Writing a to-do list may help you sleep faster
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The reading
Scientists have an idea that could help us get to sleep faster. All you need is a pen and paper. The scientists are from Baylor University in Texas, USA. They did research into how we can fall asleep more quickly. They found that writing a to-do list helps people get to sleep faster. Doctor Michael K. Scullin was the lead researcher of the study. He said to-do lists make us relax because we don't need to worry about the things we have to do. He said that if we write down the things we need to do, we can forget about them, so we become calmer. He added: "We live in a 24/7 culture in which our to-do lists seem to be constantly growing and causing us to worry about unfinished tasks at bedtime."
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The researchers looked at the sleeping patterns of 57 male and female university students aged between 18 and 30. Half of them had to write down a to-do list five minutes before they slept. They had to turn the lights out by 10:30pm and could not have access to technology. The researchers found that the participants who wrote to-do lists fell asleep an average of 9 minutes faster than those who didn't. They also found that the students who wrote really detailed lists fell asleep faster than students who wrote simple, general lists. The USA's National Sleep Foundation said that around 40 per cent of American adults have difficulty falling asleep at least a few times each month.
Sources:
- https://www.aol.com/article/lifestyle/2018/01/13/writing-a-to-do-list-may-help-you-sleep-faster-study-says/23332682/
- https://psychcentral.com/news/2018/01/13/writing-a-to-do-list-may-help-you-fall-asleep/131170.html
- https://www.livescience.com/61422-journal-writing-sleep-better.html
