New Year’s Resolutions: Is sleep a priority in 2022?

Research suggests that good quality sleep is essential for our wellbeing. Most health professionals will advise that sleep is a basic priority that we all need to very seriously consider.

Scientists have identified that with continuous lack of sleep, our ability to engage in everyday activities will be impacted. Through studies, sleep has been found to help with important functions, such as mental processing, memory, and dealing with our emotions.

If sleep is so important to keep our mind and body well, why is it that in modern day society we often view sleep as a luxury rather than a necessity?

With the new year ahead of us, you may be thinking about your New Year’s Resolutions and the things that you want to make a priority for 2022. This article will explore the reasons why you should be prioritising sleep for a happier and healthier year ahead.

Mental health and wellbeing

There is a strong link between sleep and positive mental health. A lack of sleep can often be associated with common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Your brain processes your emotions whilst asleep. When we dream, working through our emotions is partly what our brain is doing. Sleep can therefore understandably help us to deal with certain emotions. Good quality sleep allows us to recognise and process how life events have impacted us and made us feel. If you are constantly lacking in sleep, it may be that you are more prone to struggle to deal with certain emotions. Wakefulness also links to the stress hormone cortisol, which is present when we are stressed or anxious.

Productivity and concentration

Through the many research studies done observing sleep, two common factors found to be impacted by lack of sleep are productivity and concentration. A study on intern doctors found that around 36% more serious medical errors were made by interns whose work schedule allowed less sleep. Ever felt that your productivity could be lacking or that some days you really struggle to concentrate? Prioritising your sleep and getting a good amount of quality sleep could be an important factor to help with this.

A stronger immune system

Research has found that better quality sleep can help the body to fight off infection. If you are often struggling with everyday colds or illnesses, then making sleep a priority could help with this. Even a small loss of sleep has been found to impact on immune function. A previous study found that participants who slept less than 7 hours were 3 times more likely to develop a common cold than participants who slept more than 8 hours.

Rest and restore

Sleep helps the body to recover, repair and regenerate. With that in mind, sleep is important to help with things such as exercise performance and abilities. Without sleep, exercise is less valuable to our physical wellbeing. Recovery and sleep are essential to progress and get the full benefits out of the activity we do. Sleep also repairs your muscles, making that muscle pain after a workout fade. Sleep contributes to repopulating your energy levels for the next challenge. If you plan to work on your fitness for 2022, then sleep is essential to reach your full fitness potential.

Ways to make sleep a priority

It may be that you previously prioritised other areas of your life, such as your social life, work, or scrolling through social media endlessly. Now that you recognise the importance of sleep and the benefits it can bring, could time for a restful night be prioritised?

Do your best to figure out what your magic number of sleep hours is. Everyone is different and there will be an optimal number of hours that you personally function best on. You could keep a sleep diary to recognise how different hours of sleep best suit you.

Try to set a continuous sleep routine, so that your body’s sleeping and waking times become a habit. Your body will naturally become familiar with these sleeping and waking times and may begin to wake or drift off naturally.

Invest in items to help give you the best quality sleep. This could include relaxing sleep spray, new pillows, or a good quality mattress. These items are sometimes overlooked, but can really aid someone’s sleep experience and the quality of sleep a person can have.

Here at Ely, we take the wellbeing of our customers seriously. We’ve created what we believe are the very best mattresses, to give you the greatest chance of prioritising your sleep for 2022.

After all, you deserve all the amazing benefits that good quality sleep can bring. If you are ready to shop, please visit our store.