If we’re particularly busy in our daily lives, we can sometimes skip out on sleep so that we can spend more time working, spending time with our partners, seeing our friends or studying for exams. Sometimes it can feel like the only way that we can fit in all of our tasks and activities is to skip out on sleep – but the truth is, even just a small amount of lost sleep can really take its toll on your health. Sleep is not a luxury, it is an essential part to living a healthy life and so you should do your best to get the sleep that you really need.
Sleeping is a way for your body and mind to repair themselves of any damage that they may have incurred during the day and also to prepare you for the day ahead. Your brain and your body both need to rest so that they can go on and do their job properly the next day, and if they do not get the rest that they need, you will be heading for illness or injury.
Many of us also make the mistake of thinking that provided we are in bed for eight hours or ten hours, it means that we’re having eight hours or ten hours of decent, refreshing sleep. That’s not the case at all – sleep needs to be good quality sleep for it to be useful, and if you’re feeling tired throughout the day even though you’re having loads of sleep, you may need to take some steps to improve the quality of your sleep.
The actual amount of sleep that you need varies very much depending on your age. You need less sleep as you get older, but you still need a certain amount of sleep. The number of hours that you need to sleep depending on your age is as follows:
New-born babies between 0 and 2 months: 12-18 hours per day
Infant babies between 3 months and 1 year: 14-15 hours per day
Toddlers between 1 and 3 years: 12-14 hours per day
Young children between 3 to 5 years: 11-13 hours per day
Older children between 5 to 12 years: 10-11 hours per day
Teenagers between 12-18 years: 8-10 hours per day
Adults over 18 years: 7.5-9 hours per day
Alarmingly, many adults get less than 7 hours sleep per night, which over time leads to a large amount of sleep deprivation. Although we tend to think that we need less sleep as we get older, we still need at least 7 and a half hours per night to function properly – if you find it difficult to sleep this long during the night, make up the deficit by taking a nap in the daytime if you can.
Teenagers often have a negative reputation for sleeping for too long, but as you can see, they actually need more sleep than adults do – so let them sleep in peace!
There are a few things that you can do to make up for sleep deprivation if you are chronically sleep deprived. Firstly, you need to begin making sleep a priority. It is important and you will feel far better with more of it, so make it a priority just as you would make a doctor’s appointment a priority if you were ill. Next, pay off your sleep deprivation in the short-term by getting an extra one or two hours per night, and then when you are able, take a sleep vacation by picking a month-long period where you can get up and go to bed whenever you are able. Don’t wake up with an alarm clock and let yourself wake up naturally and go to bed when you are tired. At the end of the month, you should be well on your way out of your sleep deprivation and you should have worked out a sleeping schedule that works for you.