The importance of sleep

I am fortunate to be on annual leave now for three entire weeks, and boy have I been looking forward to it!  After only three days I have begun to catch up on sleep, and in being able to wake up without my alarm clock, I've realised just how sleep deprived I had become.  I can remember being a new Mum and getting used to being in a sleep deprived state after about 4 months of interrupted sleep, night after night.  Towards the end of this year I found myself getting back into that state again .... Driving bleary eyed to drop the kids off at school and daycare.  Looking forward to that first cup of coffee at work to kick start the cogs in my brain.  Although I had known I was tired, I got into the habit of going to bed later than I should .... Staying up to do just one more thing, to save time in the morning.  

The reality is that I was losing sleep time, and therefore losing focus and the ability to wake up fresh in the morning, the most productive hours of the day.  If I am to work smarter and not harder next year, one of the strategies I will employ will be to get ample sleep.  A study at Harvard found that sleep is important to the following functions:

1. Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
2. Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
3. Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
4. Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
5. Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
6. Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.

In order to get more quality sleep I have googled recommendations which include turning off all backlit screens 60 mins before sleep. This means iPads, Tas, laptops etc. Reading a paper book is an ideal activity to do before bed. And limit coffee intake to one cup a day before 11am. Apparently it takes 6 hours for caffeine levels to drop by half in your system ..... So it can remain in your body for quite some time. Well, I'm off to find a book to read to get me in the mood to sleep. Good night! If you fave any tips for getting quality sleep, or starting good sleep routines, please post them, or email me at livewelllivesmart@gmail.com