睡个好觉真的很重要：如何提高睡眠质量

Sleep is essential if you want to live a healthy and happy life. But what happens if you live a hectic life which prevents you from getting your 8 hours? That's when sleep quality over quantity comes into play.
如果你想过一种健康幸福的生活，睡个好觉是必不可少的。如果繁忙的生活不能让你睡足8小时，那要怎么办？在这个时候，相比睡眠时间长短，睡眠质量就更为重要了。

To make up for lost hours of sleep you must improve your sleep quality in the following ways:
为了弥补失去的睡眠时间，你必须要在以下方面提高你的睡眠质量：

1. Do Some Light Reading Instead Of Watching TV
做一些轻松阅读而不是看电视

Over 50% of America switch on the TV before they go to bed. TV disturbs your natural sleep habits by making you stay up longer than you usually would, especially if you are watching something of a violent or exciting nature.
超过50%的美国人在上床睡觉前会打开电视。在夜里看电视会让你睡得比平时晚，于是影响了你的自然睡眠习惯，特别是如果你观看的是暴力或惊心动魄的场面。

TV also disrupts the natural release of melatonin in the body, melatonin is responsible for regulating sleep cycles and helping you fall asleep at night. The human body is naturally accustomed to feel drowsy when the sun goes down and when it starts to get dark. By switching on the TV you fool your body into thinking it's still daytime, this is caused by the huge backlight in the TV.
电视也会扰乱体内褪黑激素的自然释放，褪黑激素具有调节睡眠周期及在晚上助你入眠的作用。当太阳落下，天色开始变暗，人体自然而然会昏昏欲睡。打开电视，你会让你的身体误以为仍然是白天，这是由电视里的巨大背光造成的。

Instead of switching on the TV read a book, but make sure it's a hard copy not an ebook, as most e-readers have strong backlights. Light reading before bed can help you fall into a deep sleep quickly.
选择看书而不是打开电视，但一定要是纸质书，不是电子书，因为大多数电子阅读器有强烈的背光。睡觉前的放松阅读可以帮助你快速进入深度睡眠。

2. Avoid Caffeine 6 Hours Before You Sleep
睡觉前6小时内避开咖啡因的摄入

Having a cup of coffee within a few hours of bed time can have you tossing and turning for hours when your trying to sleep. Coffee isn't the only caffeine containing product, avoid chocolate, tea, pre-workout supplements and soda.
在睡前几小时内喝一杯咖啡会在你想入睡时让你辗转反侧数小时。咖啡并不是唯一含咖啡因的产品，请避免喝巧克力、茶、运动前补充饮料和汽水。

3. Create A Sleep Inducing Environment
创造一个有助睡眠的环境

Turn your bedroom into a sleep inducing chamber, turn the temperature down, install proper curtains which block out the light, and if noise is a problem use earplugs. Don't keep pets in the bedroom if they tend to wake you up during the night.
把你的卧室装饰成有助睡眠的环境，调低温度，安装合适的窗帘以遮挡光线，如果还有噪音，就戴上耳塞。如果宠物常在夜间吵醒你，那就不要把宠物留在卧室里。

You can help your brain associate your bedroom with sleep by using your bedroom solely for sleep and sex. Doing work and watching TV in your bedroom can lead to a non-sleep association with your bedroom and you may find it difficult to fall asleep.
你的卧室只作为睡眠和性爱的房间，这可以帮助你的大脑把卧室和睡眠联系起来。在你的卧室工作和看电视，会让你无法把睡眠和卧室联系起来，你会发现很难入睡。

4. Meditate
冥想

Clear your mind by meditating 15-20 minutes before you hit the sack. Mediation helps reduce stress and may even reduce cortisol levels. The main cause of long sleepless nights is stress, so get 15-20 minutes of meditation before your head hits the pillow.
在你一头扎进枕头前，通过冥想15到20分钟来清空你的大脑。冥想可以帮助减少压力，甚至可以降低皮质醇水平。造成夜里长时间无法入睡的主要原因是压力，所以在一头扎进枕头之前，冥想15到20分钟。