You're tired. You could put your head down on a desk right now and fall asleep immediately. You went to bed late last night, had trouble falling asleep and woke up too early. And let's not kid ourselves: Tonight will be the same unless ... well, read on.

    This is the classic not-so-shut-eye experience of many Americans who think they are sleep-deprived and possibly need pills or other treatment to fix their insomnia, teeth grinding, jet lag, restless or jerky legs, snoring, sleepwalking and so forth.

    Reality is quite different.

    For instance, insomnia is said to be the most common sleep disorder, but these dissatisfying sleep experiences only get in the way of daily activities for 10 percent of us, according to the National Institutes of health. And in almost half of those cases, the real underlying problem is illness (often mental) or the effects of a substance, like Coffee or medication.

    Here are five recent findings that might help you rest easier:

    1. We sleep better than we think we do

    For most of us, sleep deprivation is a myth. We're not zombies. The non-profit National Sleep Foundation (which takes money from the sleep-aid industry, including drug companies that make sleeping pills) says the average U.S. resident gets 7 hours a night and that's not enough, but a University of Maryland study earlier this year shows we typically get 8 hours and are doing fine. In fact, Americans get just as much sleep nowadays as they did 40 years ago, the study found.

    2. We need less sleep as we age

    We'll die without sleep. The details are sketchy, but research suggests it's a time when we restore vital biological processes and also sort and cement memories. Last year, the World health Organization determined that nightshift work, which can lead to sleep troubles, is a probable human carcinogen. On the upside, the latest research suggests we need less of it as we get older.

    3. You can sleep like a baby (or Thomas Edison)

    Multiple, shorter sleep sessions nightly, rather than one long one, are an option. So-called polyphasic sleep is seen in babies, the elderly and other animals (and Thomas Edison reportedly slept this way). For the rest of us, it is more realistic and healthy to sleep at night as best we can and then take naps as needed. EEGs show that we are biphasic sleepers with two alertness dips — one at night time and one mid-day. So talk to HR about setting up a nap room, like they have for NASA's Phoenix mission team members.

    4. Animals exhibit a range of sleep habits

    The three-toed sloth sleeps 9.6 hours nightly. But newborn dolphins and killer whales can forgo sleeping for their entire first month. However, the latter extreme is not recommended for humans. We grow irritable and lose our ability to focus and make decisions after even one night of missed sleep, and that can lead to serious accidents driving and using other machinery.

    5. Get used to being tired, hit the desk

    The bottom line is that a good night's sleep is within the reach of most of us if we follow common-sense guidelines for sleep hygiene:

    * Go to bed at the same time nightly.

    * Set aside enough time to hit that golden 7 hours of sleep.

    * Refrain from caffeine, heavy or spicy foods, and alcohol and other optional medications that might keep you awake, four to six hours before bed-time.

    * Have a pre-sleep routine so you wind down before you hop in.

    * Block out distracting lights and noises.

    * Only engage in sleep and sex in bed (no TV-watching, reading or eating).

    * Exercise regularly but not right before bed.

    But you already know all this and you don't do it. So your realistic plan might be to surrender to the mid-day desk nap.

    現(xiàn)在你很累了，你可以立刻將你的頭放在桌上并立即入睡。昨晚你很晚才入睡吧，睡眠質量不好而且很早就醒來。請不要欺騙我們自己：今晚也將是一個不眠之夜，除非……，那么，請往下看。

    這是許多美國人典型的輾轉反側的不眠之夜，他們的睡眠被剝奪了，并很可能需要安眠藥或其它療法來治療失眠、磨牙、時差反映、焦慮煩燥或腿抽筋、打鼾、夢游等等。

    事實與你的想像完全不同。

    例如，失眠是最常見的睡眠障礙，根據(jù)美國衛(wèi)生研究院的研究，這些睡眠障礙經(jīng)歷真正影響到正常生活的只占人口的10%而己。而這些病例中超過半數(shù)的根本病因是疾病（通常為精神疾病）或是受一些物質的影響，比如咖啡或藥物。

    現(xiàn)有五項最近的研究結果可以幫助你更容易的入睡：

    1. 我們的睡眠質量，比我們所想像的要好。

    對大多數(shù)人來說，睡眠障礙是一個神話。我們不是zombies。一家非贏利性質的國家睡眠基金（是那種從輔助睡眠企業(yè)，包括生產安眠藥的公司拿錢的基金）稱美國居民平均7小時的睡眠時間是不夠的，但馬里蘭大學在今年年初的研究結果表明，我們標準的8小時睡眠時間會更好。事實上，研究表明，美國人現(xiàn)在的睡眠時間和四十年前的一樣多。

    2. 隨著年齡的增長，我們的睡眠時間越來越少

    不睡覺我們會死。詳情略去不說，但研究結果表明，使我們恢復精力的重要的生物過程，也就是使我們的記憶得到整事收集鞏固的過程。去年，世界衛(wèi)生組織確定，夜間工作會導致睡眠障礙，這可能是致癌的一個原因。另一方面來說，最新的研究結果建議我們隨著年齡的增長，減少我們的睡眠時間。

    3. 你可以像嬰兒一樣熟睡（或托馬斯·愛迪生）

    你可以選擇整晚頻繁短暫的睡眠，也可以選擇整晚長時間的睡眠。所謂的多相睡眠只存在于嬰兒、老年人和其它動物中（據(jù)報道托馬斯·愛迪生也是這種睡眠方式）。對于我們來說，更為實際和健康的最好方式是可以在夜間睡覺，并在需要時小睡一會。EEGs顯示，作為兩階段睡眠者的我們，每天確實有兩個時段警惕性會下降 - 一個時段是晚上，另一個時段是中午。因此和人力資源部談談關于設立一間午睡室的建議，就像NASA為鳳凰號航天員所設的午睡間一樣。

    4. 動物所展示的睡眠習慣

    三趾樹獺每晚要睡9.6個小時。但新生的海豚和虎鯨在它們出生的第一個月可以整個月不睡覺。當然，后者不睡覺的極端行為不推薦人類采用。即便只有一個晚上沒有睡覺，我們也會變得易怒，精神不集中，以及猶豫不決，這會導致駕或使用其它機械時的嚴重事故。

    5. 變成了習慣的伏案而睡

    在調查中發(fā)現(xiàn)，在晚上睡個好覺是我們中大多數(shù)人的底線，如果我們遵循以下睡眠健康的指導，就可以有良好的睡眠：

    每晚都在同一時間睡覺。 

    有足夠的時間睡足7個小時的黃金睡眠。 

    在睡覺前4至6個小時中，避免食用含有咖啡因，味道濃重或辛辣食物，以及避免飲酒和其它會讓你睡不著的藥物。 

    在劇烈運動后，睡前先讓自己平靜下來。 

    減少擾人的燈光和噪音。 

    在床上只睡覺和做愛（不看電視，不看書或吃東西）。 

    經(jīng)常鍛煉，但別在上床前鍛煉。

    即使你己經(jīng)明白了這一切，可你不一定做得到。那么你的實際計劃就要著眼于午間在桌面上小睡一會了。