The Importance of Sleep

02/15/2021

With the way society is set up, so many people have jam-packed schedules. This is normalizing unhealthy habits such as a ridiculous amount of caffeine, and lack of sleep. Sleep is the first factor that determines our day. With lack of sleep, your decision making skills are hindered, as well as your motor skills and ability to think clearly. If sleep was higher on peoples priority list, just imagine how much more efficient people would be. According to sleep foundation.org, "Adults between 18 and 64 need seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Adults over 65 need 7-8 hours". Unfortunately, most people aren't meeting these standards. As mentioned in an earlier post, lack of sleep often causes us to make poor eating choices. An unhealthy diet leads to further complications, so you can see the domino effect. Try to come up with ways to save time, so you have more time to sleep. Give yourself the positive domino effect from good sleep, instead of the negative.
Quality of sleep is also important. Taking over the counter sleep medications hinder good sleep. Some good ways to help you fall asleep, and have better quality sleep include:
-Exercise 
-Have a sleep time routine so your body knows when it is time to settle down. 
-Take a warm bath before bed. This has been shown to lower body temperature when you get out, telling your body its time for bed.
-Turn your air down, I keep mine at 68 at night time. I also turn on a fan. This also lowers your body temperature. 
-Do something calming before bed, such as reading or meditating.