Going to bed at the same time every night is sometimes a feat. Well yes, we can swear to ourselves that we will be under the sheets at 11 p.m., we find ourselves caught in a breathless episode of House of Cards and the time to finish said episode, it is 1h30 (well, ok, maybe it was more than one episode). Result, the next day, we are slammed and we go to bed at 10 p.m. On paper, it does not look very serious:obviously, the body regulates itself, right? But now a study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston could change our view of things:according to them, people who go to bed at a fixed time are more successful in life and at work.
The study, which is quite limited, it must be recognized, was conducted with 61 Harvard students. Their sleep and circadian rhythms were measured and they were asked to keep a diary of their nights. Data that was then compared to their academic results. Verdict? The "bad performers" in terms of sleep, i.e. those whose bedtimes were random, had on average scores one point below the others. And that's not all:the "good students" had an easier time getting up in the morning and falling asleep faster in the evening. The reason ? Going to bed at different times every night disrupts the release of melatonin, the sleep hormone, and disrupts the biological clock. This creates a lag almost comparable to jet lag that for students with irregular bedtimes, a 9 a.m. class could feel like it's 6 a.m., which affects productivity.
In conclusion, the researchers say that going to bed at the same time every night is as important as getting enough sleep. Well, ok, we promise, we limit ourselves to one episode of the series tonight!
