TFF #9: Why Sleep is Necessary for Success
Hi friend,
We spend the vast majority of our time talking about active choices we make and how they impact success.
But sometimes, the best way to set yourself up for success is to be passive.
One example of this: sleep.
For those of us who have a lot to accomplish, it’s easy to see sleep as an inconvenience, obstacle, or even weakness.
However, sleep is essential for a healthy mind and body, which in turn is essential for success.
So if you want to be successful, it’s time to change your relationship with sleep. Here are five things to make the most of those critical 8-9 hours in the evening.
1. The Proven Benefits of Sleep
Before we get into the science of how sleep impacts your overall health, it’s important to be very clear on why you should care.
There is a litany of studies that compare the performance of well-rested people with those who are fatigued.
In virtually every case, well-rested people experience the following:
Increased attention and motivation
Ease in acquiring new information
Increased memory retention
Improved ability to form complex and creative solutions to problems
Fewer errors and accidents
Boosted immunity and overall physical health
On top of that, prolonged fatigue can lead to serious medical conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes, not to mention the toll on your mental health.
Bottom line: if you want to be successful, you need to see sleep not as an asset, not a liability.
2. Sleep Exchanges Quantity for Quality
When we talk about how sleep impacts the brain, the entire conversation centers around the brain’s synapses.
Synapses are the microscopic connections between neurons that, combined with neurotransmitters (brain chemicals), transmit electrical impulses from one neuron to another.
During the day, these synapses are constantly responding to stimuli from the environment. But when you go to sleep, these synapses reduce their activity and enter into a restorative period.
Without this restoration, synapses would be in a constant state of peak activity, which negatively affects your brain’s neuroplasticity.
Essentially, without sleep, your brain tires out, and that impacts your ability to retain information, learn new skills, and make positive decisions during the day.
So although sleep does reduce the quantity of hours in your day, it increases the quality of each of those hours.
In the long run, then, you’re probably achieving a net positive in terms of the amount you can accomplish in a day.
3. Not All Sleep is Created Equal
We’ve all had a “bad night’s sleep.”
Turns out that expression actually means something from a scientific perspective—not all sleep is created equal.
Scientists generally agree there there are four stages of sleep:
In the first stage, the body and brain transition from wakefulness to sleep, changing its electrical oscillations into a slower rhythm and allowing the muscles to relax.
The second stage involves a drop in body temperature, slowing of heartbeat and breathing, and a further slowing down of brainwaves.
The third stage is critical because this is deep sleep—and our bodies need this to wake up feeling refreshed and restored. This usually happens 20-40 minutes into a sleep cycle.
Then we enter the fourth stage, or REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, occurring about 90 minutes after falling asleep and lasting for 10 minutes or so, with the time spent in REM increasing with each cycle. This stage is essential to cognitive functions like memory, creativity, and learning.
In order to feel refreshed and rested, you need about 4-6 cycles every 24 hours.
This comes out to six hours minimum, with 8-9 hours being closer to the ideal.
4. How to Take Control of Your Sleep
Now that we’ve spent time on the why and the how, let’s talk about what you can do to take control of your sleep.
There are a number of factors that impact the quality of our sleep, including caffeine, screen light, sleep routines, alcohol, diet and exercise, and more.
Here are some tips for how to get those 8-9 hours of high quality sleep every night:
Allow yourself enough time to sleep (i.e. go to bed earlier)
Gradually set earlier bedtimes when adjusting your sleep cycle
Keep your bedroom dark (no screens!) at night
Don’t exercise right before bed
Expose yourself to bright light in the morning to help wake up
Keep your sleep routine the same (yes, on weekends too)
Engage in relaxing activities before bed
Don’t use alcohol to go to sleep
Don’t drink caffeine within eight hours of your bedtime
By the way, I’ve done all of these, and I can attest to the fact that it works.
(No, I’m not perfect at it. For example, I screw with my routine and engage in non-relaxing activities before bed frequently. But when I do these things, it does have a negative impact on my sleep quality).
When you take control of your sleep, then you end up setting yourself up for success the next morning.
And if you do this day after day, you’re going to see success in your life.
5. Featured Resource: Sleep Tracking Apps
One great way to improve the quality of your sleep is to figure out where your sleep stands right now.
There are a number of apps out there to help you do just that.
Check out the following list to find one that works best for you.
Thanks for sticking with us!
I know our schedule has been irregular lately, so thanks for reading this edition of The Fearless Five. I hope we continue to offer you value as you seek success in your life and work.
Please consider sharing on your social media to add more value to your followers’ feeds.
Until next time,
Timothy