That's because, according to top sleep experts, everyone has a distinct "sleep personality," based on how, when, and even where he or she sleeps.
The nighttime nuances are categorized into seven distinct sleep personalities that can shed light on who we are in the dark. Keep in mind that who you are when you are asleep—your sleep personality—affects who you are when you are awake. The way you sleep can affect many aspects of your life, including your productivity at work, your overall mood, your health, and even your interactions with your family.
Your sleep personality can change by instilling a few healthy habits into your daily life, experts say. So, if you don't like who you are in the dark, you can wake up to a new nighttime "you." You just need to take some important steps to better sleeping behaviors.
Eight-Hour Ed
Ed sleeps a full night and wakes up each morning feeling rested and relaxed. Ed also knows how much he needs to sleep in order to achieve maximum productivity during the day. Ed understands that sleep is good for you, and is proud of the amount of sleep he gets. Ideally, everyone should strive to be an Eight-Hour Ed sleep personality.Toss-and-Turn Ted
Ted tosses and turns in bed, and often wakes in the middle of the night worried about tasks that need to be accomplished in the day to come. Because he doesn't sleep well, he's very tired in the morning. Experts recommend that Ted should make sure his bedroom environment is conducive to restful, restorative, and relaxing sleep. The room should be cool, dark, and quiet, with a good-quality mattress and pillow. Also, Ted should make sure he doesn't use the bedroom for other typically stressful activities.Napping Nancy
Nancy knows that naps aren't just for kids, and has made it a habit to take a small cat nap every afternoon. Napping is fine as long as it is a consistent habit and the nap is around 15 minutes. The key to successful napping in a sleep cycle is to make it a routine. Keep in mind that napping doesn't take the place of nocturnal sleep—it's merely a tool to make it through drowsy periods of your day.Midnight Mary/Early-Bird Earl
Earl is an early, 5 a.m. riser, while Mary is a night owl who never goes to bed before midnight. Both are fine, experts say, as long as they remember that most people need at least eight hours of sleep. The key to odd-hour sleeping is to make sure that Mary and Earl know how much sleep their bodies need to perform at an optimal level. Again, consistency is key.Sunday Sue
Sue tries to make up for lost sleep during the week by sleeping in late on Saturday and Sunday mornings, which can give her Sunday night insomnia and leave her feeling tired for her Monday morning routine. Sue needs to focus on the quality of sleep she is getting. Fragmented blocks of sleep are not as effective as one continuous block. Consistent sleep would allow Sue to enter the deeper, more restorative sleep phases, so she wakes up renewed and refreshed.Sleep-Starved Steve
Steve is always so busy with work and making time for friends and family that he sacrifices much-needed sleep. The important thing to keep in mind is that if you put off sleep, like Steve does, you must make it up in order to return to a fully restful state—and you must avoid becoming Sunday Sue, who plays catch-up on the weekend only to throw off her sleep schedule by Monday.Under-the-Weather Heather
Heather is sick and can't fall asleep because she's coughing and sneezing. In the morning, Heather is groggy and dazed. It's one thing to be sick—it's another thing to be sick and tired. Sleep is healing and restorative, so it's important to make restful sleep a priority, especially when you're sick or starting to feel illness coming on.No matter what your sleep personality, everyone has experienced a bout of Under-the-Weather Heather. While many people need to adjust schedules, routines, and attitudes in order to get a good night's sleep, Under-the-Weather Heather has a simple solution: using a trusted multi-symptom cold and flu remedy, such as NyQuil®, that's formulated for nighttime use.
By alleviating cold and flu symptoms such as coughing and sneezing, nasal congestion, fever, and headache, a product such as NyQuil can help cold and flu sufferers get the sleep they need to feel better.
