Having good sleep is super important when doing computer programming

For most programmers, sleep is an afterthought. It gets in the way of coding. Of inspiration. Of progress. But sleep is an important part of your mental and physical health and is essential in keeping your body running smoothly.

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania looked at how diet affects sleep and they found there is a correlation between length of sleep, calories consumed and variety in your diet. Those that slept a “normal” amount of time, defined as 7–8 hours, consumed an average number of calories. But more importantly they ate a large variety of foods.

Normal sleepers, however, showed the highest food variety in their diets, and very short sleepers had the least variation in what they ate. A varied diet tends to be a marker for good health since it includes multiple sources of nutrients.

Sleep plays a critical role in helping our bodies and minds recover and rejuvenate. As a result, sleep contributes to improvements in learning and promotes regulatory functions such as emotional and behavioral control that are important for each and every day. Some examples of physiological and behavioral benefits of sleep include:

• Improving our ability to learn new information and form memories
• Restoring neural connections
• Assisting in optimal emotional control, decision-making, and social interaction

Because sleep plays such a crucial role in human functioning, lack of sleep can lead to a number of consequences affecting behavior, memory, emotions, and learning when we are awake. These consequences can include:

• Inattention, irritability, hyperactivity, poor impulse control and difficulty multi-tasking
• Impaired memory
• Impaired math calculation skills

In extreme sleep deprivation, consequences can even include mood swings and hallucinations.

When we do not get the sleep we need, our bodies do not forget; we go into sleep debt. Our bodies continue to pay back this debt by trying to get sleep whenever possible, which can result in microsleeps.

• You may not notice inadvertent sleeping during the day (even in class or when studying!) that can last just seconds. These microsleeps impede concentration and negatively impact retention of information.

Additionally, individuals often use caffeine or others stimulants to stay awake. This not only puts them at risk for the consequences of poor sleep, but also the negative health effects of increased stimulant consumption.

Sleep is super important when doing computer programming.

1. Getting the proper rest boosts your mental health by helping your brain remember tasks easier.
2. If we have assignments that need to be done for a new project in three weeks, proper rest can help us remember these tasks outside of writing notes.
3. A sufficient amount of rest also supports decision-making — an extremely critical skill for developers, since a lot of the code we write is based on making decisions and using logic.
4. Sleeping well will allow you to concentrate on your tasks better, therefore allowing you to get more done with fewer bugs.
5. On the other hand, a lack of sleep leads to poor attention and less efficient learning. With more sleep, you will be able to consolidate memories, which is essential for learning new information.

A sufficient amount of rest also supports decision-making — an extremely critical skill for developers, since a lot of the code we write is based on making decisions and using logic. Sleeping well will allow you to concentrate on your tasks better, therefore allowing you to get more done with fewer bugs.