Cost of sleep deprivation
If you are an executive or owner of a business, you can probably count yourself amongst those who routinely run on minimal amounts of sleep – four to five hours a night is not uncommon. But while many high-performing people cite this as a normal pattern of behaviour for themselves, this flies in the face of the accumulated knowledge that states that adult humans need between 7-9 hours of sleep.
It is tempting to think that the high level of success these people have achieved serves as proof that sleep is not that necessary for normal biological functions. It is also important to note that these high-achieving people represent a small segment of society – just a few percent of all workers. Perhaps they are so driven that they are able to overcome the effects of sleep deprivation. Perhaps they are trying to pretend that they are not being affected, or maybe are too proud to admit that they are tired all the time. Regardless of what the reality is, you need your sleep.
A lack of sleep does not just just result in your feeling tired; your entire body pays a price when it is not well rested. Some of the worst effects from long-term sleep deprivation include:
Being unable to focus
If you are a college student who is burning the midnight oil, you probably know this all too well. Instead of being able to focus on the professor’s lectures, you instead find yourself barely able to keep your eyes open, let alone pay attention to what he/she is saying. At work, you will be subject to similar problems. Instead of being able to focus on what your boss is saying, you will instead focus on trying to keep your eyelids open. Your boss might even think that you are not even trying to pay attention to them, which is an even worse outcome. Focusing on reading documents becomes a chore, and remembering what it was that you were doing becomes increasingly difficult.
Putting on excess weight
Your metabolism is partially regulated by your sleep schedule. When you do not get enough sleep, your body loses much of its ability to regulate your sense of hunger and fullness. As if that was not bad enough, you also burn fewer calories overall while awake. Both of these factors are exacerbated even further by the fact that you are awake for several more hours, and thus will need to eat more to stay full over that longer period of wakefulness.
An increased chance of burning out
Burnout can result from a number of factors, but sleep deprivation is frequently cited as one of (if not the biggest) reason for why it happens. Being exhausted all the time will do your physical and mental health no favours, but depriving your brain of restorative sleep will eventually cause you to stop caring about work altogether. Your mood is tightly linked to your sleep patterns, and if you find yourself more irritable or short-tempered than usual, consider going to bed earlier.
Worsening memory
Memorising a lot of information is never easy. Doing it on four hours of sleep is nearly impossible. While the link between sleep and memory is not fully understood, chronic sleep deprivation has been shown to correlate with a reduced overall ability to form and retain memories over the course of a lifetime.
It is wrong to treat a lack of sleep as though you are wearing some kind of badge of honour. There is a reason we evolved to need the amount of sleep that we do, and while its exact role in regulating biological functions is not fully understood, it is shown to be highly correlated to your mood, weight, concentration, and memory. If you are getting five hours of sleep as opposed to eight, this might seem like a good deal on paper – you get an extra three hours to do anything you want! The actual reality is that your decline in productivity as a result of feeling so tired will eventually cancel out the extra time you have. One night of doing this will not harm you, but over time it adds up to a significant deficit, one that will end up negating everything you thought you gained by sleeping less.
Does this resonate with you? If you would like to book a complimentary, no-obligation, coaching session to discuss this further, please email me at falgunidesai@actioncoach.com
