I can’t tell you how many times people will come up to me and tell me how tired I look. Even over the phone people will ask me how much sleep I got and if I was doing ok. Between taking care of a baby, working at home all day, trying to keep my home clean and organized, and having a social life there is little room in my schedule for getting a good night’s rest.
Many of you know exactly what I am talking about especially for those of you who have to go and work at their day jobs and try to squeeze in a few hours with your children before they have to go to sleep.
I noticed that my lack of sleep was not only making me sluggish – but was also affecting my body’s immune system. I am not one to get sick easily (maybe once or twice a year) but it seemed that I was always coming down with the cold every couple months and the symptoms would last for a few weeks.
According to the National Sleep Foundation it is important to our health that we get a good night’s rest – which is at least 8 hours. Those who don’t can suffer from being cranky, sluggish, sick, and can even hinder them from losing weight and can cause psychiatric problems. We all know it can also affect the way we look. None of us like the dark circles and bags that grow under our eyes from this lack of slumber.
More than two-thirds of adults suffer from lack of sleep and around 32 million people drive drowsy and can even fall asleep on the wheel. More than 100,000 cars crashed and 1,500 deaths have been attributed to this problem. Many of us are also affected at work and school. Because we are sluggish we find ourselves drowsy and unable to fully concentrate on what we are working on.
In order to avoid all of these problems it is important to make sure that you get to sleep early and try to take at least a 15 or 20 minute nap once a day. The weekends are a great time for the whole family to catch up on their sleep. So sleep in late on these days and try to take longer naps. It’s time we feel energized without the need of energy drinks and lots of coffee!