The Bugati is a formidable vehicle. It can cruise at 147mph. One slight drawback. At that speed, its energy consumption is 3mpg. Three miles per gallon. In any measuring system, be it metric or imperial, that’s not a lot.
Want to be super-successful and productive? Do you push yourself to achieve more? Is your work culture one where needing only a few hours of sleep is worn as a badge of honour?
Think again.
Sleep is not doing nothing. Good quality sleep is an essential daily requirement. Sleep is actually essential to your success, to say nothing of your health, both mental and physical.
Why?
When you are sleeping, your brain is metabolising certain by-products of waking neuronal activity. Removing these toxic protein metabolites is essential and only happens when you are asleep.
Build-up of these products impairs brain function. You can’t think clearly, your memory worsens, it’s more likely you’ll get overwhelmed by incoming information and you’ll process this information in a less balanced and objective way.
Not getting enough sleep detrimentally affects your mood. Stress levels soar with concomitant damage to your physical health. Research at Harvard Medical School suggest that sleep deprivation impairs mental functioning more than alcohol.
Not convinced that you need to rethink your attitude to sleep yet? Maybe I can appeal to your vanity.
Lack of sleep speeds up the ageing process. Skin elasticity is diminished, which means more wrinkles. Little protective endings on chromosomes, called telomeres, degrade more quickly. And here’s a good one. Sleeping less than 6 hours a night means greater risk of obesity.
Sleep is one of the cornerstones of a balanced mood, a focussed mind and a healthy body. Between 7 to 9 hours is recommended.
Make sure you have a good routine before going to bed. Step away from digital devices because the blue light they emit messes melatonin production, and as I’m sure you know, melatonin is a key component governing biorhythms.
I’ll be writing more about how you can improve your sleep habits in another post. In the meantime, I recommend taking up mindfulness. Sitting peacefully on a daily basis, giving yourself a break from a Bugati lifestyle , slow your brain waves down and make sit easier for you to relax, let go and fall asleep.
Change gear. Improve your brain function. Revving up the engine is not the only way to be successful. And especially not if you want to stay healthy.
As stress, burnout, anxiety and depression skyrocket among big city workers, we need to shift our attention to prevention. To win at the Inner Game of Health, where it all starts, we need to take care of our mental and emotional wellbeing.
Enough sleep is a Base Camp Pit Stop essential.