Sleep: the often-forgotten health booster

In the course of my career, I have encountered many people who have an impeccably-healthy diet and who exercise daily, yet at the same time routinely deprive themselves of a complete night's sleep.  In fact, it is not uncommon to hear colleagues bragging about how little sleep they have obtained in the past week due to a pressing work deadline or other seemingly-important priority.  And, in our modern world it is literally possible for people to work through the night, night after night.

In our culture, many people believe that acknowledging any sort of natural limitation, such as needing eight hours of sleep per night, is a sign of weakness. Making the general statement that humans have these kinds of inherent limitations, or even worse, admitting that you have these limitations, is sacrilege in certain business and social circles.  "When the going gets tough, the tough get going," or so the saying goes.  In other words, you must be prepared to sleep less and work harder on demand.  But for many people, "on demand" never ends.

The irony of this situation is that when people attempt to defy their natural limits by working longer and harder, they deprive themselves of exactly what they need to think clearly and perform well.  They end up working longer, but not smarter.  As a result, their performance frequently suffers.  Common effects are poor concentration, depressed mood, and decreased ability to perform automatic, skill-based tasks. 

Sleep deprivation also has many negative health effects.  Hormonal and metabolic functioning is disrupted, leading to obesity, high blood pressure, heart problems, and diabetes.  Total sleep deprivation is almost always fatal, and people who sleep less than 6 hours per night die at younger ages than those who sleep 6 to 8 hours per night. 

People vary in how much sleep they need.  According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults typically need somewhere between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night.  Nevertheless, it's important to pay attention to your own individual needs by assessing how you feel on different amounts of sleep.

There is no way to sugar coat the following fact: devoting more time to sleep results in less time for other activities.  But the clear advantage to making this change is that, with adequate sleep, you can expect to be more efficient and productive during the time that you are awake.  You will be able to accomplish more in less time, and make fewer mistakes.

Convinced? Future blog posts will provide research-based tips for getting a good night's sleep.

Additional resources on sleep:

National Sleep Foundation

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention