Refreshed and Ready to Tackle Another Monday

I'm here to tell you today that there is no better way to start your Monday morning than a good night's sleep. All too often on Mondays I see my coworkers dragging themselves in while yawning all throughout their day because they didn't get enough sleep. The problem is that their lack of energy is also a drain on their productivity. This is evident even to the untrained person, but as I thought about this topic I did what most curious minds do... I googled it. Here is an interest tidbit of information for you from a recent Harvard study discussed at http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/importance_of_sleep_and_health. Quoting directly from this link, I found this information quite interesting…

The Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests six reasons to get enough sleep:

 Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
 Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
 Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
 Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
 Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
 Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.


Back to my own original thoughts on this issue. It doesn't take a rocket scientist (or a sleep scientist for that matter) to figure out that you perform better when you are well rested and refreshed from a good night's sleep. I recently invested in a new mattress, and now it feels like I'm sleeping on a cloud every night! I can honestly say that I feel better every morning since having the new mattress. Who would have thought a new bed could lead to a new and improved me? I wake up easier in the morning and feel more alive and awake and ready to tackle the day when I get in the office. So the moral of this story is... INVEST IN YOURSELF! Whether it be allowing yourself more time for that needed cat nap or a new bed to make your slumber more tranquil, take the time to ensure your body and mind have the much needed reward of a good night's sleep.