Something that's such a fundamental part of being alive shouldn't be such a challenge, but alas, for many of us achieving a good night's sleep seems like seeking the holy grail. Our world is more connected than ever before, and our lives far busier than they've ever been, leading to our sleeping patterns being neglected in favour of other 'more pressing' priorities: that one last email before bed, that one more episode on Netflix or that one last scroll through your social feeds that actually turns into an hour long marathon. Our society has drilled into us the belief that we can survive on less and less sleep (and often need to do so in order to be successful - Margaret Thatcher famously said she survived on on four hours shut-eye,) but actually a quality and length regular sleep doesn't just help us look our best, but it's vital for maintaining good mental and physical health.
A good night's sleep allows the brain to take in new information and strengthen our memories, as well as having a positive impact on our mood, energy level and ability to concentrate. However, if we don't get a good rest every night it can affect our work, cause relationship problems and make it difficult to complete even simple tasks. (If you've tried and failed to even make a cup of coffee when you're running on empty, you know what I mean!) It's crucial to our health that we learn to sleep well and take the time to recoup from our busy lives when the sun goes down, both for immediate and...