10-3-2-1-0 sleep method to guarantee a good night’s rest

Sleep patterns will be disrupted this weekend thanks to the end of daylight saving time early Sunday morning, when clocks will be turned back by one hour.

Adults should be tucking themselves in for at least seven hours of shut-eye a night, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but it seems many are not getting that. Even if they are, it’s not consistent.

Struggling to slumber can affect physical and mental health, so researchers have devised a number of practices to help people fall and stay asleep.

To help those tossing and turning, Dr. Jess Andrade touts the 10-3-2-1-0 sleep method.

She notes that the advice is “not intended for everyone based on medical history” and recommends consulting with a doctor about sleep concerns.

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Finish consuming caffeine about 10 hours before bedtime — think twice before ordering that espresso martini and double-check the tea you plan to have before bed.

“Caffeinated drinks will clear from the bloodstream in around 10 hours and eliminate the stimulatory effects,” Andrade explains in the caption of her Instagram clip.

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“Finishing eating big meals or [drinking] alcohol three hours before can help reduce symptoms of reflux, and alcohol impairs your natural sleep cycle, reducing good quality sleep,” reasoned Andrade, a sports medicine physician in Massachusetts.

Experts have noted that while eating too late in the day can hinder your sleep, so can going to bed starving, so monitoring portion control and the foods you eat before bed is critical.

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Trying to force yourself to fall asleep immediately doesn’t usually lead to longer rest — it can actually cause anxiety and make things worse.

Experts recommend creating a wind-down routine to decompress and allow your body and mind to fall into a tranquil state, which will allow for deeper sleep.

Andrade advises spending the last two hours of the night attempting to “relax the brain and write down all tasks for the next day and give your brain a mental rest.”

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Health experts have determined that late-night screen time is a primary cause of social jet lag — the difference between our body’s natural sleep needs (or chronotype) and the time that social tasks, including social media, consume.

As part of the nighttime relaxation routine, end screen time earlier.

“One hour before bed, reduce electronics, as the blue light disrupts the body’s natural sleep cycle,” Andrade recommends.

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If you follow this method, zero should be “the number of times you will hit the snooze button in the morning.”

The Post reached out to Andrade for comment.

She noted that these tips might not work for everyone — the benefits of hitting the snooze button, for example, have been heavily debated.

A study from last year found that nearly a quarter of American adults reach for the “more sleep” switch, claiming that it helps their relationships with loved ones and coworkers.

“Hitting ‘snooze’ doesn’t make you lazy, it is a sign of self-awareness,” said Cristina Watson, brand manager at Dave’s Killer Bread, which partnered with OnePoll to conduct the 2022 survey.