Best Ways To Repay Your Sleep Debt
Sleep debt refers to the cumulative effect of not getting adequate sleep. It’s important to understand that a high amount of sleep debt can trigger various ailments. Just like with a mortgage, sleep debt too has to be repaid eventually. And the more you cumulate it, the bigger the balance becomes!
While you can sleep more on the weekends to manage the shortage of weekday sleep, it may not be the best strategy, especially when the balance is quite big. Additionally, sleeping too much on weekends can make things worse, by disrupting your regular snooze schedule. So when it comes to repaying sleep debt, start off slow and steady and follow these tips to recover your sleep debt.
Settle Short-Term Debt
If you missed 10 hours of sleep in a working week, try to add three to four hours of sleep on the weekend and an additional one or two, each night the following week till the debt gets repaid.
Handle Long-Term Debt
If you find you’ve missed lots of hours of sleep, plan a certain period of time or time off with minimal obligations or work. Just go to sleep as soon as you’re sleepy and sleep until you wake naturally.
Modify Your Mindset
Many people consider sleep as a luxury or indulgence. Be sure to remember that your body needs rest to perform optimally and sleep is as crucial for health as exercise and diet is.
Detrimental Effects Of Sleep Debt
Most of us experience a lack of concentration, short temper, and fatigue, if we’ve not had enough sleep during the night. While an occasional night like this may not be harmful for your health, several sleepless nights in a row can trigger serious health hazards like the following:
- It can lead to loss of motivation and irritability that may contribute to critical disorders such as depression and anxiety, amongst others
- It can cause blood pressure to rise and trigger an elevated heart rate, all of which put a higher strain on your heart, making it more prone to stroke or a heart attack