5 Good Things That Can Happen Whilst You Sleep

In partnership with Electric Living

Do you ever feel like you need more hours in the day? Maybe you wake up earlier or go to bed later to fit more in.  We’ve all been there. But there is a lot of good that can happen when you are asleep - both naturally within your body, as well as on your To Do list with just a little bit of forward planning.

Let’s dive into what those things may be.

 

 

1.  Your Body Can Reset Itself

When you are asleep, many functions in your body wake up and get to work, as your body resets itself piece by piece. During your sleep, your body is strengthening your immune system, repairing tissues, regulating your hormone levels and many more fascinating things. This is when you recover and heal. So if you are feeling rundown, perhaps have an injury or have just had a lot going on, make sure that your sleep does not suffer.

 

2.  Your Mind Can Recharge

Good sleep is essential for your emotional wellbeing. Whilst your body is physically healing and recharging, so too is your mind as it works to regulate mood and as such lower levels of stress, and anxiety. When you are not well rested, your body produces more cortisol to function which leads to higher feelings of stress. This means that when you wake after a good night’s sleep, your cortisol levels will be lower meaning you’ll be able to handle situations better than you would when tired. Your energy and concentration levels will also be improved, allowing you to be more present in your day and your relationships, more productive and as a result, calmer and happier. And all of this mind work happens when you are asleep.

 

3.  You Can Reap The Beauty Benefits

Getting your beauty sleep is a real concept (it’s like… scientifically proven and everything) When you sleep well, your body is able to increase blood flow to your skin & hair, keeping them healthier. You are less likely to have dark circles under your eyes. Your eyes generally are brighter and whiter when you are not tired. All of this results in  you looking more rested, which in turn makes you look happier and healthier. And that’s possibly because you are, because your stress levels can increase when you have slept poorly, as we covered above.

 

4.  You Can Get A Head Start On Your Day

Automation is the real MVP. Moving on from the physical and mental aspects of good things happening when you sleep, there is also a lot that you can get done overnight when you set a timer. Like household chores. Many of us let the dishwasher run overnight for convenience, but do you also set timers on other appliances in your home? Why not set the washing machine or dryer to work overnight, so that all you have to do is empty it in the morning? Or set your slow cooker to make tomorrow’s dinner the night before. Or make sure that your hot water system does most of its work after 9pm. And what about charging things? You can really set yourself up for the day if all of your devices are plugged in ready to charge the night before. A prepared mind is a calm mind. (Pro Tip! Charge your phone away from your bed in another room to avoid the blue light affecting your sleep - that’s a double win right there.) Oh, and the real cherry on the cake is that lot of this nocturnal activity can reduce your electricity bill* too, as it’s often cheaper overnight.

*Cheaper for customers on an Economy 12 low-rate tariff whose evening time band starts on or before 9pm. More info here.

 

 

5.  You Can Help Your Local Environment

Finally, the sprinkles on top of that cherry on that cake (we’re continuing the metaphor here… just go with us…) is that by moving some of your electricity usage to when you are sleeping, you will actually be helping your local environment. But how, we hear you ask? It’s because, generally, we do not use as much electricity on the island between the hours of 9pm and 5am, when the majority of businesses are closed and most people are asleep, so Guernsey Electricity does not need to use diesel-powered generators to top up the imported low carbon electricity supply. In fact, after 11pm, 100% of Guernsey’s electricity is imported low carbon energy, which means that the power station is not being used to generate electricity for us at all, which helps to reduce the use of fossil fuels and carbon emissions on the island. Oh, and the best time to move your usage to overnight whilst you are sleeping is during the winter too, when electricity tends to be used more for heating and more indoor activities across the island, so the power station is needed more to top up the demand.

 

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to start getting more things done when you are asleep!

 

Electric Living is brought to you by Guernsey Electricity to help bring together the electrical industry and its customers under a unified mission – to leave fossil-fuels behind and help reduce our island’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

Guernsey Electricity has been supplying the power behind islanders’ freshly washed clothes, Sunday roasts and morning brews for over 100 years. Now many of us are enjoying advanced technology that could only have been imagined in the 20th century, powered almost entirely by nature. Find out more at electricliving.gg