Why is a sleep schedule important?

I can see the benefit of going to bed at the same time every night if you have problems falling asleep, but is there any reason to believe establishing a sleep schedule would provide more refreshing sleep? I can find lots of posts telling you to go to bed/wake up same time every day, but not a whole lot regarding WHY.

davecpap wrote:I can see the benefit of going to bed at the same time every night if you have problems falling asleep, but is there any reason to believe establishing a sleep schedule would provide more refreshing sleep? I can find lots of posts telling you to go to bed/wake up same time every day, but not a whole lot regarding WHY.

I don't know why, for sure, but it is obvious to me that changes in sleep schedules result in a few days of less refreshing sleep while adjusting to the new schedule. Jet lag, you know, causes this problem, and everyone is well acquainted with the issue.


It just makes sense to me that if you sleep in on week-ends, for example, and go back to a regular schedule on Monday, Monday's not going to be a very good day.

That's really all I can think of. Constantly changing your sleep schedule is going to leave you forever unadapted and will be like having jet lag every day.

There have been studies done on shift workers and flight attendants that show premature aging and for women problems with their menstrual cycles.