Pinny Ziegler Let's Schmooze: is sleep important

Greetings everyone,

I apologize for the delay in posting my blog since I usually post on Sunday but due to some computer problems I had to postpone it but we're back so let’s begin.

Besides wondering about the power of sleeping as it’s one of the wonders of the creation, how a person can recharge themselves when and wherever they may find themselves no wires needed, and now that I'm writing about it I realized that sleep is more attainable than water and that is astonishing to me.

Thinking about the most basic necessities that a human being needs to survive I would say that from the top three would be water food and sleep. The only thing that puzzles me is why is sleep so within our reach just by relaxing and closing our eyes while food and water that seem more important are not as easy to acquire?

This reflection leads me to appreciate all the more and value the importance of sleep and how much of our success can be attributed to the proper sleep habits all that contribute to clarity of mind and a proper tuned body ready for challenges and the will to succeed.

I decided to elaborate on this subject, not that its concepts are entirely new and not that my research was extensive but some of the points were quite a surprise to me and I'm sure you will find it informative.

Remember this very important life rule, talking and writing, reading about any given subject is important, you never know it might be the right time or the writer that will inspire to you to make the change.

I'll start with this article in the success magazine Develop a Leader's Mind Five Essentials from Brain Expert Daniel Amen, M.D.

1. Sleep
Sleep deprivation has been associated with events such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the British Petroleum oil spill, the Union Carbide gas leak and even the Challenger space shuttle crash. More than 100,000 U.S. traffic accidents a year are attributed to sleep deprivation.

As a leader, it’s vital to get enough sleep to function at your highest level. It is especially important for the prefrontal cortex, located in the front third of your brain, which is involved in CEO function: forethought, judgment, impulse control, organization, planning and learning from the mistakes you make. When there are problems with the prefrontal cortex, people have short attention spans. They get distracted; they’re impulsive, disorganized and don’t learn from their errors. It can cause some real trouble in their lives. These people tend to be brutally honest, which is usually not helpful and tends to drive away employees. (You should inhibit the first thought that comes into your head and think, Is this going to be helpful or hurtful in this situation?)

You can strengthen this part of your brain by getting good sleep. When you don’t get at least seven hours of sleep at night, you have low blood flow to the prefrontal cortex. This leads to bad decision-making capability.

Click on the following link to read the full article http://www.success.com/articles/1879--develop-a-leader-s-mind.

Next I bumped in to this write up from helpguide.org that I’m sure that you will find interesting about the stages of sleep. I included the link to the full write up at the end.

There are two main types of sleep:

Non-REM (NREM) sleep consists of four stages of sleep, each deeper than the last.
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is when you do most active dreaming. Your eyes actually move back and forth during this stage, which is why it is called Rapid Eye Movement sleep.

The Stages of Sleep
Non-REM sleep
Stage N1 (Transition to sleep) – This stage lasts about five minutes. Eyes move slowly under the eyelids, muscle activity slows down, and you are easily awakened.
Stage N2 (Light sleep) – This is the first stage of true sleep, lasting from 10 to 25 minutes. Eye movement stops, heart rate slows, and body temperature decreases.
Stage N3 (Deep sleep) – You’re difficult to awaken, and if you are awakened, you do not adjust immediately and often feel groggy and disoriented for several minutes. In this deepest stage of sleep, brain waves are extremely slow. Blood flow is directed away from the brain and towards the muscles, restoring physical energy.
REM sleep
REM sleep (Dream sleep) – About 70 to 90 minutes after falling asleep, you enter REM sleep, where dreaming occurs. Eyes move rapidly. Breathing is shallow. Heart rate and blood pressure increase. Arm and leg muscles are paralyzed.