in
90-minute segments f rom 8am would look like this:8am>6.30>5.00>3.30>2.00>12.30>11pmIn this example,
you should aim to f all asleep around either 11pm or 12.30am in order to f eel especially ref reshed in the
morning.
SLEEP YOUR WAY TO THE TOP
When you are preparing f or an important exam or interview, you might be tempted to stay up late the night
bef ore, trying to cram inf ormation into your head. Avoid the temptation. Its a terrible idea and you will be
much better of f getting an early night. Not only will you be more ref reshed when you wake up, you will also
be much better able to remember what you learnt the day bef ore.The ef f ect that a lack of sleep has on
academic perf ormance is f ar f rom trivial. A study a f ew years ago at Tel Aviv university randomly separated
primary school children into two groups. Those in one group were instructed to go to bed 30 minutes earlier
each night, while those in the other group were asked to stay up 30 minutes later than usual. Three days
later researchers tested the childrens perf ormance on various educational attainments tests. The results
revealed that the small amount of sleep loss was equivalent to the loss of two years of development.In
another study, psychologist Amy Wolf son f rom the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts surveyed
more than 3,000 high-school students, and discovered that A- and B-grade students were going to bed
about 40 minutes earlier, and sleeping around 25 minutes longer than those getting lower grades.
THE POWER OF NAPPING
Napping is of ten seen as a f orm of laziness. Nothing could be f urther f rom the truth. Hundreds of
experiments have demonstrated its enormous benef its and so it is vital that you make napping part of
your daily routine. Putting your head down f or just a f ew minutes each day will help you develop a better
memory, be more alert, increase your reaction time, and boost your productivity. It may even save your lif e.A
recent six-year study into napping by Harvard University looked at the lives of more than 20,000 adults
aged between 20 and 80. All of the participants were asked about their dietary habits, levels of physical
exercise, and the extent to which they napped.
DID YOU KNOW?
Alaska's Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 destroyed the surrounding wildlif e and habitat, and is widely
considered to be one of the worst environmental catastrophes in modern history.
Accident investigators concluded that sleep deprivation had played a major role in the incident.
The third mate had only slept six hours in the previous two days, and was simply too tired to notice that
the ship was not changing course, or to respond to the warnings f rom the lookouts.
Unf ortunately, this is not a unique event.
Similar investigations have revealed that sleep deprivation played a key role in several other catastrophes,
including Three Mile Island, the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, and the Chernobyl meltdown.
Even af ter taking age and level of physical activity into account, those who took a 30-minute siesta at least
three times a week had a 37 per cent lower risk of heart-related death. Even the shortest of naps can have
a surprisingly big impact on your memory. In 2008, scientists f rom the University of Dusseldorf asked
volunteers to memorise a list of words and then randomly allocated them to one of three groups. The f irst
group remained awake, the second slept f or about 40 minutes, and the third took a quick six-minute nap.
When asked to recall the words, the Wide Awake Club did OK, the 40-minute sleepers did better, and those
who nodded of f f or just six minutes came top of the class. Developing a super-powered memory is not the
only psychological benef it to be gained through napping. Research by Nasa revealed that pilots who take a
25-minute nap in the cockpit hopef ully with a co-pilot taking over the controls are subsequently 35 per
cent more alert than their non-napping colleagues and twice as f ocused. In 2009, sleep researcher Kimberly
Cote f rom Brock University in Canada reviewed the vast amount of psychological work into napping, and
concluded that even the shortest of snoozes causes signif icant improvements in peoples mood, reaction
time, and alertness.So its vital that you get rid of any lingering doubts about whether napping is a good
use of your time. In f act, you should start to f eel guilty if you are not taking a nap during the day. But f irst,
it is important to know the optimum time to take it. The bodys natural circadian rhythms af f ect our energy
levels through the day, so its best to time your nap f or when there is a natural slump which depends on
the time you woke. Heres a simple table to guide you:
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A handy timetable to help you work out your perf ect nap time
PS: dont worry if you dont f all asleep. Research shows that even just lying down with the intention of
napping is enough to cause a healthy reduction in your blood pressure.
And if you need to f eel wide awake directly af ter having a short nap, drink a cup of cof f ee or other
caf f einated drink just bef ore dozing of f . The caf f eine will start to work its magic about 25 minutes later
just as you are waking up.
HOW TO BANISH SNORING FOREVER!
