How to Sleep Less and Stay Healthy
如何减少睡眠却保持健康
How much sleep do we really need? Of course it's very personal, but “seven to eight hours should be enough” is what we keep hearing from most sources. But is it possible to shorten this time, without hurting your health?
我们需要多久的睡眠时间？每个人都会有不同的需求，不过“最好保证7~8小时的睡眠时间”想必大家是经常听到的。但有没有可能在不影响健康的情况下减少睡眠？
Indeed, sufficient sleep time is important for your body to function well during the day. Sleep helps your body to recover from illness, minimizes the effect of stress, increases ability to concentrate, and improves memory and coordination.
睡眠对我们的身体机能是非常重要，它能够使全身放松、恢复体力、减轻压力、使注意力能保持集中和增强记忆力与协调力。
The good news is that it is possible to shorten sleep time by up to 1 hour without the risk of sleep deprivation if you understand and follow these two simple rules.
这儿有个好消息，如果你能理解并遵循以下几条简单法则，在不影响睡眠的情况下，减少1小时睡眠时间仍然是可能的。
Rule 1. It's not just the quantity of sleep that counts, but also the quality.
法则一：不仅仅是睡眠的长短，更重要的是睡眠质量。
Everyone has woken up after 10 hours sleep and felt fatigue, as well as getting up after 6 hours of sleep feeling completely refreshed and rested. There are many factors that may influence how long you need to sleep to feel rested, but the rule is simple. The higher is the quality of your sleep, the smaller amount of sleep time you need. This is the first recipe in shortening your sleep time. It seems to be logical, but how you can improve the quality of your sleep? There are a number of ways to do it but the most practical are:
很多人在睡了10个小时起床，仍然觉得疲倦；而有些人只需要六个小时的睡眠，便可以重新精神焕发。这是因为除了睡眠的长短的影响外，睡眠的质量对健康也有着不可估量的影响。若你的睡眠质量越高，那你需要的睡眠的时间也就可以少一些。所以提高你的睡眠质量，便是缩短你的睡眠质量的第一条秘方。听上去很合乎逻辑，但如果提高睡眠质量呢？这里有几条方法帮助你如何提高睡眠质量：
Do not eat before going to bed (at least 2 hours before sleep time).
不要在睡前吃东西（至少不要在睡觉前2小时内）
Sleep in dark, quiet room.
不要开灯睡觉，尽量在黑暗的房间里睡觉。
Sleep with fresh air (open windows or get air refresher).
睡觉时要有新鲜空气（开窗或使用空气净化器）
Exercise during the day. If you don't exercise, go for a 15 minutes walk before the sleep time.
每天坚持锻炼。如果你没有锻炼，坚持15分钟的晚间散步。
Do not watch TV in the bed before going to sleep. Read a book, take a bath, do something relaxing.
不要在睡觉前在床上看电视。读读书、冲冲凉、干些放松心情的事情。
Don't drink coffee or other stimulants within 6 hours of bed time.
在睡觉前6小时内，避免喝咖啡或刺激性饮料。
Don't take long naps (more than 30 mins) during the day.
白天时，不要打盹超过30分钟。
Follow these simple tips and within one or two weeks you will notice how your sleep starts improving.
使用这些方法，坚持一二个星期，你就会注意到自己的睡眠质量会慢慢提高的。
Rule 2. Any habit can be changed, slowly
法则二：任何习惯都是可以慢慢改变的。
There is an old African proverb. “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” The same is true for changing your sleep habits. When do you go to sleep, how long you sleep, where you sleep –- it's all part of the sleeping pattern that your body is accustomed to. Like any habit, it can be changed by taking small but regular steps.
有这么一句非洲谚语：“怎样吃掉一头大象？一次一小口。”对于习惯上的改变来说，这个道理也是非常正确的。什么时候睡觉、睡眠时间有多久、在哪儿睡觉？这些都是一些你已经习惯了的睡眠模式。就像任何习惯，你是可以慢慢改变的。
Start waking up 5 minutes earlier every 2-3 days. In one week, you'll be waking up 15 minutes earlier. In one month, you'll be waking up 1 hour earlier! To make it even easier, you can take slower steps and extend your experiment for 2 or 3 months by shifting your sleep time by 5 minutes a week. To succeed in this experiment, you should try and go to bed at about the same time every day. It requires discipline, but result is well worth it.
开始每2～3天就提前5分钟起床。一个星期后，你就可以提前15分钟起床了；一个月后，你就可以提前1小时起床了！希望更早的起床，你可以慢慢地通过每周提前5分钟，坚持二三个月。习惯培养后，你仍然需要坚持这个作息规律，按时睡觉。这样做当然需要自律，但最终的效果很值得你这样去做。
As you start sleeping less and less, it's crucial to remember and follow the first rule about quality sleep. This is your only way to compensate for less sleep.
当你睡眠逐渐变短，上一条提到的睡眠质量就变得至关重要，只有提高睡眠质量才能补偿你因为少睡带来的健康上的影响。
出处：老张侃英语博客 翻译：弥缝
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