Why a Bedtime is Healthy, No Matter Your Age
If you label yourself as a night owl then you may want to start asking yourself why you feel the need to stay up so late. You don’t have kids, you don’t have to meet any crazy deadlines, you live in a quiet neighborhood and you aren’t going out to party. So, what’s with all the late nights? Some people are addicted to staying up way past their bedtime, and they aren’t really sure why. Below are some reasons why you might be putting off your time in the sack to help you to get your sleep schedule back on track.
This is when you get your best work done
Some people feel the most creative and inspired in late late hours of the night. This may come off to your boss as a super impressive ability that you have- to get extra work done while everyone else is sleeping, but be careful, your late night work-a-thons will catch up to you. The rest of your day may become severely affected, with sleep deprivation affecting psychomotor skills, coordination and memory. This may be as harmless as having trouble remembering your coworkers names, or it could be as serious as getting involved in a car crash on your way to work in the morning. Do not let your all nighters put you at this great a risk.
You feel superhuman after staying up all night long
For some reason the less sleep you get the more focused, confident and enthusiastic you feel about the day. You seem to thrive in your work meetings and come off as the great leader of the pack. Oddly enough, sleep deprivation can affect some people in this way, making them energetic and positive… until they don’t. And when this sleeplessness high ends, then you are going to crash. Hard. Although it feels good for a while, it is better in the long run and get your sleep.
When you feel at your worst, it seems better to just not sleep at all
A study has found that clinically depressed individuals can feel more hopeful if they skip the sleep thing all together and just push through until the morning. This is speculated that the chemical in your brain that causes sleep called adenosine can act as an antidepressant when it builds up. The problem is that when you fall asleep the effect wears off. Instead of trying to stay awake all the time, try looking into treatments that replicate the effect.
Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of Clarice