Prioritizing sleep isn’t a secret. You know you should put a good night’s rest at the top of your to-do list, but it’s hard with a global pandemic raging in the background. Throw in the boredom and the uncertainty of leaving the house legally, and it’s easy to see why you might suffer from restlessness.
Sleep is probably the last thing you’re getting enough of right now, especially compared to Doomsday news from 24-hour channels hell-bent on making everything Covid-19-related. However, this is problematic because rest is more important now than it has ever been since it’s imperative for your health.
Whether it’s physical or mental wellbeing, sleep can help you top up your health levels to avoid the nasty stuff that comes with a sedentary lifestyle. And, these aren’t the only reasons to emphasize the importance of sleep. Although the exact amount varies - it’s anywhere between seven to nine hours - the knock-on effects of sleep deprivation are very powerful.
The best way to negate them is to understand the power of rest. By learning more about the process, you will know why getting an early night is beneficial. With that in mind, here are four reasons to prioritize sleep in 2021.
Stronger Mental Health
Lots of people worldwide have been struggling with mental health issues way before the pandemic started. Sadly, this is due to a lack of awareness on the subject, although more adults are beginning to understand. Of course, the emergence of Covid-19 only made matters worse, with 40% of Americans experiencing a reduction in their mental health.
The anxiety regarding your health and freedoms is only made worse by the fact that you can’t leave the house or do the things that make you happy. As a result, this translates into your bedtime routine, with the tension keeping you awake and leading to sleep deprivation.
Fortunately, dealing with the pressures of life is an excellent way to turn the tables and improve your mental health as a whole. This is because plenty of studies have made a concrete link between high-quality sleep and its effect on depression and other ailments.
Although the exact way sleep helps the brain is still unknown, the research is clear - rest and mental health are connected. Therefore, getting the recommended amount every night is a step in the right direction, particularly during a period when there is a lot to worry about at night.
Improved Immune System
Another consideration of a pandemic is your body’s ability to fight off illnesses and diseases. Getting sick is a part of life because you can’t avoid bacteria and viruses forever. Still, the most common ones come with vaccinations and those that don’t have treatments that increase the chances of recovery.
At the moment, there is a lot of unpredictability with Covid-19 since it can have harmful side-effects, and it passes from person to person very easily. To eliminate the side-effects, you need your white blood cells to rush into action when an invader enters your bloodstream. Unfortunately, they are less effective if you are tired.
This is down to the proteins your body uses to deal with infections and inflammation. Essentially, there are fewer of them when you don’t get enough rest, probably because the system hasn’t had enough time to repair itself. Once your defenses are lowered, a virus can cause havoc as it is stronger than your immune system.
Therefore, it’s imperative to boost the amount of sleep, and the quality of it, too. If you constantly wake-up and fidget, you won’t reap the rewards in the morning.
Fewer Aches & Pains
With everything that’s going on in the world, you could do without the obligatory aches and pains that plague your body when you get out of bed. Part of the problem is due to age, something you can’t stop. But, another issue is the way you sleep and the strain it puts on your body.
If your weight distribution is unequal, it will cause stress on the lower back, which is why your back creaks in the morning. Focusing on how you sleep is the key as it will encourage you to adopt the correct positions based on your ailments. For instance, lying on your side with a pillow between your knees is healthy if lying on your back isn’t an option.
Of course, sleep alone won’t fix the problem, especially if you experience discomfort in your back. The back is a complicated body part, so a chiropractor is always a smart option since they are specialists. By combining the two, the aches you put up with could be things of the past.
Considering you have a lot to think about in 2021, it’s one less problem to worry about. It’s amazing how reducing your triggers results in stronger mental and physical wellbeing.
Greater Focus
Everyone has been there. You didn’t get a good night’s rest, and you turn up at the office with bags under your eyes, desperate to reach 5 pm unscathed. Muddling through the day unnoticed is all you can hope for when your productivity levels plummet.
Weirdly, being in a formal environment is better for your concentration and output levels than being at home as the buzz of other people can guide you to the end of the day. Also, it’s easier to hide in a room full of your colleagues.
You can’t lurk in the background on a video call because it’s creepy! Plus, working from home is more casual, which means you are more likely to fall into the trap of being unproductive. Do it too many times and your manager will want to know why you’re not working as hard.
As remote working policies continue to help businesses cut costs and operate during tough times, you will find yourself out of the office for a significant chunk of 2021. So, without prioritizing your sleep, you might find that your industriousness drops and causes you some career problems.
Bottom Line
Sleep is a necessity, regardless of the year. However, with everything that is going on in 2021, it’s more important to prioritize rest than ever before.
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