According to The Daily Beast, researchers at Utrecht University have found that mismanaging time before bed is detrimental enough to deserve its own diagnosis. Scientists surveyed 177 people to see just how sleep procrastination can impact not only the quality of their shut-eye but also their general health the next day. Interestingly, they hypothesize that because we're so tired at the end of the day, we lack self-control, and therefore resist our sleepy pangs. Of course, the most obvious outcome the experts found the next day was fatigue, but they also discovered that the participants were less able to establish a routine the next day, in addition to reports of poor concentration and an increased risk of impulsivity. (Maybe those who tend to play it safe would benefit from some good old-fashioned sleep deprivation? I jest.)
As everyone from scientists to Arianna Huffington will have you know, there has long been too little emphasis on the importance of sleep in our culture, something that has certainly not been alleviated with the dawn of modern technology. So add these time-wasting habits to your checklist of what not to do—I know I will. We all complain about how tired we are all the time, so how about we, um, actually go to bed?
P.s The sleep doctor says…stop hitting snooze! The short bursts of sleep you get in between grappling with the alarm can disrupt your body clock so you feel drowsy later in the day and have a hard time nodding off at night. The result: a cycle of sleepiness. If you're not ready to bound out of bed, hit the snooze button just once and use those few minutes to wake yourself up slowly with a few gentle stretches.
Janet K. Kennedy, PhD, clinical psychologist, sleep specialist, New York City
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That's an interesting blog post !
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