004. 7 Ways Poor Sleep Is Killing Your Productivity (And What You Can Do About It)
In this enlightening podcast episode, Ash Roy, the founder of ProductiveInsights.com, delves deep into the topic of sleep deprivation and its detrimental effects on productivity, creativity, decision-making, and even our physical health. Drawing from scientific studies, real-life examples, and expert insights, Ash presents a compelling case for prioritizing sleep as a cornerstone of a happy, healthy, and productive life. Whether you're an entrepreneur burning the midnight oil or a professional juggling multiple tasks, this podcast offers invaluable tips to help you optimize your sleep habits and unlock your full potential.
Link Mentioned:
- lifehacker.com
Timestamp:
00:00 Introduction
00:28 The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Productivity and Health
01:30 Exploring the Science: What Harvard and Stanford Reveal About Sleep
02:34 Seven Ways Lack of Sleep Affects You
09:11 The Critical Role of Sleep in Creativity and Problem Solving
13:05 Concluding Thoughts: The Power of Sleep for a Productive Life
Transcript:
Hey, this is Ash Roy, the founder of Productive Insights. com. Today's podcast is a narration of a guest post of mine that had featured on a popular blog called Dumb Little Man. Wouldn't be my first choice for a blog name, but it is a very popular blog in the productivity space. Anyway, the version of the post that made it A Dumb Little Man was considerably abbreviated in this podcast.
I'm going to narrate the complete version that never made it to print. So here's the blog post in its full glory. Seven ways lack of sleep is killing your productivity and your health and what you can do about it. Written by Ash Roy featured on dumb little man narrated by Ash Roy. Fact, the U. S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 30% or 40.6 million American adults are sleeping six hours or less every day.
If you live in any urban metropolis, chances are you're in that statistic. In today's information age, sleep deprivation has become an epidemic. The shocking truth about insufficient sleep. If you decide to forego two hours of sleep, the fact is you'll lose those two hours and more in poor efficiency and effectiveness the next day.
If you've had a good seven to eight hours of sleep, which is what the average person needs, You're going to drastically improve your effectiveness and efficiency in your waking hours as compared to having stayed up that extra hour or two the previous night. Why? Because you'll be less reactive to your environment.
What Harvard and Stanford can teach us about sleep deprivation. According to an article in the New York Times, a study of nearly 400 employees revealed that sleeping too little defined as less than six hours each night was one of the best predictors of on the job burnout. A recent Harvard study estimated that sleep deprivation cost American companies 63.2 billion dollars a year in lost productivity.
When Stanford researcher Sherry Ma got male basketball players to sleep 10 hours a night, she found their performance improved dramatically. Their free throws and three point shooting each increased by an average of 9%. The same article in the New York Times claimed when night shift air traffic controllers were given 40 minutes to nap and slept an average of 19 minutes, they performed much better on tests that measured vigilance and reaction time.
The truth, most of us need a total of seven to eight hours of sleep a day. Without it, our lives will suffer. We're now going to look at seven specific ways lack of sleep is killing your productivity and your health. At the end of each point, I've also offered you an actionable tip that you can put into place today.
1. How sleep deprivation is playing Russian roulette with your brain. If you don't get adequate sleep, your brain accumulates toxins. The only way to flush out the toxins and reset your brain is to get enough sleep. Melanie Pinola from lifehacker.com has shown how sleep detoxifies the brain of waste materials.
Here's a life science researcher's explanation on how sleep detoxifies our brains. The brain only has limited energy at its disposal, and it appears that it must choose between two different functional states. Awake and aware, or asleep and cleaning up. Niedergaard said in a statement, You can think of it like having a house party.
You can either entertain the guests or clean up the house, but you can't really do both at the same time. Without those seven hours of sleep, the brain can't do the house cleaning necessary to reset for the next day. Not having adequate rest means our brains start the next day with a sleep deficit. And this means you accumulate toxins in your brain, some of which have even been linked to Alzheimer's disease.
That's like playing Russian roulette with your brain.
