Cheryl A. Major is a volunteer contributor to WestfordCATnews.org. Subscribe to our free, online publication for all your Westford news.
Do you wonder if you could be more productive if you got more and better quality sleep each night? Getting the proper amount of sleep actually results in you being more alert and productive each day. Here are some of the ways that getting enough sleep can improve your performance.
You Recover From Distractions More Quickly
When you’re sleep deprived, feeling groggy and sluggish, it’s much more difficult to refocus on a task after a disruption. Imagine being interrupted by loud music or shouting from the street. You get up to investigate, then you come back and try to refocus. If you’re sleep deprived, it will take more time for you to refocus your attention.  Even when you do get back to business, you are less likely to be truly focused and alert. When you are rested and alert, you can easily return to the task at hand and get your mind refocused on the work that needs to be done.
You Will Help Prevent Burnout
Lack of sleep, which means less than six hours each night for the average adult, is one of the best predictors of job burnout. If you’re forcing yourself to work each day on less sleep than you need to be at your best, it will catch up to you in the form of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion. You’re more likely to doubt your competence and the value of your work. However, when you get your optimal amount of sleep each night, over the same amount of time your confidence in your ability to do good work will increase because of the consistency with which you have been producing quality work. Seven to eight hours of sleep is the amount which is optimal, although few of us enjoy that amount of sleep.
You Will Make Better Decisions
When you sleep well, you improve your ability to make quick and accurate decisions by approximately 4 percent. This may not sound like much, but every little bit helps. If you continue to sleep well and make better decisions, it will result in work that you are confident is your best work.
Your Memory Will Improve
More than a century of research has established the fact that sleep is a factor in memory. Sleep actually triggers changes in the brain that solidify memories—strengthening connections between brain cells and transferring information from one brain region to another. This means getting enough rest is key to retaining what you have learned during the day. It also means that you’re better able to process what you have learned, resulting in better recall and better ability to use what you learned in the days ahead.
You Will Make Fewer Mistakes
By getting enough rest you are less likely to make mistakes. For example, drowsy driving results in missing stop signs or worse. Lack of sleep means you can’t think quickly, and you respond more slowly to disruption. This may mean you’re less likely to process outside distractions well enough to avoid injury, and you may make more mistakes.
Clearly, there is a connection between sleep and productivity. Being aware of this, you can now focus on improving your sleep habits and becoming more productive. We’ll discuss some ideas for helping you with that important goal in next week’s article.
Cheryl A Major lives in Westford and is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant. Her TV show Thin Strong Healthy airs on WestfordCat and is an offshoot of her blog http://ThinStrongHealthy.com  Cheryl offers ongoing information and personal health coaching to help you feel better and be healthier. Follow Cheryl on Twitter @CherylAMajor. She is also a full time residential Realtor with Coldwell Banker with more than 25 years experience.
Questions? Email Cheryl at cheryl@thinstronghealthy.com and be sure to put Health Question in the subject line. Your question and its answer will be included in a future article
P.S. Get a copy of this special report I’ve prepared as my free gift to you: 10 Tips for Healthy Eating on a Budget at http://ThinStrongHealthy.com . As a bonus, you will receive Your Major Health Minutes, a quick bite of healthy information that will come to you a couple of times a week. You know you want to lose weight and be healthier!
