What do Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, and Whitney Wolfe Herd all have in common? All three people are billionaires who value the importance of sleep. Both Bezos and Buffet confirm that they aim for 8 hours a night, and Herd has spoken publicly to say that “nothing is more nourishing to your mind, body, and soul than a good night’s sleep.”
The world’s biggest earners are sleeping more because they know the science. Sleeping well is a key indicator of success. Regular sleep improves both declarative (fact retrieval) and procedural (task completion) memory, making it easier to retain information. For jobs that require creativity and ingenuity, REM sleep is one of the biggest factors of nurtured creativity. If you can dream of success, you can achieve it. Not all of sleep’s effects on a person are mental, either. A greater amount of sleep leads to a stronger immune system. People who get sick less often are able to dedicate more of themselves to their ambitions, especially during times where disease runs rampant.
Despite all the information out there about the importance of sleep, not everyone makes their rest a proper priority. The why varies; some people don’t want to spend their only free time unconscious while others are ignorant to the effect sleep can have on them. Whatever the motive of individual people, insufficient sleep costs America more than $411 billion in lost productivity every year. The true cost of insufficient sleep goes beyond productivity, however. Poor sleep (defined here as less than 6 hours a night) leads to 13% higher mortality risk, reduced ability to make wise financial decisions, and double the chance of being in a car accident. Sleeping poorly doesn’t only make work harder. It puts your life at risk.
How can poor sleepers cultivate better habits? There are a number of strategies worth trying. The most widespread and important strategy is to limit blue light exposure before bedtime. Blue light comes from phones, computers, and television screens. It inhibits the production of melatonin in humans. Give your electronics a bedtime so you can have one too. Learn more about how sleep and success go together below: