It often happens that people tend to ignore what seems obvious and simple, but goes against the practice of the majority. When it comes to decision making, there is one factor which by itself can bring the biggest improvements in wise decision making. Yet, this is the suggestion my clients fight against most, and find all imaginable excuses why they can’t do it.
In spite of the abundant research available in the last 10 years proving how vital sleep is for a healthy body and mind, sleep deprivation has become a “badge of honor" for men and women alike. In our fast-paced world, there is an expectation that we need to trade in precious sleeping time to ensure we complete all the jobs we believe we have to do. Sleep deprivation is routine. In fact, executives seem to think sleep deprivation is a pre-requisite to rise to the top.
But in doing so, we are significantly increasing not only the risk of suffering a stroke or developing cardiovascular disease, but also of making terrible mistakes.
The University of Warwick in a report published in the European Heart Journal in March of 2011, released the results of a major long-term study based on the experiences of hundreds of thousands of people across eight countries.
The Research shows that if you sleep less than six hours a night and have disturbed sleep you stand a 48% greater chance of developing or dying from heart disease and a 15% greater chance of developing or dying from a stroke. It also warns that sleep loss can lead to skewed thinking and bad decisions.
In fact, lack of sleep has been linked to bad decision making responsible for some of the major disasters we can remember. For example, the investigation into the disaster which killed all seven astronauts on board the Challanger space shuttle in January 1985 concluded that poor decision-making at a meeting the night before was disastrous. After much debate, the go-ahead was given. The poor decision was aggravated by the fact that two of the Nasa managers had been awake for 23 hours straight and had slept for no more than three hours the previous day.
Similar errors during long night shifts were implicated in the nuclear disasters at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, as well as the Exxon Valdez oil spillage.
Even Bill Clinton, who used to famously get only five hours of sleep, later admitted, "Every important mistake I've made in my life, I've made because I was too tired." His lack of sleep was probably also a big part of the issue in his heart problems.
Arianna Huffington, Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, of The Huffington Post, did a short presentation for TED on the value of sleep. It is worth watching.
Remember. . .
It doesn’t matter how high your IQ or your position is; lack of sleep will hold you back, and cause poor decision making.
Sleep is your biggest ticket to wise decision making.
For personal reflection and sharing
What prevents you from sleeping enough?
What can you take off your "to do" list in order to open space for sleep?
I would love to know what you think, so please share your thoughts with us.
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Photo by: Grant Lindsay