Are you sleeping enough?

In my teenage years, the teens slept too much and now in my young adult years, adults sleep too little. During my University years, I slept on average of 6 hours a night. I remember the struggle it was to wake up for class. I slept 6 hours because I thought that was the norm for an University student; but for me it definately was not enough sleep. At this point, I decided to take caffeine pills to make it through the day. I would spend a lot of afternoons snoozing away in the library. As my life continued and starting working at Innovative Fitness, my sleeping patterns did not get any better. Averaging 5-6 hours of sleep per night just did not cut it. On the way to work I would drink a coffee and blast the music so I could survive the drive from Coquitlam. Once I arrived at work I would have another coffee. When I got home from work I would take a 1 hour nap thinking that it would make up for my loss sleep from the night before; however it set me back a few more hours since I was less productive after the nap. Throughout most of my life, I would sleep enough to get by, but never listened to my body how much sleep it wanted. About a year ago when I moved into the nights, I was unsure about the switch; but I took advantage of it and decided to try to change my sleeping patterns. I set my alarm at 9am and went to bed at 12 midnight. I automatically woke up at 8am just before my alarm went off. I felt amazing and had so much energy. I realized what a difference slept made so now I make it a priority in my life. We should all be striving for 8 hours of sleep since are jobs as Professional Training coaches takes alot of energy.
According to leading sleep researchers, there are techniques to combat common sleep problems:

Keep a regular sleep/wake schedule
Don’t drink or eat caffeine four to six hours before bed and minimize daytime use
Don’t smoke, especially near bedtime or if you awake in the night
Avoid alcohol and heavy meals before sleep
Get regular exercise
Minimize noise, light and excessive hot and cold temperatures where you sleep
Develop a regular bed time and go to bed at the same time each night
Try and wake up without an alarm clock
Attempt to go to bed earlier every night for certain period; this will ensure that you’re getting enough sleep