Quick tip number one: Cultivate Discipline. To be successful in any endeavor, you need to be disciplined. Sleep is no different. You'll need to make a conscious effort to go to bed early 30 days or so. But once you have created the habit, You'll want to go to bed at a saner hour, try it.
You'll thank yourself every morning when you wake up refreshed after having allowed your brain to do the house cleaning it so desperately needs.
2. What improper sleep does to your circadian rhythms. If you're not getting enough sleep, you're blowing out your circadian rhythms, your body clock, which is essential to keep you in sync with your environment.
Mess up your sleep and you mess with your body clock, which affects your energy levels. And this means you're going to be about as productive as a worm at the bottom of a tequila bottle. When we stay up past midnight, we upset unnatural circadian rhythms, which leads to all sorts of sleep problems. Steve Kaye, professor of molecular biology at the University of Southern California, states that disruption of circadian rhythms has been linked to reduced capabilities in conflict resolution, And creative thinking.
The Wall Street Journal reports that our body clock can pinpoint different times in the day when most of us perform our best tasks. Once we have the circadian rhythms working for us, we usually perform our best cognitive work in the late morning. This is our prime time. So how are you going to get the most out of your prime time?
Quick tip number two: Having created a good sleep ritual, make sure the first thing you do every morning is kickstart your day with a refreshing shower. A good night's sleep will regulate your circadian rhythms and a morning shower will get your blood pumping. Both will give you that mid morning productivity boost so you can get the most out of your prime time.
3. Could your poor sleep habits suddenly become deadly? Sleeping less than six hours increases your risk of suffering from a stroke or developing heart disease. Professor Francesco Cappuccio, who has authored several articles on sleep and their effects on health, says, If you sleep less than six hours per night and have disturbed sleep, you stand a 48 percent greater chance of developing or dying from heart disease and a 15 percent greater chance of developing or dying from a stroke.
The trend for late nights and early mornings is actually a trend. Ticking time bomb for our health and so you need to act now to reduce your risk of developing these life threatening conditions Sounds pretty scary. Well, you can do something about that. You don't have to make the changes overnight Gradual changes tend to be more successful in the long term.
Anyway, it's really a matter of making better choices It might mean you choose to focus on fewer things to do for the day Except that you can't do everything all the time and start getting selective about your tasks based on your priorities.
Quick tip number three: The best way to work up to a healthy sleeping habit of seven to eight hours each night is to do it gradually.
If you're currently sleeping only six hours a night, try going to bed 10 minutes earlier each day for a week. Do this every week in 10 minute increments and your body will thank you for it by not buckling with a stroke or a heart attack before your 50th birthday.
4. How poor sleep affects your productivity, concentration and focus.
As someone who has worked with thousands of executives, Tony Schwartz explains that a full night's sleep has a greater and faster impact on mood, focus and productivity than anything else. In his article in the New York Times titled, "Relax, You'll Be More Productive", Tony Schwartz talks about how we're moving into a 24-7 economy.
The market seems to be grounded in a misguided assumption that our resources are sleep deprivation pulverizes your concentration and productivity. According to a 2008 National Sleep Foundation study, almost a third of American employees said sleepiness affected their daily activities for a few days each month.
Americans are spending an average of nearly 4. 5 hours each week from home, over and above the 9. 5 hour workday. Those who worked longer had lower productivity and had difficulty concentrating. Dr. Maya Krieger, Professor of Medicine at University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, says people who don't sleep well exhibit symptoms including nodding off at meetings, sleepiness while driving, lapses in memory, difficulty with concentration, poor performance, and If you want to get more done, you need to focus on a smaller range of tasks and train yourself to take frequent and effective breaks.
Learning the art of restoration is one of the keys to better productivity. Managing your energy is far more important than managing your time. Energy and time are both finite, but unlike time, energy is not. Energy is renewable. Will you consider changing your productivity strategy from time management to energy management for one month?
If you choose to do so, I think you'll be impressed with the results.
Quick tip number four: Start thinking in terms of energy and not time. You'll find yourself going to bed earlier. You won't be scrambling to respond to another few emails on your smartphone at 11pm to squeeze out another few minutes into your already jam packed day.
