Hardly anyone goes to bed at exactly the same time on a Monday as they do on a Friday evening. If you want to keep your body healthy for a long time, you should do exactly that.
Researchers have found that people who always go to bed and get up at the same time are more productive and successful during the day.
However, some days there is still too little sleep. This can have various reasons. It’s easy to lose track of the time when you’re watching a streaming evening or eating out with friends.
This often results in persistent tiredness, which persists even if you go to bed earlier the next day.
A regular bedtime makes you more productive
Researchers from Birmingham published a study in which they observed the sleeping habits of 61 Harvard students. The students kept a sleep diary for four weeks.
The result: Those participants with an irregular sleep rhythm had a lower grade average than those who always went to bed at the same time. The students were not only more productive, but also had fewer problems falling asleep and getting up.
The amazing thing about this result is that both groups got about the same number of hours of sleep. Only the bedtimes were different.
The study’s lead author, Andrew JK Philips, emphasizes: “Our results suggest that going to bed and waking up at the same time is just as important as the number of hours you sleep.”
This will help you sleep better
Some evenings you find it difficult to fall asleep for seemingly no reason. A possible reason for this could be different bedtimes. If you go to sleep at 10 a.m. one day and don’t go to sleep until after midnight the next day, your internal clock gets out of sync.
If you consistently go to bed at a set time instead, you will help the body’s natural sleep-wake rhythm. In this way, the body knows, regardless of external influences, that it is time to sleep at a certain time. Then it starts producing the sleep hormone melatonin in good time.
More sleep – more energy in everyday life
You are more productive if you always go to bed at the same time. You don’t have to be in bed to the exact second to do this. It’s just a matter of not having too much fluctuation in bedtime.
An irregular sleep rhythm disrupts the release of melatonin. But if you always go to sleep at the same time, you ensure a regulated release of sleep hormones and can sleep deeper and more restfully, which in turn leads to more energy in everyday life.
You feel more balanced
Another study, in which students also kept a sleep diary, found that those who had a regular sleep rhythm were happier.
On the other hand, those who went to bed at very irregular times are more unbalanced and generally unhappy.
Less stress and better immune system
So going to bed at the same time leads to better and more restful sleep. Those who sleep better are less stressed.
People with regular bedtimes have been proven to have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. According to the study, people who are genetically susceptible to cardiovascular disease also minimize their risk of having a stroke or heart attack by going to bed at the same time.
Because an irregular sleep rhythm also means that we are more stressed, have higher blood pressure and are generally more susceptible to illness.
Why do we sleep better when we go to bed at the same time?
The researchers believe that the reason why people with irregular bedtimes have problems falling asleep is due to disordered melatonin release. Melatonin is the hormone that is supposed to make you sleepy.
In people with irregular sleep patterns, melatonin release occurs up to 2.6 hours later than in those who more or less always went to bed and got up at the same time.
If you always go to bed at the same time, your body can adapt better to sleep and stimulate melatonin production.