Take Care of Yourself

I am not a big fan of sleep-especially when I am worried, have too much to do and can't get to sleep in the first place. It is one of those things that is necessary that I wish I didn't have to worry about. I find myself saying (and maybe you do too), "If I could get by on just one less hour of sleep, that will equate to an hour of extra productivity. I could get more stuff done!" Unfortunately, that isn't the case.

For most people, we need on average 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Don't cheat yourself. You will be less able to focus and have less energy during the day if you don't get your rest. Dr. Charles A. Czeisler, the Baldino Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School has been quoted as saying, "The general effect of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance is well-known: Stay awake longer than 18 consecutive hours, and your reaction speed, short-term and long-term memory, ability to focus, decision-making capacity, math processing, cognitive speed, and spatial orientation all start to suffer. Cut sleep back to five or six hours a night for several days in a row, and the accumulated sleep deficit magnifies these negative effects."

Short and long term memory, focus and decision-making capacity all seem like important things in our day-to-day lives. If you do any additional research on the subject you will also find that sleep deprivation can affect your physical well being-an increase in illness, high blood pressure, etc. You are the only you that you have got! Take care of yourself first and then go after the rest of the stuff in your life. You deserve it.