Eight Ways to Improve Your Sleep
健康指南之八种方式提高睡眠质量
Depriving yourself of sleep is never ever a good idea, even though in our go-go-go society people take pride in going strong on 4 hours of sleep and tons of coffee. While everybody needs his personal amount of sleep to wake up rested and refreshed, the average human being still needs about 8 hours of sleep per night. You might trick your body into needing fewer hours of sleep by flooding it with caffeine, or by having high stress levels that keep you bouncing around, but you're wreaking havoc on your long-term and short-term performance. In fact, sleep deprivation muddles your ability to judge a situation, and as a result you might judge your mental clarity as OK, while you'd be performing poorly in tests.
在这个形色匆忙的时代，尽管有人每天喝了一顿咖啡后能够自豪顽强到只睡四个小时，但如此剥夺睡眠真心不是件好事儿。每个人对恢复自身精力的睡眠要求时间不一，人类平均睡眠时间是八小时左右。也许你会无畏地猛灌咖啡因来减少睡眠或者在高压之下保持活力。但这样只会给你接下来的工作和生活带来更严重的影响。因为，不足的睡眠会干扰你的判断力。这通常表现在有时你自认为还挺清醒地参加了测试，但事实上却表现得相当糟糕。
Allowing yourself adequate sleep should be a no-brainer; it should feel natural to all people and we should reclaim it as our right. Sleep is one of the most important non-negotiable elements in your self-care, but it takes courage to go against the flow of 24/7 alertness and allow your body its necessary rest so that it can rejuvenate.
让身体得到充足的睡眠是天经地义的事情，我们也理所应当地要讨回大自然赋予的权利。毋庸置疑，睡眠是自我保养的最佳方式之一。但为了让身体得到放松和恢复，要在三分之一的时间放下一切的确需要勇气。
Ideally, your sleep cycle should follow the natural patterns of sunset and sunrise as much as possible. You know that you have had enough sleep when you can consistently wake up at the same time in the morning without an alarm clock, feeling rested and refreshed. Besides the length of your sleep, the quality of your sleep is very important as well. Your sleep cycle consists of different levels,with deep sleep as the phase in which most restoration occurs. If your sleep isdisrupted, you might find it very difficult to reach the state of deep sleep.
理想状态是，你的睡眠周期要尽量贴合自然规律，日出而作，日落而歇。要知道在大量规律睡眠后，即使不用闹钟你也会在每天清晨自然醒，并且头脑清晰，充满活力。除了睡眠的时间，其质量也特别重要。你的睡眠周期具有不同的水平程度，其中深度睡眠是头脑剧烈整合恢复的阶段，一旦被打断，你便发觉很难再次进入该阶段。
What can we do to improve our quality of sleep? Here are 8 techniques that you can implement:
我们需要多点什么来提高睡眠质量呢？以下八条建议你可以采纳：

1. Do not exercise within two to three hours prior to sleeping.

While exercise wears out your body, it also causes a boost of adrenaline through your body that makes your mind all wired, and causes your body temperature to rise. Have you taken a 9pm spinning class and then found yourself tossing around your bed without being able to sleep? It's directly related to the unfortunate timing of your workout. Try a workout in the late afternoon instead.

1.睡前2-3小时切勿运动

运动不仅会消耗掉你的精力，还会产生大量亢奋头脑的肾上腺素，并且导致体温上升。你有没有发现在晚上9点骑完动感单车后，只能在床上翻来覆去无法入睡？这就是运动时机不对直接造成的。试试在下午晚些时候运动吧。

2. Don't overeat at dinner.

A full stomach makes sleeping difficult. Ideally, you should plan your dinner no later than three hours before your bedtime. Focus on protein and healthy fat for dinner, and reduce carbs. Keep your dinner light—you typically won’t need much fuel for the rest of your day anymore at dinnertime. Instead, start having larger meals for breakfast and lunch, when you actually need that fuel.

2.晚饭不宜过饱

肠胃太饱会导致失眠。最好的进食时间不能晚于睡前三小时。晚饭要重点摄取蛋白质和健康脂类并减少碳水化合物摄入量。少吃晚饭有益健康---在一天休息之际，你根本就不需要太多能量，而早上和中午正是需要能量的时候，你就要饱餐一顿了。

3. Have a fixed bedtime (ideally before 10pm).

While the opinions are divided on what the ideal bedtime is, and if there is a general ideal bedtime or if its personal, most health and fitness websites recommend to sleep between 9pm and 10pm, and it's a common Dutch saying that "the hours before midnight count double". Try to sleep around the time your body starts to secrete melatonin, which is typically around 9:30 pm. Turn off the TV and your laptop, and make your sleep a priority!

3.固定睡觉时间（最好晚上10点前）

鉴于目前最适宜的睡觉时间分歧不一，每个人的状况又有所不同，所以多数健康保健网站推荐合理的时间段为晚上9点到10点之间。正如那句老生常谈的荷兰谚语“午夜前的睡眠效果是午夜后的两倍”。争取在身体开始分泌褪黑激素时休息吧，这通常大概是晚上9点半。让电视电脑一边去，睡觉才是王道！