We’ve all heard this quote, most likely from an interview in a business magazine with some mega-billionaire CEO.  Of course this person is either a walking collection of crazy or some genetically gifted mutant.  I’m actually not kidding about that mutant option, as those who thrive on little sleep may have a rare genetic mutation according to a recent sleep study at the University of San Francisco.  Of course, that mutation was found in just 2 out of 1000 study participants – so rare is right.

The rest of us need sleep and need it badly.  And we probably need more of it than we think, or at least more than we’re inclined to let ourselves get by on.

In a 2002 study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation (PDF), it was found that the majority of American adults (68%) don’t get the recommended 8 hours of sleep needed for good health and optimum performance, and more than one-third (39%) sleep less than 7 hours nightly.  Strangely (yet ironically) enough, a staggering 85% of those surveyed said they would sleep more if they knew it would improve their health.

Guess what?  It does improve your health.  And your sex life, body shape, and ability to stay awake during Avatar in IMAX 3D.  It’s also the best way to improve your mood and the way you respond when you’re frustrated or stressed out.  In other words, good sleep can keep you from being a jerk AND help you look and feel better.

Lack of sleep can also have a profound effect on memory and other cognitive skills.  In an interesting study, researchers measured cognitive function in sleep-deprived, right-handed men and found that sleep deprivation has a negative effect on cognitive functions associated with "right-brained" functions such as "motor, rhythm, receptive & expressive speech, memory and complex verbal arithmetic function." (PDF link)

There are a number of ways to improve your sleep habits – this post is just going to scratch the surface with six basic habits you should start incorporating into your life if you don’t already.  Over the next few months, I’m sure there will be six more… and then six more and so on.  But hey, you’ve got to start somewhere! 

1. Know how much sleep you need, and make it a priority

This one may take some trial and error, but its impact on your lifestyle will be immeasurable.  Draw a correlation between the number of hours you sleep on a given night and your energy levels the following day. (Make sure to maintain a constant diet as changes in your diet could cause your energy levels to vary considerably.)  Before going to sleep, start a stopwatch or a timer.  (If you fall asleep as your head hits the pillow, it is a sure sign of sleep deprivation!).  As soon as you wake up, stop the timer and record the total time you were asleep in a sleep journal.

Do this for about two weeks, making sure to record your energy level using a 1-10 scale in your journal each day.  When you felt "awake" and full of vigor throughout the day, score it a 10.  If you’re nodding off at your desk and have little or no real energy, give that day a 1. (While the scoring will be subjective, since you are the only one performing the evaluations, it should be relatively reliable.)

At the end of the two-week period, you should be able to determine your "ideal" nightly sleep target, which should fall somewhere between 7 and 10 hours depending on genetics (few can get by with only 6 hours and VERY few can get by with less than 6).  Now, make it a priority to reach your quota by doing whatever you can to put sleep first!

If you’re too lazy to do this (no judgment here! I am too) then start with somewhere between 7 and 8 hours of sleep each night as this is the most common requirement.

2. Limit your naps, if you need them, to 15-30 minutes

It’s natural to feel sluggish or tired every once in a while.  If you feel the urge to nap, do it!  There are a couple of caveats though, and they’re important to remember.  Try not to nap in the late afternoon, as it could delay the time you fall asleep at night and cause your internal sleep clock to go haywire for a few days.

Napping in the late morning or early afternoon, on the other hand, can help you feel more alert throughout the day and give your system a needed "boost" as well as promote faster recuperation from intense exercise.  Keep the amount of time you spend napping to a minimum, usually no more than 30 minutes.  A short nap is all the body needs to revitalize the nervous system and restore alertness.  Any longer, and your body falls into delta (deep) sleep and you may have trouble waking up.  And when you do, you may be irritable or slightly dazed.

See How to Power Nap on WikiHow for more on this.

3. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule

It’s very important to go to bed and wake up (unassisted!) at the same time every day, even on weekends.  This will help regulate your internal sleep clock, making sure you are at your most awake during the day when you need it most.  Interestingly, if you maintain a constant sleep schedule for a few weeks, you may find that your nightly quota will decrease slightly, and you will be more alert on less sleep each night!

