Lack of sleep is becoming a widespread problem, with people finding it increasingly harder to juggle the work-life balance effectively, with sleep hitting the bottom of the list of "important things to do".  Ironically, sleep is one of the most important things we should be doing in order to keep up with the demands of modern day life.

Cutting back on sleep in order to make time for other things is a dangerous game to play. Sleep allows our brains to process the days events and gives our muscles and organs time to rejuvinate and prepare for the next day. While sleep isn't fully understood, it is well known that lack of sleep is harmful to health and can lead to sleeping disorders developing.

You might not notice the effects in the first few days or even weeks of not getting enough sleep, however your body does and the effects build up gradually, leaving your body and mind to get tireder and tireder as the deprivation goes on. Waking up feeling groggy and still tired is a sure sign of lack of sleep, and while most of us can make up for lack of sleep either the next night or at the weekend, some people choose to ignore the early warning signs and push on. Some of the visible signs of lack of sleep are dull skin, tired eyes with dark circles underneath them, irritability and inability to be able to perform simple tasks without either messing them up or getting unduly stressed about them. It may be at this point you turn to pep-pills or other stimulants to try and keep you awake and your energy levels up to help you get through the day and evening. Your day to day life will be affected without a doubt, and this will end up spilling over into your personal life, meaning that family or social gatherings will become a chore rather than a pleasure, something you dread going to rather than look forward to going to, and the irony of it is, it is probably due to wanting or having to keep up a high level of social activity that your sleep is being neglected. Working long hours then having to fit a full social life in is never going to be easy and you eventually have to take a step back and re-assess your priorities. Lack of sleep never made anyone the life and soul of the party, so rather than trying to be everywhere and please everyone all of the time pick and choose so you can be sure you are getting enough time to recharge your batteries.