Sleep Debt: Are you behind on sleep?

Are you in sleep debt?

You may or may not have heard of the concept, but chances are most of us experience it. Sleep debt is the backlog of sleep over days or weeks.

The difference between the hours you should have been asleep and your current reality.

I know people keep arguing back and forth, but the science holds good for eight hours. You need it each night.

So each time you fall short, you have added to your debt.

Let us take my example. I run short sixty minutes most nights. Catching up in the evening by taking a quick nap is something I try.

Lovely weekends, ideal for naps, become busy with a thousand things to do.

So I am in sleep debt.

What is worse, naps do not help. They do not help you mitigate the effects of the debt.

The biggest challenge to a good sleep routine is our lifestyle. Late nights, parties, social gatherings, dinners and more.

It is not in my place to judge. Simply to report facts. The human body was not designed for this. In fact, until recently, we were not subjecting ourselves to this.

Ask if your grandparents, who you claim ate and drank everything, and were yet healthy, slept at 2 am in their childhood.

Chances are they did not. Instead, they were up at the crack of dawn, because that was the only lifestyle feasible. I know my grandparents woke up early.

So what am I doing to fix things and what can you do?

I wake up early. So my only option is to sleep earlier. Slowly, that is how I shifted my debt from 2 hours to sixty minutes.

Unlike me, some people find it harder to fall asleep. The most likely reason is a variable schedule and lack of exposure to morning sunlight.

Sleep requires rhythm.

Adequate sleep is easily one of the most powerful health hacks you can find.

Reach out to me on twitter @rbawri Instagram @riteshbawriofficial and YouTube at www.youtube.com/breatheagain