by Madeline McMahon
date: 10/19/2021
Stress: the one thing everyone has but nobody wants. No matter what you do or how you handle stressful situations, you’ll still experience some level of anxiety. However, there are ways to reduce it to more tolerable levels. One of the best ways to do that is by maintaining a better sleep schedule. Continue reading to find out how quality sleep can help decrease stress.
Improves Concentration
Have you ever had those days at work when you just can’t seem to focus? Most of the time, this is because of a lack of sleep. Sure, you can caffeinate yourself, but that doesn’t solve the problem; it only delays it. Either you’ll crash later in the day, or you’ll be wide-awake late into the evening, leading to another sleepless night. It’s a never-ending cycle that just creates more stress and anxiety in the days to come.
Getting yourself back on a regular schedule of eight hours of sleep every night will decrease that type of anxiety and help you focus your efforts more on the demands of the day.
Regulates Your Mood
Everyone knows that a lack of sleep leads to grumpiness. What’s worse is that, in extreme cases, it can lead to real mood swings. You’re perfectly happy one minute and full of rage the next. Living with a hair-trigger temper is sure to stress you out—not to mention, it’ll do the same to anyone around you.
If you get the rest you need, you’ll wake up refreshed and in a much better mood than you would have otherwise. Then, no matter what stressors you encounter, you’ll be able to deal with them without immediately falling into a dour mood or flying off the handle.
Restores the Body
There’s a reason why all living things sleep. Our bodies aren’t made to run 24 hours a day. Just like a phone, we need to recharge. Without that, we won’t be able to run at full capacity the next day, which will lead to messing up at work, forgetting important information, or spending the whole day on the couch doing nothing. If we take the time to recharge ourselves fully, we’ll be more ready for the day to come.
Leads to a More Consistent Daily Cycle
You’ve likely spent many a night up late stressing about things in the coming days. As mentioned, when this interrupts your sleep, it leads to more stress, causing an endless cycle of misery.
Instead, if you make a point of getting enough sleep, you will have less anxiety throughout the day. Consequently, you’ll have less stress at night to keep you up, leading to even better sleep.
But how do you start making that change? Well, it’s entirely up to you and whatever works best. Some people like to put on relaxing sounds to help them fall asleep. Others just need more comfortable sheets, like Olive and Crate’s eucalyptus bedding sets. Regardless of how you go about it, you can accomplish this goal more easily now that you know how quality sleep can help decrease stress.
