Understanding the importance of sleep this World Sleep Day

Many of us are guilty of considering a good night’s sleep a luxury, a ‘nice to have’, or even a weekend treat, starting with myself not sleeping enough on a daily basis...

It is, for many of us, so rare that we want to tell people about it afterwards. But sleep is a basic human need and is as essential to our everyday health as a balanced diet, drinking water and staying active.

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This #WorldSleepDay , I investigate how.

Our sleep and our bodies

In its simplest form, sleep is restorative. A chance to relax all muscles in your body for an adequate period of time, and to build back strength. As a result, a poor night’s sleep can affect the amount of energy we have, our motivation to get up and moving, and contribute towards an overall feeling of weakness which can increase the likelihood of accidents.

This resulting inactivity can also have a knock-on effect on the number of aches and pains we feel, stopping us from performing at our best.

Our sleep and our minds

Much in the same way, the duration, continuity and depth of our sleep has a direct link with our mental well-being. A poor sleep can leave us feeling grouchy, irritable and in an overly emotional mindset the next day.

However, it can also impact our clarity of thought and ability to see, hence the reason why some people refer to it as a ‘mental fog’. In fact, research shared by World Sleep Society states: “The next day effects of poor quality sleep include a negative impact on our attention span, memory recall and learning.”[1]

In other words, sleep is essential to being at your most productive – making sure you feel ready to take on the day, and get everything you need to to be done at work while bringing the best version of yourself.

There are a number of ways we can help ourselves to improve the quality of our sleep and in doing so, be active players in managing our overall health.

The World Sleep Society’s 10 tips for better sleep are a great place to start and let's go back to our early days by establishing a regular bedtime and waking time, like some of us have actively pursued with our kids.

[1] Talking Points | (worldsleepday.org)