Are You Getting Enough Sleep?
Less sleep equals less life.
Sleep. It’s vital to our overall health and well-being yet most of us don’t get enough of it.
If you don’t get enough sleep, it can cloud your judgment and increase your risk of death from a fatal accident. Getting enough sleep is one of the most underappreciated ways to extend your life. Yet, sleep is often neglected.
“Without enough sleep, we all become tall 2-year-olds.”
— JoJo Jensen, an actress
Why sleep is important
Sleep is important because it enables our bodies to repair. Sleep makes us more productive and helps us feel energized and alert the next day. It helps us control our metabolism and weight, prevents cardiovascular diseases, boosts our immune system, increases our knowledge retention, and helps us with our long-term and short-term memory. Sleep helps us reduce stress and even helps us with our skin.
Sleep is a time to relax. It’s a time when our bodies are hard at work repairing themselves and getting us ready for another day.
Without enough sleep, our brain can’t function properly. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.
How much sleep do we need?
“8 hours of sleep makes a big difference for me. I try hard to make that a priority. For me, that’s the needed amount to feel energized and excited.”
— Jeff Bezos, founder, CEO, and president of Amazon
While sleep requirements vary slightly from person to person, most healthy adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Teens need 8 to 10 hours and kids need 10 to 14 hours per night.
Given that an average person sleeps for 8 hours in a day, that means that an average person will sleep for 229,961 hours in their lifetime. That’s basically one-third of your life (an average person lives 692,040 hours).
According to neuroscientist Matthew Walker in his book Why We Sleep, he says sleep is one of the most effective things we can do to reset our mindset and improve our physical health. He argues if humans could have evolved with less sleep, they would have by now.
Bringing it all together
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
— Benjamin Franklin, one of the U.S. Founding Fathers
Sleep improves our ability to learn and helps us make better decisions. It is an essential part of your success. Sleep allows your body to recharge its batteries and tackle the challenges of the day. Sleep can help you live longer. Make it a priority.