Sleep – Are We Adults Getting Enough?

When you have children, you find a variety of tables written by the experts for the recommended number of hours your child should be sleeping per night, according to their current age. For example, as you can see on Best For Parents, babies will usually wake up every hour so they need to sleep during both the day and night. Then, as they grow older and are able to sleep through the night, they will need to get up to 9 hours of sleep in order to get enough rest to grow and learn each day. A lot of importance is put on sleep when growing up.

Why then, I wonder, is there no such chart for the adults amongst us? Joking aside, sleep is often considered a luxury for most of us when we make that move into adulthood. Adults often invest in medicine, recovery pillows (find more information here), weighted blankets, and more just to get them to sleep on time. Even then, many don’t get the amount of sleep they need throughout the night. This is because along with the job comes the home, family, and a succession of other priorities which not only play on our time but also on our minds long after our heads have hit that pillow. So, just how many hours per night are we really meant to be getting to fully function well the very next day?

While you are pondering on the thought of quantity, don’t neglect the quality as both are equally important. Not getting enough hours of sleep is one thing, but if you wake up tired even after a good 7-8 hours of sleep, then the matter is related to the quality of sleep. You need to figure out the factor behind your disturbed or not-so-sound sleep and work on that. Meanwhile, you can also try some supplements or CBD (simply buy shatter online or from a local dispensary to give it a shot) in order to help you sleep better.

Are You Getting Your Recommended Allowance?

Studies by the National Sleep Foundation (yes, there really is such a place!) state that the average adult would benefit from getting 7 hours of sleep per night. 6 hours and even 10 hours are deemed appropriate in some individual cases, but 7 is the aim. Anything below 6 hours is believed to be inappropriate, rendering people less able to function well during the waking day. However, this is easier said than done. For many of us, sleep doesn’t come easily due to many reasons.

Identifying your problem with getting enough sleep is the first step toward finding a solution. Those who deal with the problem of endless thoughts running through their heads as they lay down for rest may need to take sleep aids like melatonin, or if they like to smoke cannabis, a few drags of their favorite strain (take a look at the selection on the website of westcoastcannabis). If the problem is that you are too distracted by the things happening around you, you need to change your sleeping environment. However, if it’s your phones and gadgets that keep you up, then keep reading.

Gadgets May Be to Blame for Adults’ Lack of Sleep

Though we may berate the younger generation for their dependence on their gadgets, I often wonder if we adults are the worst culprits? Like most people, I use the alarm on my mobile phone to wake me up in the morning, as I feel it is foolproof, especially when we have random power cuts that throw out my electric alarm clock! However, recently I began to see the negative effects of having my phone to hand as I failed to fall asleep.

Time to Access the Airplane Mode!

If, like me, you simply must see what the ping on your mobile phone is, despite officially turning off the light to go to sleep, then maybe you too would benefit from disabling your internet connection overnight. I did start doing it a few weeks back by turning off the router in the evening. That way, when I got into bed, my phone was silent. The first few nights were difficult, I admit – almost like withdrawal symptoms! However, within a few days, I began to switch the router off as a bedtime ritual without really thinking about it.

Now, all I need to do is give my brain the same pep talk and who knows, I may just aim for that 7 hours recommended slot that the experts believe will help me the next morning!

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