Nurture |
Did You Get Enough Sleep
Last Night?
''Sleep is a non-negotiable, biological necessity'', Matthew Walker, Director of the Berkely Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab.
Consequences of sleep deprivation: • Reduced ability to focus on large amounts of information. • Difficulty sustaining your attention for long periods. • Slower reaction times . • Ability to problem solve reduced. • Poor memory recall. • Increased levels of cortisol [stress hormone]. • Poor regulation of emotions. • Weight gain due to higher levels of ghrelin-hunger hormone and low er levels of leptin-satiety hormone.
Most of us have experienced that awful feeling after waking up still tired. Moody, demotivated, just wanting to dive back under the covers. Not possible as work beckons. This is the mood you take to your place of work and colleagues, or clients if you're on the entrepreneur journey, expecting to experience a day of high concentration, engagement, and productivity. You may be copacetic with poor sleep. However, sleep is more important for your brain than you realise, studies have shown that most of us regularly need 7-8 hours a night. When you get enough sleep your attention is sharper, your concentration ability is higher and your learning capabilities deeper.
Electroencephalogram [EEG] readings show that your brain is actually more active when you sleep. There are some parts of your brain that are up to 30% more active during sleep than during the day.
An extreme consequence of sleep deprivation is your brain ''micro-sleeping''. Your brain may force itself to shut down for a few seconds when you are awake. You may become unconscious for a few seconds and not even realise. Can you imagine if this happened whilst you were driving or operating machinery? Sleep deprivation reduces your cognitive abilities akin to that of a drunk person.
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