You feel pretty good after about 6.5 hours of sleep. You know you can “function” on that. But have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you got 7.5 hours? Or even (gasp) 8.5 hours?
The truth is this is not even a question of self-care. It’s a matter of giving your body the time it needs to recover fully from the physical and emotional stresses of everyday. This could trickle down into a number of parts of your life that you may not be expecting.
Here are some examples.
You Could Earn an Extra $9,000 More a Year
No seriously! Going online and buying a new mattress from a retailer like PerfectSense could actually make you money!
There is reputable data that shows that people who get an extra hour of sleep makes roughly 16% more per year than their slightly sleepier coworkers. Now, consider that the average American makes $56,516 per year, that extra hour of sleep would add up to a $9,042.56 raise.
You can point to any number of reasons for this. When you sleep more, you’re in a better mood all day and more in a position to deal with stress. You’re more productive and can get through more work in a day. And you’re more alert and creative.
It also means that at the end of the workday, you have more time to earn money with some sort of side hustle.
You Could Earn Higher Grades
Everything we just said above also applies to being a student and getting better grades.
There is also data that proves that students who get more sleep earn higher grades. Again, this is because they’re giving their minds and their bodies the proper rest it needs to stay alert and retain new information.
This can be challenging when the classic image of the hardworking and good-grades-earning student is one who is up late at their desk studying and burning the midnight oil. The reality is that the highest performing students are diligent about their bedtimes and get the rest they need.
You Could Be in Better Shape
Yes, clearly, more sleep means you have more energy to hit the gym or go for a jog after work. However, it goes much deeper than that.
Getting more sleep may mean you don’t have to train quite as hard to lose weight. Sleep helps your metabolism in a number of ways. A sluggish body has a sluggish metabolism that isn’t burning calories as well as it could.
Or, if you’re trying to beef up and get “swole,” you should know that there is a direct link between your sleep and your testosterone levels. Even if you just get one less hour of sleep per weeknight (5 less hours per week) you could reduce your testosterone levels by 10-15%.
Keep in mind, everything we have talked about is achievable through simply getting one extra hour of sleep per night. That means that one less episode of something on Netflix before bed could actually lead to a higher salary or GPA, as well as looking and feeling better.
Think about it. In fact, sleep on it.
