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You experience sleep debt when you get less sleep than what your body requires. It builds up over time, so if you consistently get less sleep than you need, your debt will increase. For example, you would have a four-hour debt if you slept for four hours when you needed to sleep for eight. You will accrue a debt of 28 hours if you do this for the next seven days.
In a related manner, even if it doesn't seem like you're losing a lot of sleep, if you stay up 20 or 40 minutes later than usual for a few days, that can soon add up to your sleep debt. The gap between how much sleep you need and how much sleep you get is known as sleep debt or sleep deficit. Over time, sleep debt accumulates and can be harmful to your health.
Consequences of Sleep Debt
Our sleep cycle is intimately connected to our well-being cycle. If you often don't get enough sleep, you might:
- Feel exhausted all day long
- Lose the ability to focus and work well throughout the day
- Erode your Immune system
- Make it harder for your brain to take in and remember new information
If you are sleep deprived, you might not always feel weary. According to research, you can adjust to persistent sleep deprivation. Therefore, even if you don't feel tired, your body may be suffering from severe losses in both mental and physical function. A lot of us tend to express pride about the all-nighters we spend studying, binge-watching, or relaxing. In the long run, none of these nights add to our mental health.
How to Get Rid of Sleep Debt Quickly
There are ways to pay off the debt, and our mental health doesn't have to experience the losses. Here are some ways you can get rid of sleep debt:
1) Set a Practical Objective
In a perfect society, there would be no debt for anyone. Having zero sleep debt is fanciful in the real world with hectic schedules and busy lives. Instead, strive for a sleep debt of no more than five hours.
Most people can feel well and function at or close to their best when their sleep debt is less than five hours. Additionally, it allows you some flexibility if you want to stay up late one night to watch one more Netflix program!
2) Get More Sleep
Any additional hours of sleep you can obtain will help you reduce your sleep debt, whether you choose to stay up a bit later, wake up a little later, or take a nap in the middle of the day. The strategy you should pursue is quality with quantity. The more rested we are, the better we perform on a daily basis.
3) Understand Your Sleep Debt
Knowing how much sleep debt you are carrying is crucial for the following reasons: if you don't know how many hours of sleep you need to catch up on, you won't be able to tell if you've recovered from severe sleep deprivation. In other words, if you're serious about reducing your sleep debt, you need to be aware of what it is.
Your debt is generally calculated using sleep data from the last 14 days. It's important to be able to see that figure since you might not even be aware that you're feeling the impact of a significant debt. Humans can biologically adjust to frequent sleep loss within a few nights. So even though you may think everything is going well, your performance is getting worse.
4) Taking Naps Frequently
If you haven't had enough sleep, you should take a, 10- to 20-minute nap. You'll feel more rested and ready to take on different chores throughout the day. People who lack sleep can benefit from naps in the following ways:
- Reduces exhaustion, increases energy, enhances mental performance and reduces your sense of sleepiness.
However, taking a nap won't help you make up for missing sleep. Naps can help you feel less tired and give you more energy, but they shouldn't disrupt your regular sleep schedule.
5) Utilise Weekends for Sleeping
To make up for your lack of sleep, you can also get more rest by sleeping in on the weekends. It's unclear how much sleep deprivation this may compensate for by staying at home. According to one study, sleep deprivation can cause metabolic dysregulation and weight gain, which cannot be reversed by sleeping in on weekends.
6) Think about Sleep
You need to reevaluate your connection with sleep in order to recuperate and prevent going into debt. Consider getting enough sleep as preventative medicine rather than another task. Keep in mind that sleep can improve your health and reduce disease. You should begin to consider sleep an essential component of your life and general well-being.
Takeaway
Sleep cannot be "banked" for a brief night of rest later in the week. But there are methods to reduce your debt. One solution is to start spending a bit more time in bed every night until you catch up on your lost sleep. The afternoon dip is a good time for naps as well. If you have no other choice but to sleep in, do so, but not for more than an hour past your normal wake-up time.
