Surprising Ways Sleep Changes Affect Your Life

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Because I work from home, it’s easy for me to let my sleep schedule slip out of my control. All it takes is for me to say yes to a 4pm activity, and suddenly I’m wrapping up work at 10pm, having dinner at 11pm, dozing off at 2am and…waking up at nearly noon the next day. I do love the freedom that the freelance life gives me, but I also need to enforce some structure or I can start to feel like a less-than-functional member of society. I’m freelance, yes, but I shouldn’t let the freedom part of that get out of hand. Sticking to a regular sleep schedule—particularly one that lets you be awake for plenty of sunlight—is very important for your physical and emotional health. A small adjustment in your sleep schedule can cause problems. Becoming a total night owl can really have some serious consequences. Here is how drastic sleep changes affect your life.

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It affects your social life

You start to see friends less, because you simply aren’t on their schedule. They’re having happy hour drinks at 5pm, but you just started work at noon, so you’ll be working until 8pm or 9pm. You also can’t join them for a morning workout class because you’ll still be asleep. But missing out on friendship can lead to depression—we are social creatures after all.