10 Reasons Why You Need Enough Sleep, Starting Tonight!

You scroll through Instagram. Chat with a friend. Watch some TV.  End up watching funny videos on Youtube. You put off sleeping. That’s us, every night. Then, you wake up groggy, lazy and annoyed complaining to everyone about how you haven’t slept enough. You need the sleep! You do. Sleep is an active period where a lot of the things that we learnt in the day are being processed and restored.

What’s more, healthy sleep is important in order for us to function at our best. Here’s why you need to get those ZZZs every night.

Improve your memory

If you are learning how to speak French in preps for you next trip to Paris, sleeping well will definitely help you. During your sleep, you can strengthen your memory and practice skills which you learn while you are awake. You’ll practically wake up with a beret. Okay, maybe that’s a tad far-fetched. But Bonjour to you too!

Extension in your life span

Want the lifespan of a turtle? Catch your 40 winks! An adequate amount of sleep affects the quality of life and helps you live longer. Which is as good reason as any to sleep.

Creativity Booster

They say that all the creative people get to work after a good night’s sleep, and scientifically speaking, it is true. Your brain appears to consolidate memories by reorganising and restructuring, which results in more creativity. Want your very own lightbulb moment? Switch off the light and hit the bed.

Have a healthy weight

You’ve been on a diet a long time with  the fries at McDonalds or the popcorn at a theatre playing spoilsport. But hey, maybe the weight isn’t coming off because you are not getting enough sleep. It’s true! It is proven that well-rested people lose more fat that those who were sleep deprived.

Ditch the alarm clock

When you rest, your body resets itself to adjust to your schedule. It makes sure that your body gets in tune with your cycle and gets ready for your daily wakeup time and sleep times as well. Who knew your body was such a stickler for time, huh?

Stay away from injuries

When you workout, your muscles are usually get worked and anybody will tell you that rest days are super important  to prevent over-working out; whether it is running, exercising or even walking. Muscle injuries happen if your muscles and joints get overused. Your body repairs itself when you sleep so it becomes extra important if you don’t want to end up with an injury.

Dodge the Depression

Lack of sleep leads to depression, since a good nights sleep can really help a person decrease their anxiety and avoid irritability. It helps you get our emotions stable, so the next time you suddenly starting questioning your existence, make sure you get a good nights sleep. Wait, so all I need to do during PMS is sleep? Possibly, sister.

Lower stress

If you aren’t already curled up, do it already. Sleeping  helps people have better control of their blood pressure which in turn reduces levels of stress. Have a deadline? You’ll probably deliver if you sleep it off and get cracking on it early.

Muscle Recovery

The tear in your muscles while working out need time to recover. So the next time you decided to do 100 squats and 200 push ups make sure you get a good nights sleep to recover those muscles. You won’t be able to feel your arms and legs the next day and might just end up feeling like jell-o all day long, if you don’t.

Improved performance

Whether is it physical performance on the field or your performance at work,  sleep enhances performance. It can make you more receptive and attentive so line up for the ‘Employee of the month’ badge.

Oh by the way,  there is no concept of “catching up on sleep”. You can’t skip sleep and make up for it over the weekend.

And…here’s a fun video we did about the type of sleepers. Watch away!