The correlation between sleep habits and our mood is typically evident as our days progress.
The tendency to lose your patience or experience frustration is often much higher following a night of poor sleep. And on the flip side, the peaceful, zen side of your personality naturally makes an appearance when you’re feeling well rested. If you have kids, I’m sure you don’t need a researcher to tell you that when your kids don’t sleep well they’re cranky the next day. It’s an obvious, but often overlooked trend.
One interesting tidbit from a study on the sleep-mood relationship is that although sleep quality has a significant impact on your mood for the subsequent day, the previous day’s mood does not have the same level of impact on quality of sleep for the following night. So even if you have a really bad day, you can still have the same quality of sleep as if you had a good day. This means that there’s always hope the sun will come out tomorrow!
If you have felt like your mood has been off lately and would like to cultivate the unwavering optimism of Leslie Knope then try focusing on your sleep!
Remember to go to sleep around the same time each night, make your room dark, and avoid alcohol and screens near your bedtime!
