I feel it’s appropriate to follow my previous post about caffeine with one about sleep!
It’s not simply recharging our energy and giving our brain a rest. Over the past year, I’ve found out a lot about all the biological functions that go on during sleep, which are truly fascinating!
Most of the “experts” feel we need somewhere between 7 and 9 hours of sleep/night. But even more important is WHEN we get that sleep. We all have natural circadian rhythms, and it’s critical to match our sleeping patterns with our own pattern.
The first sleep cycle of about 90 minutes is the most important for rebuilding our bodies and mind. So if you miss it because of going to bed late (or disturb it with alcohol/drugs), you don’t fully recover for the next day, even if you try to make up for it by sleeping late.
As a child, I was an early riser- usually awake by 7, (which annoyed my mom who liked sleeping in). By high school I was becoming a night owl, and all-nighters became the norm in college (so working the graveyard shift wasn’t as difficult for me as for others). More late-/all-nighters continued for a few years after that. In my mid-20s, I suddenly shifted back towards being a morning person again, which has mostly continued until this day, although I would sometimes go to bed late (from TV binging).
These days I keep to a much more regular schedule, making sure I usually go to bed around 9:30 and avoiding anything that would cause issues with my first sleep cycle. I often wake up by 5:30, refreshed and ready to go (even without caffeine!).
How about you? How many hours/night do you usually get? Do you feel it’s sufficient? Is your sleep schedule regular?