4. Pay back your "sleep debt" as soon as possible

Think of your body like a bank.  Every time you fail to meet your sleep quota, your body registers it as debt and expects to be "paid back”.  Your sleep debt will continue to accumulate until you make up for it!  Have you ever noticed that you naturally sleep more the night after a late-night?  That’s your body attempting to make up for lost sleep.

Unfortunately, however, your body can’t store sleep just like it can’t store exercise results.  You can’t sleep 12 hours one night and expect to get by on 4 the next if your quota is 8 hours nightly.  With that said, it becomes even more important to maintain a regular sleep schedule.

5. Avoid alcohol before bed

Many people believe that a glass of wine right before bed will help them sleep better.  The opposite is true. While the alcohol may "knock you out" and make you feel very relaxed initially, it disrupts sleep later on throughout the night.

Alcohol, taken less than 4 hours before bedtime, will severely limit REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is essential for daytime alertness.  While you may not even realize it, alcohol could in fact be the indirect cause of lethargy throughout the day.  You may also find yourself waking up more often throughout the night, and that’s an indicator that a deep sleep state isn’t being reached.

6. Practice good sleep hygiene

Maintaining a regular “wind down” routine can help improve your sleep.  Some general tips in this arena include:

• Read some fiction – or something that helps get your mind off of other things.  Non-fiction can get your mind working too hard, which is not conducive to good sleep.  Read something fun.
• Shut down computer screens at least 30-60 minutes prior to retiring.  The light emitted from screens can disrupt circadian rhythms and make it harder to fall asleep.  (Snarky note: this is the reason I won’t be buying an iPad for nighttime reading anytime soon)
• Remove your TV from the bedroom.  Certainly don’t watch prior to falling asleep if you’re having trouble.
• Kick dogs, cats, and chimps out of your bed.  They’ve been known to disrupt sleep, even if you aren’t aware of it.
• Break up your nightly routine into multiple parts to make it easier to go to bed.  For example, I take out my contact lenses a few hours before going to bed because I know that when the time comes to get ready, that annoying act of taking out my contacts will give me an excuse not to start the process.  And I’ll stay up later.
• Keep your bedroom cool – but not cold.  Cooler temperatures are best for sleep.
• Use a white noise generator (fan, noise machine, etc.) to drown out the sounds of pets, cars, or other hindrances to a good night’s sleep.
• Straighten up your bedroom each night.  This can help you get out of bed in the morning.

Stop reading this now… and go get some sleep if you need it.  It’s important if you expect to be able to focus at the level you obviously want to (otherwise, what are you doing reading this?)

Thanks to Dr. James Maas of Cornell University for first opening my eyes to the importance of sleep fifteen years ago.

Related posts:

1. Increase Focus With Greek Yogurt, Almonds, and Green Tea
2. Take Micro-vacations to Boost Focus
3. Form Positive New Habits Through Active Association

There has been a lot of interesting research on sleep over the last couple decades.  The majority of it has focused on the importance of sleep, yet through it all 1 in 3 people are chronically sleep deprived, relying on large amounts of caffeine to get them through the day… All the while, dozing off at their desks wondering why they don’t have any energy to exercise (further exacerbating the problem!)

So what do we know about sleep and how it relates to focus?

Mayank Mehta at Brown University found that during sleep, the hippocampus and neocortex actually reconfigure themselves in order to make sense of everything from the day.  Your thoughts are being structured and moved from short-term storage in the hippocampus (like RAM on a computer) to long-term storage in the neocortex (like a hard drive) while you’re drooling on your pillow.   Research at Harvard Medical School also describes a process called memory consolidation whereby sleep assists us in the absorption of new information.  Robert Stickgold, Harvard Medical School assistant professor of psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center says, "It seems that memories normally wash out of the brain unless some process nails them down. My suspicion is that sleep is one of those things that does the nailing down."

