Sleep

Sleep

How to Find Time to Sleep

The Sleep Health Foundation recommends that adults get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep every night. Before you scoff at the amount of hours that you could otherwise be spending working or being productive, remember that you can’t have a fully functioning mind if it’s exhausted from lack of sleep.

Our relationship with sleep is very closely associated with our relationship with time. Those who are busier among us may choose to lose a few hours of sleep in favour of an hour at the gym in the morning or time spent working from home into the wee hours of the night. Contrary to your own belief that you’re winning and checking things off the to-do list, you’re actually just robbing yourself of the time you need to recharge and refresh your mind. Sleeping helps reboot you and keeps you more focused and creative. It’s important to prioritise sleep because taking care of yourself helps you stay connected to the essence of who you are and lead a more balanced lifestyle.

Why You Need to Prioritise Sleep

Many people decide what time they’ll go to bed and wake up based on their many tasks each day. Sleep time is what’s leftover. Making this lifestyle a habit can lead to chronic sleep deprivation, poor concentration, mistakes, fatigue and all of the risks associated with chronic sleep loss.

Tips for Making Time for Sleep

Keep your energy levels and mental capacity up by making time to sleep. Here are some tips for the more sleep-deprived and anxious souls among us.

Manage your time better

If you’re the type who stays up until 2 in the morning to get your work done, it’s more likely the effect of poor time management skills. Try to reschedule so that you’re working in the earlier hours of the morning.

Set a bedtime and wake-up time

Don’t just go to bed whenever you feel like it. You need to discipline yourself to resist urges like another episode of suits or game of thrones, as they will then cause you to push your day later and later into the night. Meditation can help you resist impulses http://blog.remindmylife.com/. If you have trouble falling asleep, select a bedtime that is consistent with the times you’re likely to sleep well. Go to sleep when you feel sleepy and get up at a time that you don’t necessarily need an alarm clock, as long as you are meeting your responsibilities.

Get a handle on stress

A build-up of mental trash can stay on your mind as you try to drift off. Writing it down can help remove those thoughts from your mind. And again, meditation can help you take the trash out so that you can learn to relax your mind and fall asleep.

Consider ditching caffeine

If you need that one cup in the morning to become a human, that’s fine. However, if you can’t sleep on caffeine, avoid it. It will only serve to continue the underlying problem.

Be more productive

Boosting your productivity and finding ways to do less work, smarter will give you more time to sleep and less time stressing over the work you brought home with you.

Set no-work hours

Give yourself a few hours at the end of each day where you aren’t allowed to work. This will help calm you before bed, and it will also force you to wake up early to get tasks finished.

The Effects of Not Getting Enough Sleep

A lack of sleep not only makes you grumpy, foggy and lethargic, it also effects your sex life, memory and overall health. Here are some of the possible effects from sleep deprivation:

Increases the chance of accidents

Sleep deprivation has been responsible for many well-known disasters throughout the years, including Exxon Valdez oil spill, the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in 1979 – as well as the infamous nuclear meltdown in Chernobyl.

It’s also a dangerous public hazard on our roads. Drowsiness slows down reaction time much like drunkenness does, increasing the chance of having a fatal car accident.

Impact on cognitive processes

Not getting enough sleep can make you dumb. That’s right, getting sufficient sleep means your general ability to think will increase in addition to your ability to learn and recall new information.

A lack of sleep means you won’t be able to remember all of the information acquired throughout your day once you do finally lay down. Your alertness and attention are also impaired, which can create behavioural problems and mood swings.

Physical health problems

Those suffering from insomnia or other sleep related problems frequently report other physical issues which can be associated with lack of sleep.

Some of these include:

Heart disease
Irregular heart beat
High blood pressure
Heart failure
Stroke, and
Diabetes

Another physical problem that can occur with lack of sleep is a decrease in libido. When your body is not sufficiently rested, you are likely to have less interest in sex. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism in 2002 suggests that many men with sleep apnoea also have low testosterone levels.

Need some help balancing your life and finding time to sleep? Download the RemindMyLife App today! Balance your time with health in mind.

Warmest Regards

Sheridan

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