The human organism has two dominant states: staying awake and being asleep, and they are interdependent. We all have lived through tough moments of not getting enough sleep, which resulted in being drowsy, unfocused, and dispersed. However, it also perfectly works vice versa, when you have had an incredibly intense day full of activities, tasks, and chores that your brain is so tired but flooded with thoughts that you cannot fall asleep. So, as we can see, sleep and productivity not only deeply depend on each other but have a direct profound influence on each other’s quality.
The golden mean between sleep and consciousness has to be found for perfect human functionality, and the main question that has to be answered is how many hours need to sleep an average person to reach that balance?
Scientists concluded that the amount of sleep depends on age. Thereby, newborns, infants, and toddlers sleep between 11 and 17 hours per day, school-age and teens — 8/11 hours, adults — 7/9, and elderly people — 7/8 hours.
Despite these generally acknowledged human necessities, our lives’ rhythm usually doesn’t allow us to enjoy such luxury privilege as healthy sleep. Sleep deprivation can have drastic effects on your productivity and health, which is much worse than just feeling exhausted. You became very easy to irritate, ad lose the ability to think clearly, and can’t keep and process information in your memory, which, in the long-term perspective, may result in a lack of cognitive function. Your social and communicative skills become worse and lower, your response to interactions gets slower, and the decision-making process becomes more and more complicated. What’s the worst — the chance to get into an accident and get an injury grows rapidly.
To avoid all these terrible sleep deprivation consequences, which may not only decrease your productivity but also destroy your career, you shall follow these easy steps.
- Create proper sleep conditions. Dark quiet places with slightly lower temperatures are perfect for long qualitative sleep.
- Keep the room clean and airy and remember to change bed linen regularly.
- Set “it’s time to go to bed hour” and do your best to stick to it so as to create your sleeping schedule.
- Organize a bedtime routine. Arrange a specific hour when you start getting ready to sleep, during which, you will do some relaxation exercise or meditation, take a bath, follow your beauty routine, and avoid using your gadgets and social media.
- Do physical exercise during the day so that not only your brain but also your body will need to rest.
- Go outside. Fresh air and a dose of oxygen, especially in the evening, will guarantee you better sleep.
- Eat a healthy diet; reconsider what you consume before going to bed. Eliminate caffeine, nicotine, and heavy greasy dishes from your supper menu.
In our modern world where work takes almost all of our time and attention, the importance of sleep cannot be underestimated as the lack of it not only leads to the lack or decrease in productivity but can cause severe health issues. Set the right priorities, take care of yourself, and then, your effectiveness will be at its best.