Sleep is widely recognized as a time when memories and new information from the day are cemented for future reference.  It’s a critical component of learning a new skill or task, and it appears that without a good night’s sleep, information can’t be retained and likely has to be relearned.

Research (literally hundreds of studies) and loads of anecdotal data also show that the process of mental practice – or rehearsing something only in your mind – can help improve on a skill.  Performing mental practice has been shown to be a significant benefit to performance when compared to no practice, and in some cases has been shown to be as effective as performing the activity itself.  Sports psychologists have been using mental practice techniques for a long, long time with clients, and it’s become part of routine training for Olympic and professional athletes.

Given these two facts: 1) that sleep is critical and can help form new memories and strengthen thoughts for the future, and 2) that mental practice is critical to skill development and improvement, I’d like to outline a technique I’ve been using for over 20 years to turn this into action.  The idea is to utilize the pre and post dream states to train your brain to excel.

Here’s how it works:

1. Before getting into bed, immerse yourself in a topic area (15-30 minutes). This can be done in any number of ways, but the idea is to “prime the pump” for the pre-dream state.  When I’m doing this to improve in the martial arts, I like to watch videos, view images, or read descriptions of the technique.  The key here is to specialize – you don’t want just read about being better, you want to study a very specific set of circumstances so you can adequately rehearse them.
2. While lying in bed, practice active visualization through the means of a story.  This is what I’m calling the pre-dream state.  Start off rehearsing your skill in your mind until you feel like you’ve “got it”, then move onto an uplifting story as guided by your mind.  Visualize pulling everything together into a realistic application of the skill.  Most importantly, picture yourself succeeding.  Walk through your day or your event as you prepare to sleep, interact with other people, and make it feel as real as you can.  Pretend it’s a movie and you’re the star.
3. When you find yourself drifting off to sleep, start to take more risks.  This may take some practice (it’s effectively the start of lucid dreaming).  You’re now suggesting to your mind that you’re confident – that you know what you’re doing – and you’re going to have some fun with it.  Since your rational senses will start to relax, strange things may happen as you start to dream.  Just go with it.
4. While sleeping, sleep… for 7-8 hours straight   You’ll find that your dreams may continue down the path you’ve set for it, or they may go off in a different direction.  It doesn’t really matter much.  What matters is that your thoughts are now being configured and stored for the future.
5. In the morning, while waking but still half-asleep, continue without moving.  This is what I’m calling the post-dream state.  In this state, mental restrictions aren’t usually applied.  Since you’re still not fully awake, you can benefit from not being “boxed in” by perceived or real limitations that you would otherwise encounter in the real world.  Things like “that would never work” or “but I’m just not good enough to do this”.  You can usually continue to be in a dream-like state, while still having the ability to guide and think about your skill development.  This is also an application of lucid dreaming and takes practice to perfect.

These 5 steps can be performed in order to improve on any skill, or just to generate positive or fun emotions for the day ahead.

I recently discovered that Ray Kurzweil, one of the world’s leading futurists, uses a very similar process.  In his new book, Transcend with Terry Grossman, he outlines the process he uses for creative problem solving and invention.  Reading someone else’s method, especially someone with Kurzweil’s track record, prompted me to post about this.  He also discussed it a bit on his website:

By thinking about problems without those senses you can really find creative solutions to them. But what’s really effective is that period of time when you’re awakening. You realize you’re conscious and you could will yourself to get up, but you choose not to and you’re really still in a dreamlike state. It’s a period of lucid dreaming. Your dream can even continue, but you now also have your conscious faculties.

One of the advantages of this dreamlike state is that your senses are relaxed, but the disadvantage is that your rational faculties are not operating. In this lucid dreaming state you have both. You’re conscious enough to have your logical faculties but you’re also still in the dreamlike state where you’ve relaxed the restrictions to creative thinking.

In short: sleep is a powerful mechanism and lucid dreaming techniques can help quite a bit with personal development.

Give it a try and let me know how it works!

Related posts:

1. Introduction to the Flow State (part 2 of 2)
2. The Self-Serving Bias: 3 Steps to Total Eradication!