Are you getting enough sleep?

Are you getting enough sleep?

In such a fast paced modern society many people find they are just not getting enough sleep. Between juggling a busy schedule or just finding it hard to get to sleep many of us are surviving on less and less.  Not enough sleep has many side effects on our energy, mood and ability to handle stress as well as our physical wellbeing.

Getting the right amount of sleep delivers so many benefits to your overall health including your heart, brain, immune system and even your weight. Sleep also has an effect on your mental health including your emotional balance and your productivity. 

So how much sleep is enough sleep?

The amount of sleep we require changes throughout our life, the older we get the less sleep we need. A toddler may require up to 14 hours sleep but the average adult is recommended between 7-9 hours’ sleep.

If you’re finding that you are not getting enough sleep there are some simple guidelines that can help:

Sticking to a regular bed time will help support your biological clock, it also helps to get up the same time each day, even on the weekends.

Regular exercise can help aid sleep, just make sure not to do it too close to bed time.

Make your sleeping environment peaceful by making your bedroom dark, quiet, cool and comfortable.

Avoid screens before bed. Although this is hard in the modern day of smart phones and tablets, screen time before bed tells your brain to stay awake and that’s it’s not time to go to sleep.

Caffeine and sugar and alcohol all disrupt your sleep, try and avoid these before bedtime.