I snapped at my friend last night. Ew, not good. I don’t even know what we were talking about and why I felt SO personal and moody about it. It was about 12am, we were curled up on the couch like two little rabbits. We had worked out that day (hard) and also done some shopping, binge watched a few episodes of Gilmore Girls on TV and I thought I wasn’t tired. Yeah, right. She knows me well enough to recognise the signs, “you need to go to sleep.”
I’m horrible without enough sleep. I’m an adult, but really when it comes to sleep I’m a grown child. I become sensitive, negative and irritable when I don’t get enough sleep.
What does sleep deprivation do to you?
There was a study done on physicians completing a task. The physicians did a task without any sleep deprivation, then they sleep deprived them for just 24 hours, and had them come back and do the same exact task. They made 20% more mistakes, doing the same exact thing and it took them 14% longer to complete the same task.
UC Berkley conducted brain scans and they found that in individuals who were sleep deprived, again, just 24 hours sleep deprivation, there was a radical decrease in activity in the prefrontal cortex. This is the part of your brain that makes you human. This is the part of your brain that’s about social control, distinguishing between right and wrong, decision-making. Now we know why I snapped, right?!
Feeling annoyed?
We are 60% more reactive to negative stimuli when we’re sleep deprived. It is harder for the brain to calm down. It’s harder for us to get on that positive track, for us to execute on the things that we choose to do. For us to go and accomplish our goals, we’ve got to kind of muster up all of this energy.
What can you do to sleep better?
Cut off screen time
Staring at a bright screen just before you are going to bed is not a good idea (guilty!). It tricks your brain into staying more alert than it needs to be. Think about it, when you are on an aeroplane they dim the lights and all of a sudden you feel like sleeping. Think about it, when you wake up and it’s dark outside, you are far less likely to feel like getting up.
Create a routine
Our bodies love routine. They are made for routine. Try to get to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time everyday.
Turn your bedroom into a restful space
I work in my bedroom – I shouldn’t. I also bring my phone to bed with me, I shouldn’t. If you program your mind to think, “oh restful space here”, it will be easier to slot into sleep mode when you lay your head on the pillows.
Coffee
Coffee stays in your blood stream for 6-8 hours after you have had it. So those after dinner cups are not the best way to get some quality rest into your system. Even if you feel like you can pass out easily, don’t be fooled. Your nervous system is still alert and your quality of sleep is affected.
Listen people, there’s a difference between doing work and actually being effective. There’s a difference between doing your day with a cheery attitude and an aggressive, frustrated attitude.
That difference just may be sleep. Don’t try to tie yourself down to as little as possible, look after your body and make sure you get enough sleep. You can’t sleep when you’re dead, but you can sleep now and be a happy functional human. Yes.