If we don't "work" at sleep, we are left with the same limited results. Technology could prove to be the most valuable tool...while you sleep.
A friend of mine recently had a baby and I bumped into him after a long period of absence. His dilemma, I have free time maybe I should stay and catch up with you, or...maybe I go get some sleep. With a polite shove, I nudged him in the direction of his home and told him we would catch up soon. Sleep is one our most valuable commodities (specifically endocrine health), the opportunity costs and self-induced wound (not limited to the rich and powerful) related to sleep are best explained by Ariana Huffington. You either make a poor decision with consequences or lose alertness and lose control of potential consequences. Ariana simply blacked out and whacked her head, it was a wake-up call that by becoming uber driven she had overlooked how essential sleep was.
It wasn't until I heard a "School of Greatness" podcast in which Lewis Howes interviewed Ameer Rosic, that things clicked. Simply put, we all suffer from lack of sleep from time to time, the sleep we lose accumulates in a piggy bank of "Sleep Debt". The bad news, our body never recuperates that sleep debt. Have you noticed after a couple of rough nights, you suffer memory and cognitive impairment, your performance dips, and alertness drops off. The actual physiological effects mimic drunk driving, hence the term drowsy driving. And this is simply stating some short term effects, long term effects simply increase your mortality risks (period).
Now for the good news, we live in a new age which integrates the "Quantified Self-tracking" into your daily life. A great device for measuring sleep is a Fitbit, but some people find them clunky or uncomfortable. Other apps (e.g. Sleep Cycle) allow you to simply place your phone (on airplane mode) at the corner of the bed, and all you have to do is sleep. I like the accuracy of the Fitbit, and how it breaks down, how long I was in bed and how long I actually slept. There is a big difference if you aim for 7 hours of sleep, stay in bed the minimum 7 hours, and end up with 25 minutes of restlessness...you ain't sleeping. Sleep Cycle is an app I've used for the past year and a half. The clever thing about the Sleep Cycle is you can add sleep notes (indicators). I have close to 50 possible notes, e.g. what time of day did I drink coffee, workout, drink alcohol, email, study a foreign language, go to bed, type of workout, pop some melatonin, and how much sleep did I get the night before. With all this info, it compares the quality of my sleep, with my inputs and ranks which input gives me the most effective sleep. I can program the perfect day for perfect sleep...but we don't live in a perfect world.
On the flip side, If you have a big presentation coming up, wouldn't you like the following checklist to execute the day before:
My secret to a good night of sleep
- Go to bed @ 22:45 (13% increase in sleep quality)
- Cardio Session at the gym (12% increase)
- Pop some Melatonin (12% increase)
The above is based on my sleep patterns and sleep quality. If you put in a bit of time to both vary your inputs and measure your sleep patterns, you can have a cheat sheet and feel immediate effects.
Think about it, if you can't hit 7 hours in bed, or 7 hours of consistent sleep, at least the sleep you are getting is 10% better than before.
6:00 hours of improved sleep is roughly equal to 6:36 hours of your standard sleep.
6 hours also taps into interval sleeping, whereas each sleep interval is 90 minutes.
The reason going to bed at 22:45 is ideal for me, is due to my waking time of 6:15 (this has shifted recently to 5:00), This allows me to fulfill my 90-minute sleep interval. 90 x 5 = 7.5 hours.
Regardless, prioritize sleep. Defend it, because there's no robbing the Sleep Debt "Piggy Bank" unless you believe what you hear around silicon valley, "We'll sleep when we're dead".
Some more great podcast interviews revolving around sleep hygiene:
