After a long week of working and barely being able to rest, weekend is the best time to catch up on sleep. However, sleeping in on weekends can make it really hard to wake up on Monday morning. Let’s look at the reasons why sleeping in on weekends is bad for you.
Sleeping In Doesn’t Help You Catch Up On Sleep
Studies show that an average American over the age of 16 is unable to get more than 6 hours of sleep at night. That is much less than the required 8 to 9 hours of sleep. Thus, when the weekend comes in, these sleep deprived individuals sleep through the day. What they don’t realize is that sleeping in on weekends upsets their sleeping cycle for the following week.
Sleeping in on weekends upsets the circadian clock of your body. Your body’s circadian clock is what helps it coordinate with your behavior and the daily environmental changes of day and night. By sleeping in on the weekend, your body’s circadian clock is delayed, which is what gives you the blues on Monday morning. To keep your body’s clock in sync with the daily changes of day and night, get your full eight hours of sleep. The best way to avoid grogginess during the weekdays is to stick with a proper sleep schedule.
Disturbing Natural Sleep Cycle Leads To Health Problems
Improper sleep schedules or sleep deprivation can also lead to health problems, such as stress, weight gain, weight loss, headaches and body aches. You may already be experiencing these symptoms when you wake up Monday morning or after sleeping in for several hours on the weekend.
However, the disturbed sleep cycle not only causes the above symptoms but can lead to serious illnesses as well. People without proper sleep habits have a greater chance of developing cancer, hypertension and diabetes. Moreover, once you have slept for several hours during the day, you are less likely to fall asleep at night time, which means you will be sleeping late and waking up late again. Disturbed sleep cycles also lead to insomnia which causes people to resort to sleeping pills.
Leads to Bad Eating Habits
Because you have been sleeping for long hours over the weekend, when you wake up your stomach is empty. An empty stomach in the morning makes you crave high calorie foods. Moreover, if you are behind schedule, you may be stopping over for some convenience foods, such as donuts or cream cheese bagels.
Affects Career
Disturbed sleep also affects your focus and attention, which means that when you go to work Monday morning, you are less likely to perform well. A distracted and disheveled employee is not going to make a good impression on the employer.
Hopefully, the above reasons are sufficient to help you make better decisions regarding your sleep cycle. Keep a consistent routine to help your body’s clock stay in sync with your wall clock.
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