“Sleep is overrated.” You have probably heard this statement before once or twice…or an outrageous number of times from individuals…like me. Guilty. Hands down. In attempts to be held accountable for change, we are here to tell you that opening line is false. It simply isn’t true. Sleep is how we recharge. Not getting enough sleep is like charging our phone batteries partially, and then expecting them to last all day just as if we had fully charged them. Crazy concept, right?
Sometimes we need to be reminded we are not invincible. Sometimes we just need to sleep.
Easier said than done for some, however. In fact, we wrote about sleep in a January post after attending a session at a conference on the importance of sleep. What part about needing sleep is so difficult to absorb? Sleep is a necessity – although we often confuse it as a luxury. In pursuit of adding to our shut-eye formula, we began looking for ways to find more sleep. There is a plethora of resources available online and in print. Where to start? Well, why not start with family and friends to begin gathering some information and importantly, support. Dr. Wendy’s daughter shared this blog – Great Kids Therapy – with us, and we now share it with you. Check it out as it notes sleep’s impact on children…and all of us.
As my doc said to me this week, sleep is a habit just like anything else. Some habits are good. Some habits are bad. We need family and friends to support us in this sleep venture.
Colleagues are not exempt from this responsibility. In this busy, fast-paced world, we can get caught up in challenge to do more, to sacrifice more… Sleep becomes almost a competition. “I didn’t go to bed until well past midnight, and had to be up early today for ________.” You fill in the blank. You have heard it. You may have said it. What drives us to so easily forsake sleep – our bodies’ time to refuel in efforts to accomplish more. When in fact, we accomplish less – OR quite possibly not up to the caliber it would be minus the sleep deprivation – OR it ends up taking twice as long. Yikes – guilty of this – and have been for years. My family reminds me frequently of my bad habit. I have always figured it was how I was wired – and that I didn’t need as much sleep as others. Somehow I was a superior built model that requires 4-5 hours of sleep on average to perform mental and physical tasks without waver. Guess what? I was wrong. I mean – don’t tell others that I was wrong. But it is true…so tell others if it can help you and your family and friends – then do tell. We need to be supporters of each other – to sleep more! Sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on our health. Why would we want to be competitive about our lack of sleep and poor health choices?
If you haven’t dozed off already, get some shut-eye. Don’t worry – You have the teachers’ permission. 😉
Stay Calm & Sleep On!
Profs Dr. Wendy & Dr. V.
edUconnections 