Deep Sleep and Productivity
Increasing your productivity often involves having to do or implement something. Still, one of the most effective ways to help your productivity requires doing very little indeed - other than have a good night’s sleep.
Lack of sleep is fast becoming a big problem in the western world with some research indicating 45% of the population suffering from inadequate sleep. This lack of sleep impacts problem-solving, memory capacity, creativity – and productivity. And that lack of productivity (directly related to sleep deprivation) is costing the US economy over $63 billion a year!
Another issue affects 1 in 3 people across the globe that is much improved with deep sleep too – and that’s anxiety. It turns out that we need our rest to calm and reset our anxious minds and restore the brain’s prefrontal mechanism that regulates emotions.
But it’s not just any sleep that will do; it’s the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) slow-wave sleep, or deep sleep, that allows our neural oscillations to become highly synchronized, and heart rate and blood pressure to drop. It’s also when Alzheimer’s-related peptides and drowsiness-inducing adenosine are flushed from the brain. So, if you’re tossing and turning all night, checking your phone, getting up for loads of water or toilet stops, it’s likely you’re not getting that vital sleep that you need.
It’s a bit of difficulty though as we’re mostly working harder and longer hours, so getting less sleep. We become more anxious as our productivity drops, so we work even harder and get even less sleep.
Plus, for something that seems like it should come naturally when we want it to, getting to sleep and staying asleep can be very elusive for a large part of the population. If you’re one of those people that struggle to get good quality sleep, give these five helpful tips a go:
Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, including after a bad night’s sleep and on the weekend.
Keep your bedroom temperature at around 18°C, wear socks if your feet get cold, and invest in blackout curtains if possible.
Wind down at least an hour before bed by dimming lights and turning off all electronic screens and devices.
If you can’t sleep, get out of bed and do something quiet and relaxing until the urge to sleep returns, then head back to bed again.
Avoid caffeine after lunch and don’t use alcohol as it’s a sedative that blocks your REM dream sleep.
Another option you can try is Brain.fm. As well as being useful for improving your productivity and meditation efforts, this science-backed functional music offering is fantastic for supporting better sleep aspirations. Because our brains are continually listening to and scanning our sleeping environments, audio becomes a handy tool to affect our sleep quality. Brain.fm has done a lot of research around this subject, and they’ve got a few case studies on their website if you’re interested. The sounds you’ll hear are gently engaging in supporting sleep-onset, consistent and free of gaps to reduce sleep-interfering noises, and modulated at low frequencies to directly enhance slow-wave sleep.
So, make your sleep a priority from now on. Remember that it’s not the amount of sleep that you get, but the quality that impacts your life and productivity.