Why Is Sleep Important

The Importance of Sleep in Self-Care and Positive Well-Being One of the best feelings in the world for me, is waking up early and realizing I have nothing planned and can simply go back to sleep. If the feeling of a good night’s sleep is so great, I question myself on why my sleep habits are so inconsistent. Living in the twenty first century certainly does not help this dilemma. Cell phones, television and other various forms of entertainment are the biggest sleep detractors for me. In addition to that, life stressors and responsibilities get in the way as well. I consider self-care an enormous priority, yet I have trouble sleeping as much as I should. Sleeping at least eight hours a night will not only make me look and feel better, but it will help me establish a more effective routine in my daily life going forward. I typically sleep anywhere from five to six hours a night during the weekdays, sometimes less. I not only have school to manage, but a home, relationships, and everything else that comes with adulthood. I am usually in bed by eleven o’clock at night, but sometimes do not actually fall asleep until twelve or later. On average, healthy adults need at least eight hours of sleep a night (Van Dongen, Rogers & Dinges, 2003). I would say at least six days out of the week, I am not …show more content…
One of the things that causes me to have a short temper, is exhaustion. In fact, a deficiency in sleep can negatively impact psychological well-being and cause a poorer quality of life, especially in women (Bei, Coo, Baker, & Trinder, 2015). I am not only pre-disposed to this due to my lack of sleep, but because I am a woman as well. Obtaining the extra hours of sleep will not only help me think more clearly, it can improve my alertness and mood (“The Benefits of Slumber”, 2013). In the end, I am also hoping this will help me recoup my health, do better in school, and improve the relationships around