It’s no great mystery that the amount of sleep that you get can impact your health on a huge level, and the benefits of a good sleep schedule have been instilled in you from birth, beginning with your mother creating a naptime routine. Now as an adult you may not require as much extra shut eye, but it’s still important to get in your 6-8 hours a night, or you may find yourself paying the consequences.

Better Focus

If you missed out on the right amount of sleep last night and you’re in the office today then chances are you’re not exactly as focused as you could be. In fact, you might find your thoughts drifting in and out of what you’re supposed to be doing and this could affect your job. If you’re a student then you may have even more to worry about because all of those notes you’ve been taking throughout the week won’t help you on the midterm if you can’t pay attention to the questions.

“A 2009 study in the journal Pediatrics found that children ages seven and eight who got less than about eight hours of sleep a night were more likely to be hyperactive, inattentive, and impulsive.” – Health.com

Going to bed at a reasonable hour will help you get up on time, and even complete a few exercises that could help with focus and thought control, such as meditation or yoga.

Better Skin

A surprising effect of good sleep patterns comes in the form of your physical appearance, and this isn’t just referring to the dark bags that can develop under your eyes when you’re tired. Sleeping an appropriate number of hours each night can actually improve the look and feel of your skin, making it smoother, less affected by discoloration or acne, and even has age defying qualities. Sleep helps regenerate cells that produce the elastin in your skin, which keeps you looking younger and healthier longer.

Improved Mood And Stamina

Aside from sleep’s effects on focus and skin, there’s the fact that not getting enough sleep will leave you tired and cranky throughout the day. This can effect business and personal life, and even cause arguments between you and your spouse over things that you wouldn’t normally argue about. Since your brain isn’t as capable of fully focusing on the situation that you’re currently in, it can make it more difficult for you to feel empathetic towards those around you, which can cause friction.

Memory Retention

Finally, getting a full night’s rest can improve your brain’s capabilities of learning and remembering. When you sleep at night your brain gets a chance to recharge, a little like a battery, and during this time it sorts through information that you’ve learned throughout the day and stores it in files throughout your mind for later use.

“It may not be surprising that it is more difficult to take in new information following a night of inadequate or disturbed sleep. What’s more surprising is that it is just as important to get a good night’s sleep after learning something new in order to process and retain the information that has been learned.” – Harvard Medical School

Whether you’re trying to remember the answer to a homework question or calling to mind what you had for dinner last night, if your brain isn’t rested, you may not always find the answers that you’re looking for.