Posts Tagged ‘business’
“Sleep is a waste of time.” “Sleep is for the weak.” “I’ll sleep when I’m dead!”
These are the rallying cries of driven start up executives and creative entrepreneurs. Burning the midnight oil to create product, craft marketing campaigns and stitch together strategic alliances, they cast aside their need for sleep in favor of being first, being best, being most innovative.
While sleep may often be sacrificed in the name of success, this may actually be a false economy. I wrote a short chapter on this subject for a book that is being put together online. If you read it, like it and vote for it I may make the final version! Please let me know what you think.
Click here for book chapter.
Burning the midnight oil may not be as good for business as getting a full night's sleep.
Best Wishes for Peaceful Sleep,
Patty
I was interested to read this review of a new study in a blog post by Bernie Wong.
Sleep Deprivation Leaves You Emotionally Isolated
“Emotional Expressiveness in Sleep-Deprived Healthy Adults.”
Minkel, J., Htaik, O., Banks, S., & Dinges, D. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, Vol. 9 (1), January 2011, 5-14.
Sleep deprivation really can make us look like zombies: This study suggests that getting less 
sleep hinders our ability to convey emotions through our facial expressions. Study participants got either a full night of sleep (9-10 hours) or no sleep at all. Within the next few days, they were shown amusing and sad film clips. Though sleep-deprived participants reported feeling emotional responses to the clips just as strongly as well-rested participants, they were only half as likely to reflect those emotions through their facial expressions. Sleep, the researchers argue, is key to our social interactions, helping us communicate our emotions to others. —Bernie Wong
This is another in an increasingly convincing body of research suggesting our Emotional Intelligence is greatly influenced by the quality and quantity of sleep we get on a nightly basis. Researchers have also discovered that going without sleep for a day or longer also affects the ability to make good moral judgements.
A study by WD Killgore, et al published in Sleep Medicine* in 2008 showed how insufficient sleep decreased emotional intelligence parameters across the board. According to the study “sleep deprivation was associated with lower scores on Total EQ (decreased global emotional intelligence), Intrapersonal functioning (reduced self-regard, assertiveness, sense of independence, and self-actualization), Interpersonal functioning (reduced empathy toward others and quality of interpersonal relationships), Stress Management skills (reduced impulse control and difficulty with delay of gratification), and Behavioral Coping (reduced positive thinking and action orientation). Esoteric Thinking (greater reliance on formal superstitions and magical thinking processes) was increased.”
It should be becoming more obvious that sleep is not “a waste of time” but a vital factor in maintaining our excellence and fulfilling our human potential.
*Sleep Med. 2008 Jul;9(5):517-26. Epub 2007 Aug 30.
Best Wishes for Peaceful sleep,
Patty