Generally, men seriously underestimate the need for sleep. Perhaps it is a male thing, but you’re fooling only yourself if you think you can survive on below-average sleep. Sure, there’s lots to do and many responsibilities, but who are you kidding if you’re not at your brightest and best when accomplishing those? Not only that, you could be putting your life and the lives of those around you in danger when sleep deprivation kicks in.

Sleep is an extremely important component of our overall health and well-being and without it, you cannot build and strengthen your body and mind optimally.

The Science behind Sleep

According to http://www.getsleepnj.com/sleep:

Sleep is a state where the brain controls various physiological functions of the body and puts them at a relative rest in order to prepare them for proper and maximal function during wakefulness. During sleep, important substances in the brain and nervous system are replenished and byproducts, which are the result of brain activity are cleared out. As such, sleep plays a major role in maintaining proper functioning of the brain. Sleep is an absolute necessity for crucial brain functions such as alertness, memory, reasoning, learning, reflexes, motor skills and a general sense of well-being.

Additionally, adequacy or quality of sleep has a significant impact on other aspects of human health, including the risk of heart attack and stroke, hypertension, diabetes prevention and control, and weight control.

Sleep is divided into 2 categories namely, REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. The NREM stage is subdivided into Stages 1-3.

So, as you can see from the above and the article at http://www.getsleepnj.com/sleep, sleep is non-negotiable. However, individual sleep needs vary and you may find your needs don’t exactly line up to the norm. Recommended sleep for males between 17-35 years is about 7 to 9 hours per day.

Signs that you are not getting enough sleep include:

• Feeling tired and lacking energy during the day
• Your attention span has disappeared
• Motivation has vanished and you’re struggling to get going
• You’re irritable and grouchy
• You need an alarm clock to wake up in the morning
• You doze off while driving (potentially life-threatening!)

There are so many things that could affect your sleep, life, work, new baby, divorce etc. But it is up to you to prioritize your shuteye because it will help everyone in the long run.

Develop some good sleep hygiene (bedtime routines, banish bad habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol before bed, turn off the TV and the screens, cool and dark room) and you’ll be well on your way to better sleep. As always, if there is little to no improvement, go and see your doctor. There may underlying causes for your sleep issues.

Happy sleeping!