3. PUT THIS BAD HABIT TO BED: Using bright lights at night. After dinner, lowering the lights in your home can help your body gradually slide toward sleep. If you wake up to go to the bathroom during the night, do not turn on any lights. They’ll immediately signal your brain that it’s time to get ready for the day and make it difficult to get back to sleep. Instead, use a dim nightlight or a thumb-size blue-light flashlight.

What the sleep researchers say: Before artificial lighting became common, darkness signaled the pineal gland to secrete melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone. When we live with bright lights and 48-inch TV screens, our bodies can lose track of when it’s time for sleep.

POWER NAPPERS MAY LIVE LONGER. Research

shows that a 30-minute nap in the afternoon may
provide numerous health
benefits, including lowering
stress hormones and
inflammation, plus increas-
ing mental sharpness.
Another bonus: One study
found that men who regu-
larly nap have a lower risk
of heart attack.

PHOTOS, TOP TO BOT TOM: MICHELLE CONSTANINI/GE T T Y IMAGES; R YAN MCVAY/GET T Y IMAGES

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While we Americans average less than

7 hours of sleep a night, our pets do much

better: Dogs log 12 to 14 hours of sleep,

while cats snooze about 15 hours a day.