Many leaders today brag that they get by with very little sleep. Sleeping less is a growing phenomenon... Interestingly, a fellow committee member volunteered to work on part of a project at 4:00 am because he's "awake" then. Do you find you're getting by with less sleep, too?
Sleep researchers continue to tell us that we need at least seven hours sleep for our brain's optimal biological and mental health. Is it your experience at the end of a day that your thinking cap's exhausted and needs some refreshing?
Chiara Cirelli, UW-Madison researcher, believes that when people sleep their brain synapses can downsize and prepare for the next day's round of learning and synaptic strengthening. Accordingly, "the human brain expends up to 80 percent of its energy on synaptic activity, constantly adding and strengthening connections in response to all kinds of stimulation."
Given that each of the millions of neurons in the human brain contains thousands of synapses, this energy expenditure "is huge and can't be sustained." No wonder we're tired at the end of each day!
Why is it then that many leaders consider it a badge of honor to get by with less sleep? Perhaps many are not... They're just not counting their cat naps throughout the day...
Many people fall asleep at computer monitors after lunch, in committee meetings and in the evening as they sit to watch the 6:00 news in their favorite recliner. Dr. David Dinges questions whether people are getting by with less and are "as prevalent as is claimed in society." Dinges believes that many people who say they are short sleepers are getting more sleep than they are willing to admit.
I don't know about you, but I really want to keep my brain running at peak performance for the next few years!
Thoughts...?
Photo Credit: Cynthia Johnson, Getty Images
Sleep researchers continue to tell us that we need at least seven hours sleep for our brain's optimal biological and mental health. Is it your experience at the end of a day that your thinking cap's exhausted and needs some refreshing?
Chiara Cirelli, UW-Madison researcher, believes that when people sleep their brain synapses can downsize and prepare for the next day's round of learning and synaptic strengthening. Accordingly, "the human brain expends up to 80 percent of its energy on synaptic activity, constantly adding and strengthening connections in response to all kinds of stimulation."
Given that each of the millions of neurons in the human brain contains thousands of synapses, this energy expenditure "is huge and can't be sustained." No wonder we're tired at the end of each day!
Why is it then that many leaders consider it a badge of honor to get by with less sleep? Perhaps many are not... They're just not counting their cat naps throughout the day...
Many people fall asleep at computer monitors after lunch, in committee meetings and in the evening as they sit to watch the 6:00 news in their favorite recliner. Dr. David Dinges questions whether people are getting by with less and are "as prevalent as is claimed in society." Dinges believes that many people who say they are short sleepers are getting more sleep than they are willing to admit.
I don't know about you, but I really want to keep my brain running at peak performance for the next few years!
Thoughts...?
Photo Credit: Cynthia Johnson, Getty Images
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