Rise and Shine
If there’s one thing people love to talk about, it’s how tired they are and how much, or rather how little, sleep they’ve had. The hubby asked the question “how many hours sleep do you get?” on Facebook recently and the response was overwhelming. Everyone wanted to tell him and of course it was very apparent who the parents were among the responders! So just how important is the amount of sleep we get?
I know from a personal point of view I can perform better as a general human being if I’ve had seven hours sleep. I can function on less. I can function on more. However, if I get a string of poor nights sleep (like in the early days of motherhood), I know my patience is shot, I can’t think logically or rationally and my get up and go has literally got up and gone! I can feel physically drained. This really demonstrates the importance of sleep for someone who has to get up and actually perform. Think about exceptional athletes for example, like Serena Williams who says sleep is her secret weapon and admits to needing consistent, restful sleep in order to be at her best. Increased sleep in the run up to a competition or grand slam could be paramount in enabling her to perform well. Sleep repairs muscles and promotes muscle growth all while allowing the body to rest and recover.
According to WebMD, Mark Rosekind PhD, president of Alertness Solutions and a former NASA scientist said that “there are lab studies showing that if you’re an eight-hour sleeper and you get six hours of sleep, that two-hour difference can impact your performance so that it equates to how you would perform if you had a 0.05 blood-alcohol level” I found this fact absolutely astonishing. The thought that lack of sleep could have a similar impact to if you’d drunk alcohol. This did make me think back to the first time my son slept through the night. He was around nine months old so let’s bear in mind I’d had a full nine months of very (and I mean very) broken sleep. Plus the weeks of discomfort at night through my third trimester of pregnancy. My son then slept from his last feed at 10pm right through to 7am. I’d had nine hours of blissful, undisturbed sleep. And do you know what? I woke up feeling absolutely rotten. It was like trying to function with a really bad hangover. I guess my point is, some extra sleep to what you’re used to is extremely important as you prepare for a sporting event but it’s important to find the right balance as too much sleep can have the same impact as too little. I’d gone from three or four hours to nine and it hit me like a ton of bricks! This must be what Serena Williams is referring to when she uses the words “consistent, restful sleep.”
The quality of your sleep plays a really important part of how you feel when you wake up too and ultimately how you perform in the day ahead. My own top tips on improving the quality of your sleep are:
Temperature control. It’s very easy to think snug, toasty and warm is the way to go. Yes we love that feeling of climbing into a warm bed and hate the feeling of getting out of it. However, waking up wringing with sweat because you’re too hot is definitely not pleasant! Choose a cooler duvet and layer up with blankets that can be easily removed.
Most of us have experienced a bed with protruding springs at some point or if you’ve camped on an airbed, you know where I’m coming from here. The importance of choosing the right mattress and pillow is really crucial to a great night’s sleep and keeping those aches and pains at bay. Don’t be embarrassed to lie down and even curl up on the mattresses in the bed shop, you need to test them out! Same goes for pillows. I love a memory foam one whereas the hubby much prefers a softer one. Go with what works for you.
If you’re working late at night, don’t be tempted to take your laptop, tablet or phone to bed with you. Work at a desk or kitchen table and only get into bed when all devices are put away and you’ve had a break from the screen. Reading a book in bed with some low lighting is a great way to relax your eyes before you sleep.
If you’re sleeping somewhere particularly noisy or you have neighbours who sleep on a different clock to you, consider introducing some low or white noise into your sleeping environment. Stream a ‘popular’ playlist and randomly you get a track that’s just the sound of the ocean or how a TV used to sound when all programmes had finished for the day (showing my age here). It’s on that popular playlist because people stream white noise to help them sleep. It’s tried and tested for babies and very common for those who work night shifts and are trying to dull down daytime noise.
If you’re struggling to get a good night’s sleep, try out my tips to improve the quality of your sleep. If you’re a new Mum, hang on in there. It does get easier and your sleepless nights do eventually become a distant memory.
So, how did you sleep last night?
*Disclaimer: This was a collaborative post with Tempur. All words and opinions are my own.
