Sleep-time Chores

Perhaps one of the reasons for going to sleep a couple of hours before midnight relates to the circadian rhythm clock located deep in the brain. It’s natural timing rhythm is reset every morning when the sun comes up over the horizon. When you go to bed late at night—or early in the morning hours—the circadian rhythm clock still want to reset itself when the sun comes up and wake you up. If you have to be to work or school early in the morning, you will likely set an alarm clock to make sure you get where you are going on time. You get up and get going on the day’s activities, and all the housekeeping chores the brain must do every night while you sleep could not be finished. Keep up the same schedule and the brain never catches up with its housekeeping chores. Estimates are that losing just one hour of sleep per night and it will shorten your life. This is one reason that sleep is said to be independently linked with longevity.