Sleep In This Weekend

Raise your hand if your sleepy right now? Great! Now, put your hand down because your boss is wondering why you’re raising a hand at work. Even if you can’t physically acknowledge that you are sleepy, we have some exciting news that we know you’ll want to stay awake for. It turns out, that getting few extra hours of sleep on the weekends (or whenever you can find them) can increase your health and overall life expectancy.

If you’re like me, you probably tell yourself at least 3 times a week, that you are going to be in bed at a reasonable hour and end up putting your head on the pillow close to mid night. Before you know it, you’re only getting an average of 4 or 5 hours of sleep every night. Over time, that can have a significant impact on your overall health and even your life expectancy. Poor sleep habits can lead to your immune system being weakened, your cortisol levels rise and your overall ability to process information, problem solve is compromised.

The study boasted that sleeping in on weekends undoes some of the damage of sleeping too little during the week. A study over the course of a 13-year period involving over 38 thousand subjects tracked sleeping habits, among other things. People who slept too little during the week but managed to snag a few more hours on weekends lived as long on average as the seven-hours-per-night group.

Bonus:
Don’t reach for a cup of coffee as soon as you wake up in the morning. Wait and hour and a half after waking up before having your coffee. Caffeine is most effective AFTER the hormones that wake you up such as cortisol and adrenaline, wear off a bit. Plus, you wake up dehydrated, and coffee will make the effects feel worse. ~Dr. Michael J Breus, PhD, The Sleep Doctor.