TIPS: How to stay rested during the busy holiday season
The countdown to Christmas is on, which means that parties, gatherings, and other holiday festivities are coming your way.
It’s the perfect time to reconnect with loved ones, go on vacation, and enjoy delicious food and drinks. However, the festive fun can often lead to sleep deprivation, a condition that can negatively impact your health and well-being. Late-night parties and early-morning gift exchanges can drain your energy, leaving you feeling tired and sluggish. So, how do you address this?
Sleep deprivation during the holiday season
Dr. Deborah Bernardo, a neurologist and sleep specialist, said that holidays can disrupt sleep schedules as they affect our mood, change routine, and increase social activities.
“Activities such as parties or travel—along with the stress of planning for them—can make it difficult to fall asleep at normal hours. Additionally, feelings of loneliness may increase for individuals who are unable to celebrate the holidays due to family or work obligations, illness, or being far from loved ones, which can also lead to sleepless nights,” she told PhilSTAR L!fe, adding that this can lead to sleep deprivation and fatigue.
Bernardo also noted that consuming festive foods and drinks, especially those high in sugar, caffeine, and alcohol can also have adverse effects on one’s sleep quality.
This was echoed by Dr. Pearl Angeli Diamante, a neurologist who subspecializes in sleep medicine. She said eating heavy meals during dinner or two to three hours before bedtime would also cause difficulty in sleeping.
Diamante added that because holidays are the time to break from work or school, attending gatherings and traveling disrupts one’s daily routine.
“Our daily routine gets disrupted, including our sleep schedule. We tend to sleep later than usual as we try to catch up with our loved ones. We also wake up later than usual because we have no obligations to go to work or to school that day,” she told L!fe.
“For others, holidays mean vacation elsewhere. We try to make the most out of our time when we travel, hence sleep time might be unpredictable. This can also mean crossing multiple time zones in long-distance countries which can lead to jet lag,” she added.
Getting the right amount of sleep
Although it may seem like you have endless energy during the holidays, it's important to prioritize sleep to avoid the negative effects of sleep deprivation and ensure a truly restful and enjoyable vacation.
On holidays, Bernardo and Diamante suggest avoiding heavy meals and slowing down on alcohol and caffeine near your bedtime.
“Alcohol initially causes drowsiness, but after your body processes it, alcohol becomes a stimulant—leading to fragmented and non-restful sleep,” Bernardo said. If there are alcoholic drinks involved, she advises avoiding drinking at least an hour before your bedtime.
Caffeinated drinks, meanwhile, should be skipped in the afternoon as it can take up to eight hours to leave your system. Bernardo said to be wary of other sources of caffeine, such as in teas, soft drinks, and chocolates.
To set the mood for bedtime, Diamante also advises making your sleeping area as comfortable as possible by turning off lights, setting the temperature of the room based on your liking, and ensuring that the bed, pillows, and linen are comfortable to lie on.
Additionally, avoid using gadgets near your bedtime, Diamante explained that the blue lights emitted from the screens can inhibit the body's natural production of melatonin, a hormone that promotes sleep.
“Browsing in social media accounts can also make our mind more active, especially if we are reading gossip or something disturbing,” she said.
Adding blue lights, Bernardo said, is particularly concerning as it “has been shown to reduce the length of slow-wave sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep—two sleep stages that are crucial for optimal brain function.”
She further explained, “Research indicates that prolonged use of electronic devices, even during the daytime, can lead to shorter sleep duration, delayed sleep onset, and increased sleep deficiencies, particularly among teenagers.”
Lastly, Bernardo suggests waking up at your usual time, regardless of how much or how little sleep you got the night before, and getting at least 30 minutes of sunlight exposure after getting out of bed.
“Sleeping in after parties can disrupt your body clock, making it harder to fall asleep the following night,” she said. In case you feel sleepy during the day, Bernardo said to limit it to 20 minutes and be sure to wake up before 3 p.m.