Sleep is very important to us; not only does it provide the energy that we need for the next day, but there are many other processes that go on as well, whilst we sleep.  These processes include such things as releasing growth hormones as well as helping us to heal and generally have a better state of health. It is therefore important to get enough sleep; just as important though, is that the sleep is of as good a quality as possible; to ensure that we maximise the quality of sleep having a good routine is essential. Therefore, the question of whether or not you should sleep in or wake up at your usual time is not as straightforward as it may seem. If you regularly finding that you’re going to bed late and therefore have a sleeping habit that lacks a routine then doing what you can to change this can be quite important. It may be that you are awake later because you have things to do and you have to stay up late to ensure that they get done; however, it is entirely possible that the reason you’re not getting things done is because your level of performance is lower than it should be because you’re not getting enough good quality sleep.

If you regulate your sleeping times then it is possible to enjoy the benefits of a good quality night’s sleep on a regular basis which will result in you feeling more alert, having more energy and having a high level of performance can mean that you’re able to get things done on time. However, if a late night is just a one-off and you routine is quite good otherwise, then it can be beneficial to sleep in a little bit later because sleep is so important – you don’t want to risk breaking your routine though. Alternatively, if you are unable to sleep in, taking a nap during the day can help you to catch up on sleep, but taking naps on a regular basis in order to catch up on sleep is also not necessarily advisable, unless you work on a schedule which involves you working different shifts, in this case, taking a nap can sometimes be beneficial, as long as you don’t take too long a nap resulting in you feeling tired when you wake up.

If you’re able to wake naturally at a usual time then this is a good thing, this suggest that you are getting enough sleep so if you do go to bed late and trying to wake yourself up at your usual time will probably leave you feeling tired and this feeling can last for the rest of the day. If you are unable to wake up naturally, then this suggests that you’re not getting enough sleep.  If you require an alarm clock to wake you up then it is worth trying to rearrange your sleeping habits to enable you to wake up more naturally.