Episode 13

Happiness Consists of Getting Enough Sleep

Hello dear listeners of the Comprehensible Australian Podcast. Hello, good morning, good evening, good afternoon. How are you today? My name is Josh and I am your host. I'm your host.

Sorry, excuse me, I'm a bit tired because it's almost my bedtime. My bedtime is 10pm and it is now 9.15pm in the evening. It's already dark outside and that is a hint about today's episode. Did you guess it? Maybe from the title? Yes, this episode is about sleep.

Happiness consists of getting enough sleep. I'll repeat. Happiness consists of getting enough sleep. End quote. This is a quote from an anonymous author, but I think it really speaks to the truth. If we don't get enough sleep, we are not very happy.

It's quite difficult to work and read and learn and study if you don't get enough sleep. Now, I usually get nine hours of sleep. My bedtime is 10 pm, and I wake up at around 7 am in the morning. So, I get nine hours of sleep, and this is very good. Some people only get about five hours of sleep, and this is not so good. So today we're going to discuss why people get bad sleep, why people get poor sleep.

Reason number one, technology. You use technology before you go to bed. Well, this is exactly what I'm doing. I'm recording a podcast, I'm looking at a computer screen. I'm using a program on my computer called Adobe Audition. So maybe tonight I won't get very good sleep, but this is one reason why people get poor quality sleep. It's because they use screens, devices and gadgets before they go to sleep. For example, they use their phone and the phone light is very bright. And this keeps us awake for longer. It's harder to fall asleep. It's more difficult to fall asleep. I think the reason this is true is because when we have blue light that comes from our screens, this blue light tells our brain that we should be awake. And this is not good because it's going to produce hormones that keep us awake at night. So if you want to get good quality sleep, try to not look at your phone or TV or a computer one hour before you go to sleep.

Another reason is that you take naps during the day. If you take naps during the day, you're not going to be tired near your bedtime. If you're not tired, you simply cannot sleep and you'll just be tossing and turning in bed. Tossing and turning, this is where you lie on one side and then you lie on the other side. You are in bed on the left and then you go to the right because you can't sleep and then you go to the left because you can't sleep. This is tossing and turning. In fact, not last night but the night before. I couldn't sleep and I think it's because I drank coffee at about 2 pm, 3 pm in the afternoon and I could not sleep at all. I was tossing and turning all night. Also it was very hot and that made it very difficult for me to sleep. All in all, I got two hours of sleep that night so it was really bad. I got really bad sleep.

And that leads to reason number three, why you don't get good sleep. Too much caffeine. Caffeine obviously keeps us awake at night. Caffeine is in many drinks like tea, coffee, and some energy drinks. Some popular energy drinks in Australia are V, Red Bull, and Monster, and these drinks are designed to keep you awake so that you don't fall asleep. It is advised by health professionals to not drink caffeine after 12 p.m. or at least not at night. I know that when I drink caffeinated drinks like tea or coffee in the evening or in the afternoon, I know that I will not be getting good quality sleep that night. So if you can't sleep try not drinking caffeinated drinks in the afternoon or evening, only in the morning.

Reason number four, you work in your bedroom. After the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have asked or allowed their employees to work from home. Maybe you work from home. I work from home. I teach from home and I record my podcast from home. So that means that my bedroom is actually my office and this is bad. Why is this bad? This is bad because when you work, when we go to sleep in your bedroom, your brain will be busy thinking about work when you go to sleep. It's really important that you divide your personal life and your professional life. You must keep them separate for your health, otherwise, you won't get good quality sleep.

Now there are other reasons why you may get poor quality sleep or find it difficult to sleep at all. Maybe you have health problems and these tricks and tips won't actually work. So if you try these tips and tricks and you still can't sleep, then it's time to go to the doctor. So sleep is so, so important. I know that when I taught in a classroom in Melbourne and Darwin in Australia, many of my students did not get enough sleep. And this is because they stayed up late working or, you know, people are people and they stay on their phones. I do this to TikTok. Yes, I'm in Generation Z. Gen Z, I'm a Gen Z-er. And yes, I have used TikTok many times up until 3am in the morning, so I understand why my students find it difficult to go to sleep. But these students really, really struggled in class. So if you can, please try to get good quality sleep.

Follow these tips that I've given you and you will do better at English in your English class. Okay, so this was a short episode for today. I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. Maybe you learned something new; maybe you learned some new vocabulary, some new grammar, or a new English expression. I'm not sure. Or maybe it was just some listening practice, or maybe you just enjoyed the sound of my voice, I'm not sure. Okay.

So this is the end of today's podcast about sleep. I'll see you next time, bye. Bye.