Remember the 6-3-3 rule before going to sleep
According to health insurance treatment data released by the National Health Insurance Service, from 2018 to 2023, the number of patients who visited hospitals for sleep disorders due to inadequate sleep increased by over 30% to about 1.1 million. Notably, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistics show South Koreans have one of the lowest average sleep durations.
Professor Hwang Kyung Jin of Kyung Hee University Hospital’s Department of Neurology said on the 24th, “Since one-third of a person’s life is spent sleeping, sleep is a crucial process that alleviates mental and physical fatigue accumulated during the day and enhances cognitive functions like memory. If sleep quality decreases, it can disrupt the body’s rhythm, increase fatigue, and cause problems such as learning disabilities, safety accidents, decreased efficiency, and mood disorders during the daytime.”
Professor Hwang warned, “The amount of sleep that doesn’t interfere with daily life the next day can be considered an appropriate sleep duration. This varies from person to person, but generally, adults need 7-8 hours of sleep. Sleep is closely related to metabolic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. If sleep duration is short, the secretion of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, increases, leading to weight gain, abdominal obesity, and even developing into metabolic diseases.”
Sleep disorders cannot be judged solely by the average sleep duration. It’s not a big problem as long as it doesn’t affect daily life the next day.
According to the World Sleep Society, people who can maintain their daily lives even with less than 5 hours of sleep are called short sleepers, and those who need to sleep more than 10 hours are called long sleepers.
Professor Hwang advised, “Forcing yourself to sleep to improve the quality of sleep can increase stress and anxiety, triggering and worsening insomnia. If you can’t fall asleep within 20-30 minutes after lying down, leaving the bed is recommended. It is better to wait for sleep to come naturally while reducing ambient light and engaging in reading, meditation, or music to ease tension.”
If you can’t get enough sleep on weekdays, it’s good to make up for it on weekends. However, there are principles to this weekend’s sleep compensation. Go to bed at a similar time as usual, but do not exceed the total sleep time by more than 2 hours. Sleeping too much on weekends can disrupt nighttime sleep, affecting the next day’s sleep, disrupt sleep patterns, and weaken immunity.
Professor Hwang suggested, “To improve the quality of sleep, it’s recommended to maintain the same sleep and wake-up times every day, exercise 6 hours before sleep, and eat 3 hours before. Drinking alcohol might help you fall asleep faster, but it prevents deep sleep and often causes tossing and turning, potentially causing insomnia. It is better to avoid alcohol, and limiting caffeinated drinks to about one per day is advisable.”
Also, it’s recommended to limit smartphone use to at least 3 hours before sleep. The blue light emitted from the screen suppresses melatonin production and delays the overall sleep rhythm, prolonging the time it takes to fall asleep.
Professor Hwang emphasized, “Generally, symptoms disappear within two weeks, but if fatigue continues beyond that or extreme fatigue and severe sleepiness that affect daily activities occur, it is necessary to suspect a sleep disorder rather than just seasonal lethargy.”
