sleep is more important than food

Why Sleep is More Important Than Food
Tony Schwartz
Huffington Post
Posted: March 7, 2011 12:43 PM

Let's cut to the chase.

Say you decide to go on a fast, and so you effectively starve yourself for a week. At the end of seven days, how would you be feeling? You'd probably be hungry, perhaps a little weak, and almost certainly somewhat thinner. But basically you'd be fine.

Now let's say you deprive yourself of sleep for a week. Not so good. After several days, you'd be almost completely unable to function. That's why Amnesty International lists sleep deprivation as a form of torture.

Here's what former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin had to say in his memoir, "White Nights," about the experience of being deprived of sleep in a K.G.B. prison:

In the head of the interrogated prisoner a haze begins to form. His spirit is wearied to death, his legs are unsteady, and he has one sole desire: to sleep ... Anyone who has experienced this desire knows that not even hunger and thirst are comparable with it.

So why is sleep one of the first things we're willing to sacrifice as the demands in our lives keep rising? We continue to live by a remarkably durable myth: Sleeping one hour less will give us one more hour of productivity. In reality, the research suggests that even small amounts of sleep deprivation take a significant toll on our health, our mood, our cognitive capacity and our productivity.

Many of the effects we suffer are invisible. Insufficient sleep, for example, deeply impairs our ability to consolidate and stabilize learning that occurs during the waking day. In other words, it wreaks havoc on our memory.

So how much sleep do you need? When researchers put test subjects in environments without clocks or windows and ask them to sleep any time they feel tired, 95 percent sleep between seven and eight hours out of every 24. Another 2.5 percent sleep more than eight hours. That means just 2.5 percent of us require less than seven hours of night a sleep to feel fully rested. That's one out of every 40 people.

When I ask people in my talks how many had fewer than seven hours of sleep several nights during the past week, the vast majority raise their hands. That's true whether it's an audience of corporate executives, teachers, cops or government workers. We've literally lost touch with what it feels like to be fully awake.

Great performers are an exception. Typically, they sleep significantly more than the rest of us. In Anders Ericcson's famous study of violinists, the top performers slept an average of 8.5 hours out of every 24, including a 20 to 30 minute midafternoon nap -- some two hours a day more than the average American.

The top violinists also reported that except for practice itself, sleep was the second most important factor in improving as violinists.

As I began to gather research about sleep, I felt increasingly compelled to give it higher priority in my own life. Today, I go to great lengths to assure that I get at least eight hours every night, and ideally between 8.5 and nine, even when I'm traveling.

I still take the overnight "red-eye" from California to New York, but I'm asleep by takeoff -- even if it takes an Ambien. When I get home at 6 or 7 a.m., I go right to bed until I've had my eight hours. What I've learned about those days is that I'd rather work at 100 percent for five or six hours than at 60 percent for eight or nine hours.

With sufficient sleep, I feel better, I work with more focus and I manage my emotions better, which is good for everyone around me. I dislike having even a single day where I haven't gotten enough sleep, because the impact is immediate and unavoidable. On the rare days that I don't get enough, I try hard to get at least a 20 to 30 minute nap in the afternoon. That's a big help.

Here are three tips to improve the quantity and quality of your sleep:

1. Go to bed earlier, and at a set time. Sounds obvious right? The problem is there's no alternative. You're already waking up at the latest possible time you think is acceptable. If you don't ritualize a specific bedtime, you'll end up finding ways to stay up later, just the way you do now.

2. Start winding down at least 45 minutes before you turn out the light. You won't fall asleep if you're all wound up from answering e-mail, or doing other work. Create a ritual around drinking a cup of herbal tea, or listening to music that helps you relax, or reading a dull book.

3. Write down what's on your mind -- especially unfinished to-dos and unresolved issues -- just before you go to bed. If you leave items in your working memory, they'll make it harder to fall asleep, and you'll end up ruminating about them if you should wake up during the night.

Re: sleep is more important than food

I completely prioritze sleep above many other things. I get at least 8 hours a night. I just don't feel myself with anything less.

Re: sleep is more important than food

I think everyone on the Parenting board (including me) will agree with this!

Re: sleep is more important than food

Re: sleep is more important than food

I couldnt agree more. Everyone thinks I am nuts but I am asleep exactly a half hour after DD is every night. Some nights, that is 8:30! But, I wake up at 4:30 to work and sleep is very important to me and always has been!

Re: sleep is more important than food

i love to sleep. I value my sleep. I can easily get so sick if I miss some sleep.
I know some people that get almost no sleep per week (maybe 3 hours if they are lucky between monday and thursday). I don't know how they function.

Re: sleep is more important than food

I find sleep so fascinating! Why we need it & what happens in our bodies & brains while we're sleeping. So interesting! I totally agree with the article. When I don't sleep enough I am a mess. And I need good quality, comfortable sleep as well, just as important. My mom hardly sleeps because of her work schedule & it's definitely taken a toll on her over the years. She laughs at me for sleeping so much but I know how important it is!

Re: sleep is more important than food

So true. Sleep is precious. I never allow myself to get less than 8 hours.

Re: sleep is more important than food

ITA. I have a terrible time sleeping and I feel physically ill after a few days of not enough sleep.

Re: sleep is more important than food

Those of us that work rotating shifts truly hate the obvious "Go to bed at a set time" every night. We do what we can. It is very true though, sleep needs to trump everything.

Re: sleep is more important than food

Yeah, I totally agree. If I don't get enough sleep, I'm useless.

Re: sleep is more important than food

I just wanted to add that my great grandpa believed in daily naps. He lived longer than almost everyone else in my family has. So my dad and I believe in the nap if it is possible, along with a good night's sleep.

Re: sleep is more important than food