Print this pageAuthor: Brenda Williams
Most of us know how important it is to get a good amount of sleep; however, not many of us actually follow our own advice! Sleep deprivation is sweeping the United States now worse than it ever has. The thing about it is that it's not like all of us have to get up at 3 in the morning to tend cto farm fields, etc. In fact, farmers only make up a small percentage of the American population now (I think it was last estimated at 2 percent). In any event, American people LOVE to work. In fact, they love it so much, that many of them end up putting in far more than the 40 hours required each week to be considered full time.
With the air weighing heavily with thoughts or recession and increasing gas prices, people are working harder and longer than ever; they're also sleeping less as a result. Doctors recommend getting at least 8-9 hours of sleep per night. However, for most of us (myself included), getting nine hours of sleep is a dream in and of itself. With all of our busy schedules, deadlines, projects, social life, etc., it seems like everything gets penciled into our schedules except for time to relax and sleep. We live in a success-driven society where you constantly have to fight to get to the top, and quite frankly, if you're sleeping; you're wasting your time. Among things that many sucessful people and even books written about success don't tell you is that you really DO need those two to three extra hours of sleep at night, that you are wearing your body down and building up a deficit of sleep by not getting the required amount each night; that you weaken your body's ability to stave off infections and other health-related problems, that it is a self-indulgent and all around bad habit that is easy to develop and harder to break, that it can shave years off your life! Don't worry.
If you're not getting enough sleep or are simply refusing to sleep in order to meet deadlines and get one step ahead of the next person vying for your job, it will all catch up with you. Sleep deprivation has a negative impact on a person's mental abilities. In fact, studies have been done that show that driving while being overtired is just as dangerous if not more dangerous than driving while intoxicated. Additionally, all of the hard work you're putting into becoming successful at work will be for nothing if you don't get enough sleep because research shows that those who are suffering from sleep deprivation lose the ability to focus mentally as well as process information clearly. Decisions take longer to make and are of poorer quality.
Learning and absorbing new information becomes an increasingly difficult task and creativity declines rapidly. Sleep deprivation can also affect you emotionally, making you feel depressed and irritable. There have even been studies that link sleep deprivation to weight gain! Just like people need to take mental breaks from work-related stuff; so do they also need to make sure that they're getting enough sleep. More sleep leads to happier people, which is what the world needs more of!
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