I think we can all agree sleep is pretty important. I have to say I’m not the best sleeper in the world. It’s not unusual for me to wake up several times during the night and to be awake for a while at some point.
It’s not been helped over, I was going to write the last few months but it’s actually been about a year with Andrew getting up during the night. Normally only the once but can be twice during the night followed by him coming through about 5 am. He doesn’t take any time to settle back down but it is a total pain when it happens.
The impact of a lack of sleep
It really does play havoc with how you feel during the day. For myself, it can make the difference between a good training session and a bad one. At work, having a productive day where I’m thinking clearly and communicating well with the people I’m working with that day or it being a bit of a grind.
Getting a good night’s sleep is really helpful for a whole host of reasons. Ideally, you want to get 7-8 hours a night and any less than this does have a significant impact.
It’s not simply that you are tired. A lack of sleep can have the equivalent effect of being over the drink driving limit on your cognitive abilities. Hence the days where I perhaps struggle to communicate as well towards the end of the day, sorry folks you can blame the wee man.
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Sleep and pain
A lack of sleep also impacts on pain.
If you have any injury, your perception of how it feels will be significantly worse if you are tired. It also impacts on your ability to recover from injury. Sleep is where the vast majority of the repair work is done.
One thing you can do to help both your sleep quality and length of time you sleep is keeping regular hours.
What do I mean by this?
Simply aim to go to bed and get up at the same time every day. Even at the weekends!
It really does make a difference. Your body thrives on routine and having a regular sleep pattern can make a huge difference. As does avoiding stressful TV before bed. So try avoiding the news or even particularly stressful, though enjoyable, thrillers right before heading to bed if you are struggling with quality sleep.
Given Andrew’s bedtime routine and the need to get to bed earlish our TV consumption tends to be pre-recorded or streamed rather than live. As such I find we’ll watch a thriller and most likely a comedy in that order. News, if I get to watch it, tends to be Channel 4 at 7.
Try adjusting your bedtime routine if you are struggling with either the quantity or quality of sleep that you are getting. It really does help a lot.
