Quality sleep impacts performance profoundly,” says Christopher Winter, a neurologist and sleep consultant to many professional sports teams, including the San Francisco Giants and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Frequent travel across time zones turns their players into what Winter calls “glorified, overpaid shift workers” who are particularly vulnerable to the repercussions of being chronically tired. Winter studied Major League Baseball players and found that 86 percent of those who reported the highest levels of drowsiness were no longer in the league two years later.
Everyone, whether hulking offensive linemen or third graders, needs a set wake-up time, Winter says. That time will depend in part on the proclivities of your circadian clock, or what scientists call your chronotype (are you a morning person or a night owl?). To figure out how much sleep you need to feel alert, work backward from that wake-up to find a suitable bedtime.
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A version of this article appears in print on May 17, 2015, on page MM25 of the Sunday Magazine with the headline: How to Fall Asleep. Today's Paper|Subscribe
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