Every child knows that sleep is important, and that it plays a vital role in making us healthy and happy.

We sleep about one third of our lives, so taking into account how old an average human being is, that is around 30 years. Spent doing nothing! But is that really so? The way you feel when you are awake depends on the way you are sleeping on your mattress. With children and teens, this is especially important, as sleep can promote growth and development, but is also tightly connected to work performance, and if you have a difficult and demanding job, you know why you need to sleep.

Brain Repairs Itself

During sleep, brain usually slows down, making room and time for certain regions to repair themselves. When sleeping, the brain transfers memory from short-term storage to a long-term one, making it an essential process in our everyday life. The brain is also preparing for the next day, creating useful memories, discarding unnecessary ones. Good night sleep, especially after studying something is especially important, since what is learned before going to sleep will be retained in our memories for much longer than if we went outside to party. Sleep also allows you to focus, make crucial decisions, but also to be creative and inspired. Sleep deficiency physically alters the brain, and will not only give you mental problems such as hallucinations, tiredness and anxiety, but will also lead to such problems as the increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, depression and even suicide.

Overall Health

Lack of proper, high-quality sleep also leads to obesity, and it can even change the way your body reacts to insulin, the hormone that controls levels of sugar in your blood, creating a disease known as diabetes. Sleep deficiency can lead to higher blood sugar levels, which is the first sign of this illness. Our immune system also relies on sleep to function properly. The immune system guards your body against foreign attackers, such as germs, bacteria and viruses, but also from all foreign substances. Lack of sleep can cause you to succumb even to simple infections such as the common cold, or skin rashes – for example.

Safety

All that we’ve mentioned above leads to an unified conclusion. Without sleep, our body and our mental health will deteriorate, which can endanger not only us, but those around us. Improper sleep leads to reduced productivity at work and school, slower reaction times – making it one of the most serious causes of car crashes around the world. When the body is too tired, and not rested properly, it will sometimes try to engage in micro-sleep, which is actually a state you are not even aware of, and resembles ordinary sleep, but you will still continue working normally, only with greatly reduced motor and cognitive skills.

How to Improve Your Sleep?

It is all related to your habits, how late do you go to bed, what do you eat before sleeping, how hard you work etc. With some small changes, you can not only improve your sleep, but also your overall life satisfaction, and this includes.

• Going to bed every night and waking up in the morning roughly at the same time. This will create your own unique rhythm, and over time, your body will get accustomed to it. Stick to this schedule even on weekends and holidays.
• Have a comfortable bed, including a mattress, pillows and covers. This will make sure that you are warm during colder periods. A good mattress will also give your back good support, meaning that you will wake up relaxed, without nasty back pains.
• Avoid eating, drinking or smoking before you go to bed. This can all disrupt your natural sleep cycle, and keep you awake, or even prevent you from entering the REM phase, which is actually deep sleep.
• If you have troubles sleeping, relax, read a few pages of a book and listen to calming music. Avoid TV, noisy video games and violent TV shows.
• During the day, be physically active, and this will prepare you well for sleep.
• Eliminate noise and light from your room while you sleep, or use ear plugs and night masks to ensure that you are not disturbed.

After you’ve done everything that is on this list, you will immediately start noticing improvement. They might be small, but over time, it will all add up and leave you well-rested and energetic in the morning.