I know, I know, you don’t have time to sleep. You’re very busy and important. Or you think you are the exception to the rule—that you are a part of the 2.5% of people that really does feel rested with less than the 8+ hours of sleep that doctors and sleep experts prescribe. Maybe you wish you could get more sleep, but you just can’t find a way to put sleep above your other priorities.

Ask yourself: What are your other priorities? Your health? Your happiness? Productivity and success at work? Raising happy and healthy children? Here’s the truth: You will not fulfill your potential in any of these realms unless you get the sleep your body, brain, and spirit need. A mountain of research supports this dramatic claim.

Take Action: Make a plan to get more sleep. If it feels totally impossible to you to just get to bed earlier, try increasing your sleep by 4 or 5 minutes a night until you’ve adjusted your schedule enough that you are getting eight hours of shut-eye. For example, it might feel totally impossible to get to bed before midnight. But surely you can hit the hay by 11:56. Do this every day for 2 weeks, and you’ll gain an hour (and all the increased productivity, creativity, and happiness that comes with it). Stick to it until you’re going to bed early enough to get 8 hours.

Join the Discussion:  Have you made an attempt to get more sleep?  Have you noticed the positive effects on your life? Inspire others by sharing your success in the comments.

 

Photo by Mike Bitzenhofer