Doing More by Sleeping More

Get a great night’s sleep!
Credit to nicolafchild of Flickr

Did you wish you had more, less, or about the same amount of time to sleep last night?

The answer for most people will be to spend more time in “Inception” before having to intercept their emails in the morning.

Last year, the National Sleep Foundation found that the average American received  6 hours and 55 minutes of sleep during the workweek. About two-thirds (63%) of Americans polled said their sleep needs are not being met during the week.

Sleep deprivation is large problem and I see it every day on campus.

• “I only slept for 2 hours last night, I had 4 problem sets, 2 essays, and an exam to prepare for”
• “Oh yeah? I didn’t sleep at all, I had 3 essays, 5 problem sets, and 2 exams to prepare for”

Obviously I exaggerated my examples, but the general principle remains the same. The culture on college campuses, and throughout America, is to do more and sleep less. “Sleep is for the weak” I hear. But you know what, I love sleeping!

I love the feeling of going to bed early and waking up after nine hours of sleep. Although I could have used those 1 or 2 hours of my slumber to practice my French or lift weights, I prefer to invest that time to sleep.

Why? Because I wake up in the morning feeling happier, more energetic, and ready to start my day. With 9 hours of sleep, I begin my day with a smile on my face ready to workout at 8 am .

Sometimes I have reading assignments that I would like to finish before bed. However, I realize that my brain no longer operates efficiently at a certain point (usually around midnight) and I begin to misinterpret concepts that I’m learning. I start to make careless errors in my writing and I commence a trend of becoming tired, going to bed late, waking up tired and repeating the vicious cycle the next night.

If I could attribute my success in accomplishing my goals and staying motivated, I would say it has to do a lot with going to bed and getting a great night’s rest.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post and one of Forbes’ Magazine’s Most Influential Women, discusses the power of a great night’s sleep in one of my favorite TedTalks, you can hear Huffington’s speech on the importance of sleep here.

If you want to do more, sleep more.

Exercise:

Tomorrow night, go to bed earlier than you normally would and get into a sleep cycle (sleep in intervals of 1.5 hours). After your [7.5, 9, or 10.5 hours of sleep] record how you feel. Use this app to help you decide on a sleep time. http://www.sleepyti.me/

If you have any comments, suggestions for future topics, or want to have your writing posted contact me at findmymotivation@gmail.com