When the alarm goes off at six o’clock in the morning, are you one of those people who jump out of bed happy and awake? Who, after the eight o’clock evening news, sits nodding behind a cup of cold coffee? Or do you not slip under the sheets until twelve o’clock at night and should they not dare to wake you up early? In short: are you a morning or an evening person? Some people need more sleep than others. The times at which people sleep and get up also differ per person. One person is fit and rested with five to six hours of sleep, the other cannot do without eight hours of sleep. The amount of sleep someone needs also depends on their age. Babies, for example, sleep 16 to 18 hours. This gradually decreases as one reaches one’s twenties. The depth of sleep also varies. Children often sleep more deeply than older people. As age increases, the depth of sleep decreases.
But why is sleep so important?
Many people ignore their sleep needs because it doesn’t fit into their schedule. Evening people have to get up earlier than desired if they want to get to work on time. And morning people struggle with sleep when visitors linger longer than planned. In short: people ignore the body that demands sleep. Of course, this cannot always be prevented. However, it is advisable to get the necessary amount of sleep that suits you.
Sleep is so important for the following reasons:
- Sleeping is a way to restore the brain. Neurons (brain cells) work less, allowing them to recover.
- Sleeping helps you learn better. For example, there is evidence that brain activity that occurs during learning is repeated during sleep.
- Sleeping is a way to protect the body.
- Sleeping can tell something about the body. There are scientists who believe that the brain ‘scans’ the body for problems and diseases during sleep and can make this clear, for example through a dream.
Not enough sleep
Not sleeping (enough) is very unhealthy for humans. It increases stress and reduces responsiveness. This can cause dangerous situations to occur. In addition, people who sleep too little are relatively fatter than other people because they eat more. Enough reasons to get enough sleep. And listen to your body. You could say that every person has their own sleep biorhythm. The body indicates whether you feel fit when you go to bed late and wake up late. Or that you prefer to be there around half past ten, so that you can be rested next to your bed by six o’clock.
A tip: keep a diary of your sleep biorhythm for a while. What time did you go to bed? What was your quality of sleep? What time did you get up? To what extent did you feel rested?
Discover whether you are that evening man or morning woman and live life rested!