We all know that sleep is a necessary part of life, but from the time we are young, we seek ways to escape it. As children, we view falling asleep as the ultimate defeat. Bedtime means no more playing outside, no more spending time with friends, and no late night movies we probably shouldn’t have seen anyway.
As adults, sleep can be viewed as something that gets in the way of progress. We are always trying to find ways to add hours to a day so we can get more done at home and at work. With that said, we may actually be sabotaging the quality of everything we do by shaving time off of a good night’s rest.
According to the research, the lack of sleep can have a negative effect on reaction speed, short-term and long-term memory, ability to focus, decision-making capacity, math processing, cognitive speed and spatial orientation.” The value you have to your business shrinks indefinitely when you lose sleep. Below are some things to keep in mind when thinking about trading sleep for extra work.
Your Decision Making Talent
In the world of business, everything you do is based on a decision. Whether it is cutting the company budget or decided to merge with another company, you have to come at each decisive moment with your A game. Some days are worse than others and depend on your position in the company.
Much like the choices an athlete must make in the heat of the game will determine whether they win or not, the decisions you make in the office can determine things as simple as the morale of your co-workers or things as important as landing a million dollar contract. The view many businessmen and women have on the relation between sleep and work is more than understandable.
Many companies place extremely demanding schedules and requirements on their people. Be that as it may, they may be doing their corporation a huge disservice by placing demands on employees that cause them to lose precious shut-eye.
Can You Remember?
Most of us have, at one time or another, had the fear of losing our memory haunt us. One of the best ways to make that fear come to life, according to doctors, is to get as little sleep as possible. If you are running a business, loss of memory due to lack of sleep could mean disaster for you and your investors. Consider this.
You schedule a lunch meeting between you and a possible client to discuss how your company could possibly help them make more money by pairing their product with yours. This mutually beneficial merger could make you both millions, but because you stayed up late the night before working on the details of the merger, you forgot to have your secretary put a reminder in your daily syllabus.
Meanwhile, your VP of Operations asks you to lunch the same day. Since the earlier meeting is not on your schedule, you mistakenly think the slot is open and indulge your VP. Your possible ally is now making plans with your rival, because you couldn’t remember your appointment.
How To Make It Better
Ok. So, we know that not getting a good night’s sleep can be a death sentence for your business. How do we fix it? The obvious answer is to make sure you actually go to bed on time every night. It also helps to make bedtime the same time every night, including on the weekends.
It is a fact of life that a good night’s sleep is vital for your health. Without sleep, you can experience everything from weight gain to memory loss. What you may not realize is the right mattress makes all the difference in ensuring you get that good night’s rest. That is why you should visit a mattress showroom. There you can test several mattresses until you find one that suits your needs. For example, you may want one that is soft and cradles your body. You must also select one designed for your preferred sleeping position. Doing so can help you reduce your chances of snoring, waking up in the middle of the night, and even experiencing morning aches and pains.
Your body gets the best rest when it is on a schedule. If you still find it difficult to get the needed sleep, consider a workout before bed. Wear yourself out and sweat out the stress of the day. Another option is to learn some meditation techniques.
Sometimes, you may just need the chance to slow things down enough so you can fall asleep. If you continue to have issues, make sure to see a doctor and rule out any potentially dangerous situations.
Sleep is one of the great things in life. It gives us the much-needed rest we need so that we can be our best in every situation. Refer to this article when you need a reminder of how vital sleep is to your business.