Every day, millions of travelers struggle against one of the most common sleep disorders — jet lag. For years, jet lag was considered merely a state of mind. Now, studies have shown that the condition actually results from an imbalance in our body’s natural “biological clock” caused by traveling to different time zones. Basically, our bodies work on a 24-hour cycle called “circadian rhythms.” These rhythms are measured by the distinct rise and fall of body temperature, plasma levels of certain hormones and other biological conditions. All of these are influenced by our exposure to sunlight and help determine when we sleep and when we wake.

When traveling to a new time zone, our circadian rhythms are slow to adjust and remain on their original biological schedule for several days. This results in our bodies telling us it is time to sleep, when it’s actually the middle of the afternoon, or it makes us want to stay awake when it is late at night. This experience is known as jet lag.

Some simple behavioral adjustments before, during and after arrival at your destination can help minimize some of the side effects of jet lag.

• Select a flight that allows early evening arrival and stay up until 10 p.m. local time. (If you must sleep during the day, take a short nap in the early afternoon, but no longer than 30 minutes. Set an alarm to be sure not to over sleep.)
• Anticipate the time change for trips by getting up and going to bed earlier several days prior to an eastward trip and later for a westward trip.
• Upon boarding the plane, change your watch to the destination time zone.
• Avoid alcohol or caffeine at least three to four hours before bedtime. Both act as “stimulants” and prevent sleep.
• Upon arrival at a destination, avoid heavy meals (a snack—not chocolate—is okay).
• Avoid any heavy exercise close to bedtime. (Light exercise earlier in the day is fine.)
• Bring earplugs and blindfolds to help dampen noise and block out unwanted light while sleeping.
• Try to get outside in the sunlight whenever possible. Daylight is a powerful stimulant for regulating the biological clock. (Staying indoors worsens jet lag.)
• Contrary to popular belief, the type of foods we eat have no effect on minimizing jet lag.

According to experts, stress or the potential for stress is another problem that can lead to sleeplessness. Two common travel related stress conditions are the “First Night Effect” and the “On-Call Effect.” The first condition occurs when trying to sleep in a new or unfamiliar environment. The second is caused by the nagging worry that something just might wake you up, such as the possibility of a phone ringing, hallway noise or another disruption.

Try these tips on you next trip to help avoid travel-related stress and subsequent sleeplessness.

• Check with the hotel to see if voice mail services are available to guests. Then, whenever possible, have your calls handled by the service.
• Check your room for potential sleep disturbances that may be avoided; e.g., light shining through the drapes, unwanted in-room noise, etc.
• Utilize music, ambient noise machines, or even better “Sleep Recordings” in the hotel room to create a familiar pattern for sleep.
• Request two wake-up calls in case you miss the first one.

The National Sleep Foundation has recently posted an article on the connection between sleep and creativity. Speed Sleep is designed to provide an added benefit of increased creative problem solving abilities. The research supports the impact at the REM sleep levels that are achieved by using Speed Sleep. Here is some info from their findings:

Whenever you’re facing a problem or tough decision, you might get the following advice from a friend: “Sleep on it.” According to new findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that might not be a bad idea. Researchers from the University of California San Diego have found that Rapid Eye Movement (REM) or “active” sleep may assist the brain in forming connections between unrelated ideas, a method of creative problem solving. Participants in the study were shown three words and asked to find a fourth that could be associated with the other words. They were tested in the morning and also in the afternoon after a nap — some groups with and some without REM sleep. Researchers found that the REM sleep group’s performance improved by almost 40 percent compared with their morning testing. Study author Sara Mednick said in a statement, “We found that — for creative problems that you’ve already been
working on — the passage of time is enough to find solutions; however, for new problems, only REM sleep enhances creativity.”

Better sleeping has so many benefits that you might doze off trying to read through them all.  But one of the benefits that may seem counter-intuitive is the increase in productivity.  Americans often bring their work home with them or stay late at the office, which cuts into their sleeping hours.
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Farmers in Canada are experiencing sleeping problems due to stress brought on by the economy.  Farmers especially need to get the designated seven to eight hours of sleep because their job requirements are more demanding than most occupations.
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The New Year is right around the corner and neutralizing a potentially harmful sleeping problem should be at the top of many people’s resolution list.  A recent study conducted in Canada showed that people with the REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD) can develop serious neurological diseases such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
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A recent article in the New York Times covers a recent sleep study that revealed something the Speed Sleep team is already well aware of - that taking a quick power nap is a much more effective way to combat fatigue and sleep problems than reaching for a cup of coffee or another caffeinated beverage.
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How many times have you skipped going to the gym in favor of sleeping in?  Chances are it has happened more than once, especially if you have sleeping problems - but if you start to pay attention to the quality of your sleep, the likelihood of missing workouts in order to catch some extra zzz’s will certainly decrease. 
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Learning quickly is an essential skill for success in school, business and life. To be able to pick up new skills and information and put them into use quickly makes adapting and growing easier in any field. These days, more and more studies are proving that a good night’s rest is one of the most important needs to be able to learn rapidly.
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As always, here are our favorite sleep related articles and blog posts this week:

Calorie Lab discusses how sleep and sleep drugs affect weight gain.
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We at Speed Sleep know that 7-8 hours of sleep a night is the minimum amount you need to be fully functional all day. We also know that most people don’t get that much. Even with the shortened amount of time it takes to fall alseep with the assistance of our sleep aids, the time that adults in our culture have to dedicate to nighttime rest is limited. That’s why afternoon naps are essential, if you can find a way to take them.
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