Sleep is the marijuana of habits. Quality sleep for a long enough period of time will kickstart your desire of improving more areas of your life. Start improving your sleep habits and realize the immense benefits of sleep.
Since writing my first blog on the importance of sleep over two years ago, I’ve learned more about how beneficial quality sleep is. When I consider all the different healthy habits a person can pursue, I believe sleep is the most important.
Your body goes through complex cycles and rhythms every day and each plays into your alertness, drowsiness, emotional states, hormonal balances, and so on. Sleep plays a huge factor in these cycles.
If you research the connection between mental health and sleep, you’ll find a laundry list of disorders and their link to sleep. Some people will say their depression prevents them from sleeping, however, sleep (or lack of it) is exacerbating the depression. It’s the same for anxiety, seasonal affective disorder, ADHD severity, and more.
So many seemingly insignificant habits can lead to drastic results. For example, using your phone between 11 PM and 4 AM is linked to increased depressive thoughts, getting natural light right when you wake up tells your body to start cycling sleep molecules to prepare for nighttime, and increasing vitamin D (especially during winter) promotes healthier sleep.
I think before you focus on any other habits, you should fix and regulate your sleep. Do the research you need to in order to determine what your body needs. That means seeing if you’re low in magnesium and/or vitamin D, putting your phone away before bed, going outside, getting proper amounts and the same amount of rest, and more.
Fix your sleep before you fix anything else. When you’re fully rested, your mind and body will be ready to take on more. Sleep will give you the motivation and energy to improve more aspects of your life.
Fix your sleep, change your life.
Here are some resources to realize the benefits of sleep:
- Andrew Huberman Podcast
- Sleep and Mental Health Article
- Magnesium and Sleep
- Sleep Molecules
December 16, 2022
