There is nothing more than most people would want than to rest, drop on the new mattress they bought in Salt Lake City, and sleep their stress away after a long, and exhausting day at work. Due to the workload, and a bunch of other things, people tend to sacrifice hours of sleep just to finish their tasks or reach a certain deadline. Due to this, people tend to disregard the importance of sleep.
Sleep is a vital need of our body and of our overall health. After all, one-third of people’s lives are spent asleep, so watching over an individual’s “sleep health” is important. To make matters worse, drinking energy drinks, coffee, or any other caffeinated drinks to fight off sleep when people are in desperate need of finishing a certain task, ultimately messes up the circadian rhythm or the natural sleep-wake cycle. A good night’s sleep is extremely important for a person’s health.
How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?
Hours of sleep needs vary among different ages. To determine how many hours of sleep you need on the “sleep needs spectrum,” you need to assess your overall lifestyle and body clock. Here are the general guidelines for different age groups, as researched by the National Sleep Foundation:
- For newborns, the needed hours of sleep is 14 to 17 hours a day.
- For 12 month-old babies, the needed hours are about 10 hours at night and about four naps in between.
- For two-year-olds, the needed hours are about 11 to 12 hours at night, with added one to two hours of afternoon naps.
- For three to five-year-olds, the needed hours are 10 to 13 hours.
- For six to 13-year-olds, the needed hours are nine to 11 hours.
- For 14 to 17-year-olds, the needed hours are eight to 10 hours.
- For adults, the ideal hours are seven to nine hours.
Apart from age, there are other factors that could affect the hours of sleep that you need. For example, if a person is pregnant she undergoes different changes in her body that would increase her need for sleep than usual.
Improve on Your Sleeping Habits and Do Not Take Sleep for Granted
Assess your own lifestyle, body clock, and sleeping habits and needs to start going to the healthier path of sleeping lifestyle. Start by assessing how much your body responds based on the number of hours of sleep that you get. See how much it affects your mood, your performance, and your energy. Assess these differences through getting a poor night’s sleep against a really good one.
A good diet, proper exercise, and having the right amount of sleep are vital to have a healthy lifestyle. If you want to have a more sleep schedule, try sticking to one, even on days where you do not work. This way your body would be able to adapt and adjust. You could also try to practice a relaxing ritual before going to bed so your body would be prepared in time for bed.
If you know your body’s sleep needs and try to maximize on prioritizing your sleep habits, then you would be on the right path for a healthier lifestyle!
