There are things we need to do in qualitative measure to increase our health and happiness in life; personal hygiene, eating well and sleeping. Achieving them once won’t bring much of a result, but attacking everyday with consistency yields great rewards both mentally and physically. Today we will elaborate on the importance of sleep.

The age old saying of ‘sleep when you’re dead’ is a surefire way to speed up this process. Our bodies were designed to repair at night by cleansing and replenishing the cells and tissue. This process needs roughly eight hours in order for us to function optimally. I’ve been guilty of squeezing in one more episode on Netflix late at night or getting drawn into mindlessly scrolling on my phone when I struggle sleeping. These two trapdoors ensure the next day becomes an uphill battle.

Mathew Walker’s book 'Why We Sleep' suggests sleeping less than 8 hours a night is linked to reduction in brain function by up to 40% the following day. Like a broken water pipe in your home, reduced sleep affects every aspect of your life, and slowly but surely grow the negative effects exponentially.

The natural order of things has prescribed that we sleep a third of our lives, so why not seek to make it the best! There is plenty of focus on creating a successful morning routine, it’s all over your social media feed as these individuals prescribe waking up at 3am and having cold showers. Instead, I urge you target the night before. Some investments that will increase your chances of sufficient and adequate sleep are; getting a comfortable mattress and pillow, cooling the room, and abandoning the alarm clock. These will bode well in your quest to enhance your sleep.

Being comfortable is encouraged as a better mattress and pillow will help in aligning your posture while you rest, ensuring a deeper and more restful sleep quality. Slightly cooling the room allows your body temperature to drop allowing you to fall asleep quicker and easier. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to fall asleep in summer compared to winter? Abandoning the alarm clock is a life hack I have recently adopted over the past couple of months as it has allowed my body to wake up naturally. Forcing our bodies to be awoken rapidly and alarmed, breaks our sleep cycle which produces grogginess and disorientation. A better remedy to the alarm clock would be ensuring you protect a specific bedtime, allowing between 8 to eight 8 and a half hours rest before you intend to wake up.

Once you start optimising your night routine and feel the benefits of consistently sleeping well, you will wonder how you ever managed previously. These small changes listed above will be difficult at first, but once adopted and made a routine, nothing will get in your way of an efficient and productive day!