By Midweek sleep-ins are essential for me and something you should try for yourself
I usually don’t sleep in a lot — period. The weeks are filled with never-ending tasks, and now that full-time work has begun, lack of sleep has become a lot more taxing to my creativity and energy levels.
If you count early mornings or late-night efforts of getting to the gym for a workout, you will slowly notice it takes a toll on your energy levels.
As a result, it’s not uncommon to need a nap in the mid or late afternoon. I tried an experiment on myself to see just how adequate a mid-week sleep-in would be, and it turned out just as I’d expected. Midweek sleep in’s helps with that usual “hump day” slump that most have as the work week starts to close. It’s like a kick-start energetic motivator that gently nudges us to a more productive end of the week.
I’m not surprised that 35% of adults in the united states don’t get enough sleep, and I think this figure is just as high all worldwide as what a mid-week sleep-in did for my health.
One: It boosted my productivity
No surprise with this one. Without enough sleep, my energy levels dropped off at critical times during the day, making it even harder to focus and increasing my chances of making errors. Look at this critical finding for overworked physicians.
Doctors with a high and very high sleep-related impairment were 54%, 96% and 97% more likely to report clinically significant medical errors. Now, that’s pretty scary if you’re under the knife of a tired surgeon!
If you want to improve your problem-solving skills and enhance your memory and performance, trying to have a good night’s sleep is a good idea. This works for both adults and children.
Two: It helped me push even harder at the gym
I noticed that being sleep deprived didn’t give me that much-needed motivational boost that I would typically have to push myself. I would even catch myself yawning in between sets!
Now, that’s pretty bad — I believe I was wasting my time, and the efforts weren’t enough to make a difference. Not only was I too tired to push harder, but I also left myself open to injury.
No wonder more sleep can enhance motor skills, reaction time, power and muscle endurance.
Working out after a sleep-in helped me work out a lot harder and gave me the much-needed motivation to push past my strength limitations. After all, that’s what increases our muscle’s capacity to grow.
Three: It helped elevate my mood a lot more
When I didn’t get enough sleep, I noticed that my mood would be pretty and low, and I’d start thinking negative thoughts, which limited my writing capacity.
I found no motivation or drive for flow or creativity needed to think of a post idea, let alone write one.
My words would be jumbled, starting the negative train of thoughts.
No wonder depression is strongly linked to poor sleep quality and can contribute to sleep disorders.
One study with 2,672 participants involved found that those who experienced anxiety and depression reported poorer sleep quality than those without.
If you find yourself sleep-deprived, which results in anxiety or a low mood, it’s well worth having a bit of a sleep-in or allowing yourself to sleep more to experiment if that elevates your mood.
Four: It helped me increase my social interactions with others
I don’t know about you, but when I’m tired, I avoid other people.
Sometimes I can’t speak properly (I sound stupid) or find myself highly emotional and react negatively to someone’s words or actions.
That sometimes leaves room for unnecessary worry and vulnerability, which is superfluous.
It is not the right energetic environment for others to be around and can give others a negative impression of you.
I don’t want to be seen as a “Negative Nancy Type.”
Tiredness can affect our ability to respond to humour and empathise with people who need it most. If you become highly emotional and react negatively towards others, notice the difference a good night’s sleep can make.
Five: It helped me avoid unnecessary pain for myself and others
I noticed that when sleep-deprived, I tend to drop things, rip or cut myself whilst chopping anything!
Usually, this leads to getting hurt or someone in my family stepping on broken glass I didn’t pick up.
Although not life-threatening, it isn’t very pleasant and could have been avoided.
When we’re tired, our reaction time becomes impaired.
Severely sleep-deprived people can compare to having consumed excess alcohol! The danger is not only at home but in the workplace t, and lack of sleep can increase the risk of workplace injury and errors.
We can’t tell our boss that sleep was the cause of the mist, and it wouldn’t go down too well.
Wholesome food and exercise is not the only aspect of good health. Sleep is pretty much another essential pillar for good health.
Sleep deprivation increases our susceptibility towards developing heart disease, weight gain, inflammation and sickness. We don’t want our bodies to become susceptible to anything unnecessary that could reduce our quality of life.
So, do yourself a favour and add sleep in one day during we, and it might be just what you need to get through the last few days in preparation for the well-deserved weekend.
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