Sleep. The other thing you really need.

Ah, sleep! How I resist you!

I don’t think anyone can deny that a good night’s sleep is delicious. However, most of us get up too early, go to bed too late, and always have “one more thing” that we need to do before we hit lights out. Sometime the lack of sleep is out of our control (we gotta feed the baby, wake up the kids, or meet a work deadline). However, many of us also resist taking the time to sleep because it feels, well, indulgent. Sure, we go to the gym, eat our veggies, and drink our water, but sleep? That sounds positively unproductive. I mean, couldn’t we be doing something more important with our time than being unconscious?

Turns out: No. Sleep is a vital part of whole health. Here my friends, is another wake up call on the importance of sleep. In addition to our usual good intentions (get to yoga! drink water! go for a run! eat veggies!), let’s give sleep a chance shall we?

One week sleep challenge: try to get at least seven hours a night for a week and see how you feel. For motivation:

• Harvard: Sleep and Health
• WebMD: Nine Surprising Reasons To Get More Sleep
• NIH: Why Is Sleep Important
• The Atlantic: How Sleep Deprivation Decays The Mind And Body

And an infographic to motivate you to sleep like a champion. Not just for athletes.

And…if you’re looking for a mattress, these folks at Casper want to hook you up and are offering my readers a $50 off. Discount code: PENN. I don’t receive any money from this.