What’s More Important Than Sleep?

“Sleep is the golden chain that binds health and our bodies together.” – Thomas Dekker

By now we’ve all read or heard about the benefits of sleep and why it’s necessary to catch enough ZZ’s. But ICYMI (in case you missed it), when we sleep our body repairs itself, energy is restored, hormones are released, and we just feel better! Before the invention of the lightbulb, people were getting upwards of 10 hours of sleep a night, now, the average American gets around 7. Granted, some people naturally require less shut eye than others, but for the most part it’s pretty common for people to put it pretty low on their priority list. So what’s more important than sleep? There’s a lot of different types of alarms designed to wake you up on time, but what about going to bed on time? Why not set an alarm to tell you it’s time for bed? If you’re concerned about not actually being sleepy at the designated time, then it’s also a good idea to create a bedtime routine. Shut off electronics an hour before bedtime (the light messes with our circadian rhythms), write all your “to do’s” on a piece of paper and put it in your purse/briefcase because none of it is getting done until the next day anyway, so why spend all night thinking about them?! If your mind and energy are still raging, try reading a boring book. These strategies may not work for everyone and you will have to experiment to find what works best for you, but don’t let that be the cause for not getting one of the most important activities our bodies need. So ask yourself again, what’s more important than sleep?