When considering your own health, sleep is often not considered – but lack of sleep can directly affect;

• Mental health
• Physical health
• Quality of life
• Personal safety
• Safety of those around you

If you are deficient in sleep you may find that you have difficulty making decisions, solving problems and concentrating on tasks. This is because, like muscles, your brain needs time to rest and recover from daily tasks. You may also find changes to your mood and behaviour – not being able to cope well with changes or getting frustrated with simple things more quickly.

The bodies chemical levels also change when you sleep, meaning that if you don’t get enough sleep, you may feel hungrier! This is an important point for people who are trying to control their weight and are struggling.

Microsleep

Have you ever been driving along and realised that you don’t remember part of your journey? Or been in a conversation/class and missed some of the information, causing you to not understand the point? If so – you may have experienced microsleep!

This is essentially what it sounds like. Microsleep is when your body takes small moments of sleep that happen when you otherwise feel awake. This brief involuntary action has the potential to cause major risks to the health and safety of yourself and others around you.

How can I get more sleep?

Everybody has different issues that may be leading to a lack of sleep. The following advice is general guidance and if problems persist it may be recommended to visit your GP for further advice.

• Wind down at the end of your day:
  • Make a to-do list – writing down your tasks for the next day can help your mind to relax as you won’t be thinking of everything that needs doing while you’re trying to get to sleep.
  • Do some relaxing exercise – vigorous exercise increases the body’s response to be awake, try some stretching or yoga exercises to help relax your muscles.
  • Turn off your screens – the light created by phones and televisions means that your eyes have to work hard to concentrate. Try reading a book or listening to a radio program or podcast.
• Make sure your bedroom is prepared for sleeping:
  • Keep your bedroom for sleep – watching TV or working from your bedroom creates an association with being alert. If you only use your bedroom for sleep, when you go into the room your body will begin preparation for sleeping.
  • Make the bedroom dark, quiet and warm – double glazed windows help to insulate the room and block out external sounds, thick curtains will help block out light from street lights and early morning sun in the summer.
• Make a sleep diary:
  • Keeping a sleep diary can help you to uncover activities or habits that may be affecting your sleep. If you decide to visit your GP, they may also ask you to create one. Starting one before you go may help to save time.
  • A sleep diary may include recording what time you go to bed, how long it takes you to fall asleep, how many times you wake during the night, what time you wake up in the morning, how long before you get out of bed in the morning and how you would rate your quality of sleep.