The importance of sleep

Did you know that teenagers should get between 8 and 10 hours of sleep, every night?

We’re willing to bet that you probably don’t get that much sleep, consistently. How do we know? Recent research in the USA suggests that 90% get less than the recommended amount of sleep.

We know that it can be difficult to hit the 8-10 mark. From TikTok doom scrolling to endless homework and everything in between, there are plenty of distractions out there that can keep you awake long into the night.

So, why is sleep so important?

It helps us retain information – if you’ve been cramming revision late before a test the next day, if you don’t sleep enough, that revision is a waste of time. You might as well throw the cue cards away. A good, deep sleep helps your brain to store everything you’ve learnt, so you can head into a test prepared.

It gives your body much-needed rest – the obvious one, but your whole body needs time to reset and refresh too, so you have enough energy to go about your day.

It maintains good mental health – with consistent sleep, you can think more clearly, process emotions more easily and also better cope with change.

It keeps you healthy – good sleep actually stops you from getting sick as often, stay at a healthy weight and even helps you with growth.

It allows your body to go into repair mode – so that it can heal damaged tissues, muscles and cells while you sleep.

For ways to help improve your night-time routine, check out this post.