Don't Drool Over This One... (Time And Productivity Series For Solopreneurs)
I woke up with a start.
I was sitting at my school desk, with a warm trail of drool running from the corner of my mouth to the top of my neck.
I looked around, hoping no one had noticed…and saw Dan, my high school crush, smirking at me. (Noooooo!)
Worse, a frowning Mrs. Lamfalusi was looking right at me, fully aware that I had snoozed through her European History lecture.
She asked me to stay after class. (Uh-oh).
During our conversation, I started to explain that I'd been up all night writing a paper, and I meant no disrespect, etc., but she cut me off:
“Jane, if you know you're exhausted, just tell me, then go to the nurse's office. You can nap there during the class period. Just catch up on the work later. You're not learning anything when you're this tired.”
No tough talking-to, no detention hours. I suspect Mrs. L had seen one too many bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived teenagers at our high-pressure prep school.
(I took her up on her offer a few times that year, too, and held up my end of the bargain when it came to learning the material. I was so happy to visit her years later and report that I chose a History major in college).
I'm continuing my series on productivity/time with something we don't always connect with productivity, but impacts it more than probably anything we do:
Get enough sleep.
The field of sleep-research has exploded over the last few years, and we now know that sleep impacts not only your body (sleep-deprivation increases cancer risk), but your intellect, your mental health, your relationships, your attention, and your ability to learn and retain information.
A neuropsychologist I know said that if Americans dropped their Starbucks habit, the pharmaceutical industry would partially collapse, because our enhanced sleep would lead to such improved mental health that we wouldn’t need as many psychotropic medications.
Sleep expert Dr. Matthew Walker points out that primitive societies always had a mid-day nap period; it was just normal for our brains's needs. He also reported that in cultures that traditionally had an afternoon siesta, productivity went way down if they dropped the practice.
What's one thing you can do to improve the quality and/or quantity of your sleep?
Can you take a short afternoon nap? Stop drinking caffeine after noon? Stop looking at glowing screens 2 hours before bed?
I believe that if you focus on even one habit to improve your Sleep practice, you'll see your productivity take off exponentially. Like Mrs. L said, “You're not learning anything when you're this tired.”