How Your Lifestyle Impacts Your Sleep

Sleep issues are quite common in our society. Even without a diagnosed health condition, the pleasures, stresses, and expectations of modern life can all interfere with sleep health.

What happens when you don’t get good sleep?
• Impaired reaction time, judgment & vision
• Problems with information processing & short-term memory
• Decreased performance, vigilance & motivation
• Increased moodiness & aggressive behaviors
• Increased “microsleeps” – brief (2/3 seconds) sleep episodes

We may live in a 24/7 society, but our bodies still operate on a daily circadian rhythm that requires us to get at least 7 hours of sleep. When we engage in behaviors that defy that circadian rhythm, our sleep suffers.

Top culprits include staying up late and using electronics, whether it’s for binging Netflix or answering your work emails. The blue light in these devices tricks our brain into thinking it’s daytime, so we stay up even later. Then there’s the things we use to “wind down,” such as exercise, alcohol, and again, our tech devices. We tend to overindulge in these, especially at night, which disrupts the quality of our sleep.

Overworked, overstimulated, and under slept, many of us have no idea how our lifestyle choices impact our sleep—positively or negatively.