Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Buffalo Bills are in Atlanta to take on the Falcons on Monday night with the hopes of improving to 5-1 before their Week 7 bye, and a chance to get some rest.
This week's Monday night slate features a pair of games in prime-time, with the Bills-Falcons matchup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium being in an earlier time slot at 7:15 p.m., compared to the usual 8:20 p.m. time slot.
How much does the earlier start time potentially impact your sleep schedule?
"It can have a significant beneficial impact, because that's one less hour of sleep deprivation you would otherwise have," said Dr. Eric Tenbrock, program director for the sleep medicine program at UBMD Physicians' Group.
Dr. Tenbrock says even one hour of sleep deprivation can have adverse cognitive effects the following day with things like executive decision making and how someone feels.
"Moving it up an hour will either prevent people from having any sleep deprivation or will certainly minimize it by, at least, one hour," Dr. Tenbrock said with WBEN.
For anyone that wants to take advantage of the earlier start time and try to avoid any sleep deprivation, Dr. Tenbrock recommends a few things to avoid doing either during or immediately after the game.
"You don't want to compound that by doing other things that can adversely affect your sleep quality, such as being around bright lights, which can make it more difficult to fall asleep, using your computer for another hour or two, that's counterproductive. And then drinking alcohol, particularly in the second half, could disrupt your sleep rhythm by having you go into different stages of sleep at the times that are not optimally beneficial for waking up refreshed," Dr. Tenbrock said.
If you happen to find yourself a bit sleep deprived this week after the game Monday, what can you do to try and recover quicker?
"Taking for one hour, it may not be necessary, but a judicious nap might help. But also just being aware on how you're feeling can be very beneficial," Dr. Tenbrock added. "Some people are more affected by what is seemingly a minimal amount of sleep deprivation, such as one hour. And others, it may take 3-to-4 days to recuperate all their wherewithal they lost with a seemingly mild amount of sleep deprivation. So some self insight can be helpful."