Your hour by hour guide to getting the best nights sleep

Eight hours of nightly sleep might seem like an unattainable dream.Experts generally recommend seven to nine hours of slumber for better physical, cognitive and emotional health, but over 35% of US adults don’t consistently log that much time in Snoozeville.Instead of focusing on the time you spend in bed staring at the ceiling, you should prioritize the hours leading up to lights out.“High-quality sleep is not an isolated nighttime event but the culmination of circadian alignment, behavioral timing and environmental control across the entire day,” Dr.Samir Fahmy, director of the Sleep Disorder Center at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, told The Post.“For clinicians and patients alike, the emphasis should shift from ‘how to sleep better at night’ to ‘how to structure your day to optimize sleep,'” he added.Fahmy has devised an hour-by-hour guide for better sleep that emphasizes disciplined alignment with your internal clock rather than trendy sleep hacks.First, you need to wake up at the same time every day — even, unfortunately, on weekends — to keep your 24-hour biological clock on track.“Variability as little as one to two hours can shift melatonin onset and impair sleep efficiency,” Fahmy said.Melatonin is a hormone the body naturally produces to regulate the sleep-wake cycle.

Levels rise in the evening and tend to peak between 2 and 4 a.m., to facilitate deep, restorative sleep.Once you’re awake, you should seek natural light within 30 to 60 minutes.“Morning light suppresses residual melatonin and anchors circadian phase, advancing the timing of the sleep-wake cycle,” Fahmy explained.“Outdoor light (even on cloudy days) is significantly more intense than indoor lighting and has been shown to improve sleep onset latency and mood regulation.”If you love coffee, now is the time to fill ‘er up.

Caffeine keeps you alert by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain, and it can disrupt sleep if consumed too late.“Given...