Here you are again, trying to figure out what and how to achieve that energy-refreshing night sleep. To some, sleeping is the easiest thing to do, but more people struggle and suffer from sleeping disorders and difficulty of having a good night’s sleep or even struggle to be asleep during the night.
When others thought that sleeping is being unproductive and a waste of time doing nothing, the truth is it’s the time that your body recovers from the stress and energy it has given off during the day. According to modern scientific research, sleep also propels your success in several ways. Sleep plays many essential roles in how you act, think, feel, and perform well from physical to mental health.
Sleep Your Way to Success
Some people refuse to sleep longer, up to 6-8 hours, especially when they are too busy and a lot of tasks await them. Yes, it’s interesting to think that you could get so much more done in a day by sleeping less; still, most people cannot function optimally on limited sleep for an extended period. You should feel guilty about making enough time for sleep because you actually help yourself perform better and achieve your future goals as you sleep.
Sleep Develops Creativity
Creativity is an essential part of success for many students, entrepreneurs, and business people. Some find that creative ideas come in sleep-deprived states; however, science tells fatigue and lack of sleep reduces your brain’s agility and the ability to form complex and new solutions to a problem.
For example, a study from Harvard found that sleep increases a person’s ability to connect distantly related ideas by 33%, even though participants didn’t necessarily feel more creative.
Another study supports the idea that REM sleep, in particular, enhances people’s creative problem-solving skills over non-REM sleep and quiet resting. The University of California researchers put this forward.
Sleep Reduces Likelihood of Errors
Other results of lack of sleep are slower reaction time, poor decision-making capabilities, and impaired memory. When put together, these factors make you more likely to commit mistakes.
Students may get lower grades or scores on exams because recalling the right answer is a challenge due to a lack of sleep. In an office, staff may not meet deadlines due to drowsiness and lack of focus on the task. Much more, this could mean critical errors and even real danger in the workplace.
Take pilots, for example. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, pilot fatigue decreases attention span, accuracy, and reaction time. It was found fatigue is a significant factor in several major airline crashes.
In an FAA report, it was mentioned by one airline company’s study that fatigue was a cause of 88% of procedural errors. However, NASA’s study of pilots found that controlled rest, 40-minute naps improved pilot alertness and performance.
Even with the non-high-risk profession, errors can still cost plenty of money, time, and headache.
Sleep Reduces Risk of Accidents
Due to drowsy driving, there are an estimated 100,000 accidents per year and 40,000 injuries, based on
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report.
If a person hasn’t slept for about 24 hours, he is on par with a legally drunk driver. Even after 16 hours of wakefulness, your abilities are impaired. That is why it is safer to take a nap and put your car aside if you are extremely sleepy or drowsy while driving. If you just get a very little sleep or pull an all-nighter, you’re driving abilities the next day will almost certainly suffer.
An accident in any way won’t benefit you, either your work. It wastes money, time, and you may, unfortunately, lose your job for an extended time that you wait for your healing.
Sleep Makes You More Receptive to Learning
Enough sleep is synonymous with becoming more focused of the mind and having an easier understanding.
The idea is supported by the Harvard Healthy Sleep website, which mentioned that a lack of sleep reduces attention and motivation making it harder to acquire new information. Sleep, especially the REM and slow-wave sleep, also plays a role in consolidating new memories and enables you to recall them later on.
More and more people understand and become aware of the great benefits of having enough and quality sleep. That is why many people have even invested in designing and arranging their room that is sleep conducive and has a relaxing and peaceful ambiance.