There are a few things that can make the adult person feel great. Sleep is one of them. It is not because people like spending eights hours in a row doing nothing. Sleep affects all the body systems, and it is essential for the human’s functioning. The longest recorded time without sleep is eleven days. After three days of the experiment, participants started hallucinating; some cases were even fatal. Nowadays sleep deprivation is considered a form of torture.
How Did You Sleep Last Night?
If you feel tired and sleepy in the morning, it is time for a change! Good quality sleep will make you more concentrated and productive, it can also affect your emotions, metabolism and memory in a good way. Find out more about the importance of sleep and what you can do to improve it.
Improves Memory
According to experts in Memoryfoamtalk, good night’s sleep can improve your memory. No wonder, you felt like taking a nap after coming from school. Your body was directing you. The thing is that sleeping consolidates, stabilises and links your memories through common facts.
As stated in a study conducted by Matthew Walker, a UC Berkeley researcher, the lack of rest at night makes you less concentrated and causes memory loss. If you want to memorise everything faster (at any age), consider taking short naps (no longer than 40 minutes). It will help to turn something you learn (foreign language, playing instrument etc.) into permanent skills. As you can understand, staying all night long studying or working on the project will not benefit you as much as eight hours of sleep.
Affects Your Metabolism
You will be able to find a chapter about the importance of healthy sleep in every diet-related book. The point being, your metabolism is directly connected to the quality of your sleep. If you often wake up during the night, the outcomes will be written not only on your face but also on your waistline. The latest study proved that the lack of good quality sleep could cause a weight gain. In the experiment of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, participants who slept less than 6 hours per day gained 4 pounds in one month.
It can be explained by the fact that sleep deprivation triggers the release of the stress hormone cortisol. In this case, the human’s brain is looking for something that will improve the mood like foods high in sugar. It is important to underline that sleeping too much can also lead to weight gain. From another hand, if you sleep according to your body’s needs, it will speed up your metabolism, and you will be able to burn calories faster.
Affects Emotions
People who don’t sleep comfortably at night, become cranky and short-tempered the next day. That’s something you can’t control since the lack of good night’s sleep can make you emotionally reactive. The worse thing is that even one restless night is enough to start acting aggressively towards other people. More than that, sleep deprivation can also increase fearful responses and anxiety. It was proved by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley in 2013. So, if you want to be less irritable, make sure your bed feels amazing!
Eases Depression
In some cases, it is a vicious circle: poor sleep leads to depression and depression, in turn, causes trouble falling asleep. If you take measures to sleep longer, you will see the changes in your mood. Depressed people who can’t easily fall asleep should improve their sleep hygiene. Learn more about it below.
Improves Productivity
Needless to say, when we are sleepy and tired, one thing we can think about is our bed. That’s why partying all night long and going to work, or classes afterwards isn’t a good idea. In this situation, your brain isn’t able to process the information, and you have very low critical thinking because sleep deprivation has a similar effect to being drunk. Can you perform good work after a few drinks? Most probably you can’t since your response rate (in this case) is almost 50% slower than usual. That’s why it is illegal to drive after drinking or when you are sleepy. Comfortable night’s sleep is essential if you want to be more accurate and productive at what you are doing.
How to Sleep Comfortably?
If you have trouble falling asleep, consider making minor changes to your sleep environment:
Make sure you have fresh bed sheets
It doesn’t only feel good; there are also many health matters. Dust from your bed sheets can cause allergy since it contains a lot of dead skin cells (your body is shedding all the time). If you eat in your bed regularly, there is a high chance you have little bags in there. So, maybe it is time for laundry?
Get new pillows and mattress if it is needed
For instance, an uncomfortable bed can cause back or neck pain.
Cool your bedroom off every evening
It is essential since indoor air is very toxic. If you want to sleep like a baby, you need enough oxygen for your brain. Feel free to leave open windows for the night. The perfect temperature you are looking for is not higher than 67 degrees Fahrenheit.
Keep your room quiet and dark
There are a lot of distractions from the outside world that can wake you up in the middle of the night. If it is too load ( neighbours with a newborn baby or you live next to the road), consider soundproofing your bedroom. If you don’t have a possibility to do that, you can use a sleep mask and earplugs. You will see how fast it will improve the quality of your sleep.
Choose comfortable clothes
Women should forget about tight underwear, especially bras. Sleeping with your bra on can hinder the circulation in your body. Also, you put extra pressure on your chest and tighten diaphragm. Choose only soft natural fibre and don’t forget about the socks! You will fall asleep so much faster with your feet warm!
Just try to relax in the evening
If you want to sleep well, avoid drinking alcohol, smoking and eating heavy meals. You will thank yourself in the morning. Another common issue is using electronic devices before going to sleep. The problem is that your phone, TV and tablet can trigger the release of the hormone that will not let you sleep deeply.
Use your bedroom for sleep only
Some people work at bed – checking emails, making calls etc. From one hand, it is very relaxing. However, your brain might associate your bed with a working place and it will be harder for you to fall asleep.
