Have you ever listened to the quote, “Sleep is the best meditation” by Dalai Lama?
The quote demonstrates that if sleep is optimized the right way, it can work as a form of meditation. This statement is backed by multiple studies and experts.
Sleep is the body’s natural mechanism that replenishes the sources of energy and reframes the mind. Its profound impacts on cognitive abilities and overall performance have been studied to date. Researchers also say that a person’s performance is a direct function of their sleep quality.
For instance, a disturbed sleep cycle shows signs like reduced performance, lack of emotional control, and endless lethargy. On the other side, a proper sleep schedule induces feelings of happiness by enhancing mood and emotion-processing abilities.
Benefits of A Balanced Sleep Cycle
Many studies have concluded that insufficient sleep leads to increased reaction time. Also, the term ‘sleep debt’ is a real thing. Sleep debt happens when persons with an irregular sleep cycle do not fulfill their sleep hours, and drowse during at work. According to Soltechealth, in the U.S. annually, approximately 1.23 million working days are lost to insufficient sleep, corresponding to around 9.9 million working hours.
Sleep debt can soon transform into chronic sleep deprivation. This situation leads to anxiety and stress, making the work even more challenging. Sleep-deprived people are vulnerable to stress and anxiety. All these factors amplify to make workers more irritable and frustrated in their workspace. These negative emotions are carried back home, making the process of falling asleep even more challenging.
Did you notice how the lack of sleep snowballs into something disastrous and affects multiple aspects of life?
The economic loss of insufficient sleep can be devastating also. According to Zapier, more than 4,000 U.S. workers who slept less had reduced productivity and performance. The monetary conversion of their hampered productivity cost aggregate to make $1,967 per week.
SleepFoundation indicates that insufficient sleep accounts for an economic impact of more than $411 billion annually in the United States.
The above data are astounding and decipher the power sleep holds. In this blog, we will discuss the impact of sleep on time management and overall performance.
Regulating Sleep Cycle: Proven Ways to Boost Productivity
Monitoring your sleep cycle is a trusted strategy to control numerous aspects of life–from productivity to emotional balance, and physical well-being to incredible time management.
Given below are lifestyle modifications one can use to optimize rest and maintain a normally functioning sleep cycle.
Take Power Naps
Major companies, such as Google, Facebook, Uber, Zappos, and NASA have realized the power of catnaps and promoted these boldly in recent years. Hundreds of studies discovered that naps of 20-30 minutes significantly improve employees’ productivity by 2.3%.
Watch Your Diet
Diet is a key player in maintaining the circadian rhythm that is responsible for managing normal physiological body functions. A sufficient nutrition supply sustains the internal clock that regulates other productivity-influencing factors in the human body.
Maintain a Consistent Wake-Up Routine
Waking up early is a stimulating practice that fosters high activity and causes early drowsing at night. This allows a person to experience an intense sleep period. A consistent day routine helps keep the workload organized and incites maximum productivity by noon.
Limit Screen Time
Smartphones, laptops, and TV are infamous distractions that keep an individual awake. Owing to this, a person feels an urge to stay awake and binge more on content that doesn’t add any value to life. This severely affects their productivity in terms of deteriorated vision, long-term stress, and inability to regulate a healthy balance in life.
Manage Stress
Stress triggers anxiety and creates an emotional broil. Controlling stress is pivotal for sound sleep and improved mental functions. Reducing stress helps in reducing anxiety, allowing you to focus better on the tasks.
Include Physical Activity
Rushing blood and high adrenaline levels are important for improved productivity. Daily physical exertion is essential to feel drowsy and sleep early. This in turn improves sleep quality and boosts productivity effortlessly.
The Bottom Line
Managing sleep is the thumb rule to stay energetic and deliver work peak performance. Optimizing sleep span is the right way to include breaks that increase productivity. Leveraging time trackers in the marketplace like KonarkPro helps workers take control of their time spending. Such tools remind them to stay productive and control time-wasting habits that reduce their performance.
FAQ
How does sleep help play a role in time management?
A sound sleep leaves a person feeling fresh throughout the day. This increases their abilities to perform better and manage their time effectively.
What are some of the ways an individual can optimize their sleep hours for peak performance?
Some of the ways an individual can optimize their peak performance are listed below.
- Wake/sleep early
- Limit screen time
- Manage stress
- Limit caffeine
- Include physical activity