DOWN & OUT

Social jet lag occurs when you change your sleep schedule on weekends or days off by staying up later and sleeping in the next morning. Here's how to not fall into the trap

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For most of us, weekends are for relaxing, unwinding and recharging our batteries for the week ahead. They are also about having fun and catching up with our nearest and dearest, which can mean late nights and late mornings. Going to bed and waking up later on weekends can lead to side effects that are similar to changing time zones, without having gone anywhere (other than that party that was just a short Uber ride away).

BREAK IN ROUTINE

Going to bed and waking up later on weekends is something that we are all guilty of, even if it’s done sporadically. While it might seem like a harmless vice, it can actually be quite harmful to your health.

“Social jet lag promotes practically everything that’s bad in our bodies,” says Till Roenneberg, professor of chronobiology at Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich (and the guy who coined the term). “Your cognitive performance is greatly reduced. Memory capacity and social competence is reduced. Your entire performance is going to suffer. The way you make decisions is changed. Simply put, if we are sleep-deprived, we behave quite differently than when we sleep enough.”