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One (or both!) partners snoring can be a big problem in relationships. Prof essor Richard Wiseman is on
hand to of f er some tips to stop snoring f orever
Roughly 40 per cent of men and a quarter of women are snorers causing problems both f or their
partners sleep and their own. But there are simple steps that can help minimise the risk of an interrupted
night. First, it is helpf ul to f ind out what kind of snorer you are. The results of this quick test will help us
discover whether the problem is with your nose, mouth, and/or tongue.1. Close your mouth. Now shut your
lef t nostril by gently pressing on the side of it. Keeping your mouth closed, take a deep breath through your
right nostril. Now repeat the test, but this time close your mouth and right nostril, and then take a deep
breathe through your lef t nostril. Finally, still keeping your mouth closed, take a deep breath through both
nostrils. Did you f eel like your nostrils were congested, and theref ore breathing was dif f icult, during any of
these exercises?2. Open your mouth and try to make a snoring sound. Now close your mouth and try to
make the same sound. Are you able to make the same snoring sound with your mouth closed?3. If you can
make a snoring sound with your mouth closed, stick your tongue slightly out of your mouth and gently grip
it with your teeth, ensuring that your lips are sealed around the sides of your tongue. Now try to make the
snoring noise again. Is the sound of your snoring reduced?If you answered yes to question one, then you
have a blocked nose. If just one nostril appears blocked then this might be due to a physical abnormality,
such as a twisted septum or polyps. You might f ind it helpf ul to try using adhesive nasal strips to pull your
nostrils apart, and so help prevent them narrowing when you are asleep.If both sides of your nose appear
blocked, and you dont have a cold, then you might be suf f ering f rom an allergy.
DID YOU KNOW?
Sleep scientists have come up with all sorts of exercises to strengthen snorers throat muscles. Perhaps
the most enjoyable techniques involve a series of specially designed singing lessons. In 2000, drama
therapist Alise Ojay f rom the University of Exeter brought together a group of 20 chronic snorers and
asked themto spend three months completing a series of singing exercises f or 20 minutes each day. The
result was a signicant drop in their snoring. On the basis of this work, Ojay created a series of Singing
For Snorers CDs that encourage people to perf orm specially designed vocal exercises to simple tunes.See
www.singingforsnorers.com for more.
If your nose only tends to become blocked at night, you might be sensitive to the type of allergens
produced by the dust mites that tend to inhabit old pillows and mattresses. If you think this might be the
case, try washing your bedding f requently at a temperature of at least 60C, avoid putting old blankets on
the bed, and place your pillows and if possible your duvets into plastic bags and then put them in your
f reezer f or 24 hours at least once a month, which kills of f the mites.If you answered no to question two,
then there might be an issue with your mouth. If this is the case, then you probably sleep with your mouth
open, and of ten wake up with a dry throat. You may benef it f rom a chin strip, which is essentially a strip of
tape that runs under your chin and helps stop your mouth f alling open while you sleep.Finally, if you
answered yes to question three then your snoring might well be due to your tongue vibrating. Typically, you
will have an unusual bite, wherein your lower teeth are behind your upper teeth when you close your mouth.
If this is the case, you might want to think about using a mandibular advancement device. This is a plastic
gum shield that is designed to f it into your mouth, help push your jaw f orward, and increase the space at
the back of your throat. Its quite possible that you might be one type of snorer, or be a combination of any
two, or even all three.In addition to these techniques, you might want to try losing weight, stopping
smoking, drinking less alcohol, and trying to sleep with your head at a 35-degree elevation by placing a
f oam wedge under your pillow. Also, it is important to avoid sleeping on your back, as your tongue and sof t
tissue in the throat are likely to f all backwards and obstruct your airway. If you f ind this tricky, try placing a
tennis ball in a sock, and sew the sock to the back of your pyjama top (or whatever else you wear in bed).
This will make lying on your back very uncomf ortable, and so encourage you to turn on your
side.Strengthening the throat muscles also helps combat sleep apnoea where the sleepers breathing
stops f or brief periods.

More f rom Richard Wiseman: How to lose weight without trying
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Roughly 40 per cent of men and a quarter of women are snorers - causing problems both f or their
partners' sleep and their own
In 2009, researchers f rom the University of Sao Paulo Medical School in Brazil had patients suf f ering f rom
sleep apnoea practise a series of tongue and throat exercises f or 30 minutes each day f or three months.
The group experienced a 39 per cent drop in apnoea episodes af ter the treatment. Similarly, in 2005 Milo
Puhan f rom the University of Zurich and his colleagues gave sleep apnoea patients didgeridoo lessons,
and then asked them to practise the instrument f or the f ollowing f our months. Compared to a non-
didgeridoo-playing control group, the patients experienced a signif icant reduction in apnoea and their
partners reported f ewer disturbances during the night.In some more serious cases, however, snorers may
need to be prescribed a treatment ref erred to as continuous positive airway pressure. In this method, the
suf f erer is required to wear a special mask over their mouth and nose when they go to bed. This is
connected to a small unit that uses mild air pressure to keep their airways open throughout the
night.EXTRACTED from Night School by Richard Wiseman to be published by Macmillan on March 27 at 20.
2014 Richard Wiseman. To order a copy for 16.99 (including P&P), call 0844 472 4157.