Day 26: How the amount you sleep affects your mindset

Almost everyone wants to get as much work done as possible, so most people cut down their sleep time so that they have more time to work. What seems like a smart move is actually net negative to your health and work as the tiredness you feel from the lack of required sleep would greatly decrease your work rate and your overall productivity. The best way to keep yourself from being tired is somewhat obvious, being to simply get more sleep.

Psychological studies have shown that people must get a set amount of sleep to be able to go through all the cycles of sleep needed to perform as efficiently as possible. After first falling asleep and entering REM sleep, you then begin to go through the 4 stages of non-REM sleep. It is in the 3rd stage that you enter the deepest sleep, where if cut short will make you feel groggy and thinking negatively. You must get to the 4th stage of sleep where you reenter rem sleep to wake up feeling as rested and motivated as possible. This especially works with people who sleep with alarms as waking up to the alarm would take you from the 3rd stage, but snoozing the alarm and going back to sleep would have you waking up later from the 4th stage well rested. In conclusion, sleep is one of the most important factors to being as productive as possible.