{"id":28302,"date":"2024-07-18T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2024-07-18T13:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/restonic.com\/sin-categorizar\/weekday-sleep-weekend-sleep-2228"},"modified":"2024-08-08T08:54:43","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T12:54:43","slug":"weekday-sleep-weekend-sleep-2228","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restonic.com\/es\/better-sleep-es\/weekday-sleep-weekend-sleep-2228","title":{"rendered":"Is There a Difference Between Weekday Sleep vs. Weekend Sleep"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can weekend sleep repay your weeknight sleep debt?<\/h2>\n

\"\"Monday to Friday, you wake up early for work and stay up late to enjoy social engagements \u2013 or finish your chores. By the end of the week, all you want to do is sleep in. Late. You snooze a few extra hours on Saturday morning to stay out late that night, head to bed early on Sunday and start the\u00a0sleep cycle<\/a>\u00a0all over.<\/p>\n

Or should we say lack of sleep cycle? There\u2019s nothing wrong with making up sleep time on the weekends, is there?\u00a0To regulate your sleep schedule successfully, you need to understand two important sleep concepts \u2013 sleep drive and internal circadian biological clocks.<\/p>\n

What does \u201csleep drive\u201d mean?<\/h3>\n

Sleep drive is similar to the gas light on your car\u2019s dashboard \u2013 it alerts your body when it needs to sleep. The longer you\u2019re awake, the more your body needs sleep. Likewise, your need to sleep dissipates when you\u2019re snoozing at night, filling up that gas tank so you\u2019re ready for action the next morning.<\/p>\n

In the morning, we should be waking up with a full tank and as we go through our days, our tanks slowly empty until there\u2019s nothing left and we need more sleep again. When we finally give into slumber, our tanks gradually fills again, allowing us to wake up well rested with an full tank once again.<\/p>\n

What does \u201cinternal circadian biological clock\u201d mean?<\/h3>\n

Your\u00a0circadian clock<\/a>\u00a0regulates the timing of alertness and sleepiness throughout the day, rising and falling at different times. The strongest sleep drive (need for sleep) for adults usually occurs between the hours of 2 am to 4 am and during that afternoon rough sluggish patch, between 1 pm and 3 pm. The feeling of grogginess you experience during these times will feel less intense when you\u2019ve had an adequate amount of sleep, and more powerful when you\u2019re sleep deprived.<\/p>\n

As easy as Sunday morning\u2026 late Sunday morning<\/h3>\n

After a week of early mornings and late nights, our natural reaction is to crave more sleep on the weekends. While extra shut eye on Saturday and Sunday mornings feel good (and a happy habit we\u2019ve held onto since our teenager years), it can potentially throw a wrench into both your sleep drive and circadian rhythm for the upcoming week. Sleeping in late disrupts the balance between our sleep drive and circadian clock, which can result in disrupted sleep, causing crankiness, grogginess and worse, possible depression. Yikes.<\/p>\n

And if your social calendar is full on the weekends, there\u2019s even more to worry about. Going to bed early on Sunday makes sense right? Unfortunately, this probably won\u2019t work. Staying up late and sleeping in through the weekend, combined with thoughts of a stressful upcoming week can cause \u201csleep onset\u00a0insomnia<\/a>.\u201d With your sleep drive and circadian clock thrown off, your body is simply not ready to sleep.<\/p>\n

Sleep experts debate whether you can make up for a week of sleep deprivation on the weekend\u2026<\/h2>\n

It seems that the experts can\u2019t seem to make up their minds on this. On one hand, we\u2019re told to stick to a regular sleep schedule and go to bed at and rise at the same time every day. That seemed like sound, straightforward advice. Then along came a Swedish study that has muddied the waters and cast some doubt on a strict sleep routine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"IsIn a study published by the Journal of Sleep in May 2018, researchers from the Stress Research Institute of Stockholm University tracked more than 38,000 people. Over the course of 13 years, they studied their weekend versus weekday sleeping habits.<\/p>\n

Many previous sleep studies asked participants to chart their hours of sleep over a period of time, without taking into account differences between workday or weekend<\/a>. And the conclusion was grim. People under the age of 65 who slept less than 5 hours or less every night, all week long, failed to live as long as sleepers who slept 7 hours a night consistently. But the Swedish study found this was not the case when short-changed snoozers caught up on their sleep with an extra hour or two on weekends. They lived just as long as those habitual 7-hour sleepers.<\/p>\n

Some sleep experts<\/a> are uncertain about the conclusions though. Michael Grandner, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona\u2019s College of Medicine is one doubter. He said that sleep is not like financial transaction where you can deposit sleep over the weekend and cash in on it later.<\/p>\n

Beyond expert opinion, there\u2019s a pile of research that backs up the merits of consistency and sticking to a sleep routine. Studies<\/a>\u00a0show that people suffering from chronic insomnia are 5 times more likely to develop depression and 20 times more likely to develop panic disorder.<\/p>\n

Naps, siestas, quick snoozes \u2013 oh my!<\/h2>\n

What\u2019s the alternative? Walking around like sleepless zombies? Of course not. One solution (that we wish was the solution to every problem) is to supercharge with a\u00a0power nap<\/a>!<\/p>\n

During the\u00a0work week, napping<\/a>\u00a0can seem like an unobtainable gift from the sleep fairy. But if you can sneak one in, it\u2019s a great way replenish energy. On the weekends try to eliminate the concept of sleeping in late, wake up at your normal time and replace that snooze time with an afternoon nap. As with all things sleep, balance is essential. Without causing a disruption in your natural pattern, there are 3 optimal nap times; 20 min, 60 min and 90 min naps.<\/p>\n

Learning how to balance work, life AND sleep<\/p>\n

Struggling to balance your sleep during the week and on the weekends? Feel free to steal these tips help you enjoy your life, get your work done AND optimize your sleep.<\/p>\n