Instead, you'll recognize that adequate sleep is the most important tool to deal with the unending tsunami of email.
5. What inadequate sleep does to your creativity and problem solving skills. Neuroplasticity is your brain's ability to form new connections and neural pathways. The more plastic your brain is, the more you'll be able to form creative or inspirational thoughts.
New brain cells and neural pathways are created during sleep. The brain literally changes overnight as your neural networks are reorganized during sleep. Sleep also assists the brain in flagging unrelated ideas and memories. And this flagging increases the odds that a creative insight will surface. In recognition of this, Google has installed Energy Pods, leather recliners with egg like hoods that block noise and light, to allow employees to take naps at work.
Cisco and Procter Gamble have followed suit. It really boils down to one very simple fact. Tch. More sleep equals more creative breakthroughs and innovative solutions to problems. Want to find innovative and groundbreaking solutions at work? Sleep more.
Quick tip number five: A great way to ensure that you get enough sleep is to kick off your nighttime routine a few hours before you're due to go to bed.
Set an alarm on your smartphone to alert you to start your bedtime routine two hours before your bedtime. So if you go to bed Set a reminder to start thinking about going to bed from 8 p. m. onwards. Start winding down at 8 p. m. by finishing up any work that you have on your computer and or smartphone.
Your creative genius will thank you for it and reward you with more breakthroughs at work.
6. What lack of sleep does to your metabolism? Your immunity and your health? Having adequate periods of sleep is essential to our recovery process. Research has shown that animals deprived entirely of sleep, lose all immune function and die in just a matter of weeks.
Muscle growth, tissue repair, protein synthesis, and growth hormone release mostly occur during sleep and in some cases exclusively so. Here's the rub, if you don't get enough sleep, you're not going to get the downtime you need to recover fully before the next day. You're going to drag yourself around like a zombie all day, guzzling cups of coffee late into the evening to stay awake.
And those evening coffees will affect your quality of sleep through the night. It's a vicious circle. In the process, you'll gradually damage your metabolism, your hormonal balance, and your general health.
Quick tip number six: Be respectful of your body's need to recuperate. To ensure you get a good night's sleep, avoid any caffeinated drinks after 4pm.
Even better, try and restrict caffeine consumption to the mornings.
7. Is sleep deprivation causing you to make mistakes? A study conducted by Yvonne Harrison, And James A. Horn of Longborough University shows that sleep deprivation affects decision making around unexpected situations, competing distractions, innovation, and effective communication.
The thing is, our professions require us to make decisions quickly in an environment where distractions are as inevitable as they are constant. Plus, we have to be innovative. And deal with the unexpected, thanks to the wonders of fast moving disruptive technologies. And as if that wasn't enough, we then have to communicate these decisions effectively, so that we can be heard over a whole lot of cyber noise.
Think you can do all that on a bad night's sleep? If you can't get enough sleep, you're going to make bad decisions, and you're going to make mistakes.
Quick tip number seven: Getting at least seven hours of sleep a day is critical for most of us. One great way to ensure that you get enough sleep is 30 minutes of vigorous exercise every day.
If you give your body a good workout, it'll thank you by drifting off into deep sleep, not long after your head hits the pillow. Your decision making abilities the next day will be vastly improved and you'll make far less mistakes each day. Try it. The decision's yours. What will you choose? Do you want to make meaningful contributions to the world?
You can. Do you want to give it your absolute best and make every day count? You can. It all starts with one simple decision to get at least seven hours of sleep each night. The truth is, if you're sleep deprived, you're going to have a much smaller impact than you would have if you were fully rested. But if you get enough sleep each night, the world's your oyster.
Sure, it won't be like waving a magic wand and achieving every dream you've ever had, but you'll be a hell of a lot more productive and far more likely to get where you want to go. If there's one thing you want to take away from this podcast, it's this. A healthy sleep habit is one of the biggest secrets to a happy and productive life, and it all comes down to making one conscious choice.
Make your sleep a priority. Will you make that choice today?
