Ok, first off, a small but significant admission, the following ramble is one stolen and poorly regurgitated from a book called, “Why We Sleep and the Science of Dreams” by Dr Matthew Walker. For the full story I encourage you to pick it up. It’s a truly eye-opening read about sleep and the importance of it.
Technology can be really helpful for tracking and improving our quality of sleep. Apps can monitor things like calorie intake, number of steps taken, physical activity, sleep patterns and so on. But technology can prevent a good night’s sleep if we don't have enough time away from our screens. Ofcom recently found that UK adults spend an average of eight hours and 41 minutes a day on media devices, compared with the average night's sleep of eight hours and 21 minutes!
On average we need around eight hours of good-quality sleep a night. Good-quality sleep is more important than the amount of sleep that you get which helps to keep you feeling healthy.
There’s a huge amount of research available which highlights the effect poor sleep has on work productivity, and how constantly being plugged in makes it more difficult for us to switch off. Regularly missing sleep can reduce your:
1. Attention and concentration. Do you notice your mind drifting or find it hard to focus?