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Monday

Welcome to Monday! We’re beginning this week of self-care with:

• How tracking your sleep can cause more harm than good

• Should you take a “NASA nap”?

• Being proactive with your health

• Discover how sleep quality can impact your brain age

How Seeking the Best Sleep Can Have the Opposite Effect

Do you ever have the feeling that you have to sleep — but no matter how tired you may be, you can’t stop thinking about it, and it’s keeping you up at night?

In the name of the best night of sleep, many people wear wearable trackers like smartwatches to bed to track how well they actually rest. However, placing too much emphasis on the best night of rest can have the opposite impact — a phenomenon known as “orthosomnia.”

Orthosomnia is defined as an “obsessive pursuit of optimal sleep metrics based on a fitness tracker or mobile phone app data.”

As people worry about getting the best metrics for their rest, it can cause symptoms of insomnia, including:

• Trouble falling asleep

• Waking up earlier than expected or wanted

• Not resting through the night

• Tiredness, anxiety, anger, and other feelings during the day

Experts caution that while it can be great to take steps to ensure you’re getting a good night of rest, if it’s causing more harm than good to your sleep quality it might be time to take a step back from the sleep trackers.

Good sleep hygiene habits, including not using electronics in bed, keeping a regular nighttime schedule, and being mindful of how caffeine and alcohol may impact your rest, can all help you get a solid night of sleep.

Is a NASA Nap the Key to More Energy?

While trying to make your sleep a science may not be the best for consistent nightly rest, it could be the key to a restful nap.

NASA themselves have determined that a nap of just 26 minutes led to a 54% increase in alertness compared to no nap, while longer periods of rest led to a deeper state of rest that was harder to wake from, Bustle reported.

Some benefits of a NASA nap may include:

• Boost in creativity and memory

• Faster reaction time

• Lowered blood pressure

• And more

According to the Sleep Foundation, the perfect NASA nap session should be 32 minutes total — with 6 minutes to fall asleep and 26 minutes to actually rest.

Next time you need a boost of energy in the afternoon, consider a NASA nap and see if it helps increase your focus!

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How Sleep Can Impact Our Brain Age

Sleep not only helps us feel focused, well-rested, and prepared for the day ahead. Long-term, it’s also critical for our health and wellbeing.

Research also shows that inadequate sleep can also affect our brain age.

"Our study which used brain scans to determine participants' brain age, suggests that poor sleep is linked to nearly three years of additional brain aging as early as middle age,” study author Clémence Cavaillès, PhD, of the University of California San Francisco said.

The study followed people over a period of 15 years and identified their sleep habits through characteristics of poor sleep — including trouble falling or staying asleep, waking early, and more.

Researchers found that those who had two or more poor sleep characteristics had brain ages 1.6 to 2.6 years higher than those who had one or less characteristic of poor sleep.

Experts emphasized that sleep is not only important for our day-to-day functions — it plays a vital role in our lifetime mental and physical health, too!

From keeping a consistent bedtime to ensuring we have enough time to rest, make sleep a priority!

Parting Thoughts

• ✅ Did You Know: "Social jet lag" defines the difference between your body's internal clock and your daily schedule!

• 🎁 Our Holiday Self-Care Picks: Don’t forget to check out our 2024 gift guide, a collection of thoughtful, wellness-focused products that help you feel your best, inside and out. Shop our gift guide here!

• 🙋🏼‍♀️ Snapshot Of The Day: We'd love to see moments from our readers lives that they are proud of! If you recently accomplished an achievement, experienced a joyful moment, or are proud of a picture you have taken, be sure to capture it on camera and send it to us for a chance to be featured next week! 

• 💭 Final Self-Care Thoughts for Today: Consider how you could improve your relationship with sleep — whether it's taking a nap or getting a good night's rest.

Enjoying Note to Self?

Know of a great self-care tip or article you'd love to share with the community? Want to send us pictures of you completing one of your self-care rituals? Email us at care@readnotetoself.com!