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Vol. 13 No. 3, May-June 2011
Copyright 2011 by Wolf J. Rinke
mailto:WolfRinke@aol.com
http://www.WolfRinke.com
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IN THIS ISSUE:
1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
2. A PERFECT GIFT ANY TIME OF THE YEAR
3. TO ACHIEVE PEAK PERFORMANCE, SLEEP MORE/BETTER
4. WANT TO TAKE YOUR CAREER TO THE NEXT LEVEL?
5. HUMOR BREAK
6. ABOUT THE EDITOR
7 PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
INSIGHT BREAK
"Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime
and too sleepy to worry at night."
-Unknown
1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
Not getting enough sleep makes you less productive and may harm you
New research out of the University of Pennsylvania finds people who
slept less than six hours a night had serious lapses in attention. Cognitive
performance deficits included a reduced ability to pay attention and
to react in a timely manner during such tasks as driving. Other deficits
included the reduced ability to multi-task, to think quickly and to
avoid making mistakes. Those lapses got worse as the week progressed.
Getting six hours of sleep per night for two weeks was equivalent to
staying up for 24 hours straight. Yet these subjects were not aware
of how severely sleep deprived they actually were, putting them at even
greater risk of harm.
ACTION STEP
Get in the habit of getting 7-9 hours of sleep a night. To improve the
quality of your sleep read the article in section 3 below.
Source: Hans P.A. Van Dongen, Greg Maislin, Janet M. Mullington, and
David F. Dinges, The Cumulative Cost of Additional Wakefulness: Dose-Response
Effects on Neurobehavioral Functions and Sleep Physiology From Chronic
Sleep Restriction and Total Sleep Deprivation, Sleep, 26 (02), 2011;
http://www.journalsleep.org/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=25803
2. A PERFECT GIFT ANY TIME OF THE YEAR
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3. TO ACHIEVE PEAK PERFORMANCE, SLEEP MORE/BETTER
by Wolf J. Rinke, PhD, CSP
Researchers tell us that most of us do not get enough sleep. According
to one estimate, 10% to 15% of American's are suffering from chronic,
long-term sleep deprivation, mostly insomnia and nightmares. The National
Sleep Foundation maintains that Americans sleep almost two fewer hours
a night than 40 years ago, with the average person sleeping far less
than seven hours per night. To achieve peak performance, however, your
body requires 7-9 hours. (That's for most adults. Children, pregnant
woman and older adults need more sleep.) Consistently sleeping less
than 7-9 hours results in lower productivity, more accidents, higher
levels of stress and even weight gain. (Yes, you read correctly!) And
it's not only the number of hours you sleep, it's also the quality of
your sleep. For example, during times of high stress, such as the period
after 9/11, some people slept less well while others had sleep disturbing
nightmares, or were unable to sleep at all. (The National Sleep Foundation
found that over 75 percent of the people they surveyed after 9/11 experienced
at least one sleep disorder several times a week.) Again researchers
have found that high levels of stress tend to disrupt the second half
of a night's sleep. And once you wake up at two or three in the morning,
it's difficult to fall back into a restful sleep. Inadequate amounts
of restful, rejuvenating sleep will, according to the National Sleep
Foundation, have a negative effect on your emotions, mood, memory, concentration
and even your ability to make high quality decisions. Repeat that pattern
several nights a week and you will likely experience more severe effects
such as feeling short tempered, anxious or upset. It may even lead to
the Blues or depression. According to Timothy Roehrs, director of the
Henry Ford Hospital of Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit
and the National Sleep Foundation, here are eight strategies that will
enable you to get more quality ZZZZZZs.
1 Maintain a Regular Sleep Schedule
To get the most from your sleep, go to bed and get up at approximately
the same time, every day. Also, if you have insomnia, you may want to
avoid napping. If you do feel you need a nap, take a powernap of no
more than about 20 minutes. Although this is good advice, Superwoman
and I allow ourselves the luxury of a short power nap on Saturday and
sleeping in on Sundays. And why not? Some of the research evidence suggests
that we are able to "store" some sleep.
2. Wind Down
Be sure to create a wind-down phase before going to sleep. Stuff that
really works well is reading especially if it is a boring book, listening
to soft music, meditating, cuddling with your partner, soaking in a
warm bath or listening to music. What works like magic for us is television.
Although I'm not a proponent of TV, I do advocate it as a tool for getting
sleepy. When I'm at home, we typically read till about 9 p.m. We tape
the national news and our favorite shows-that way we can skip the commercials-and
watch our favorite shows until we are ready to go to bed at about 11
p.m. Avoid exercising (see #8 below) arguing, scary movies or books,
and TV news-especially the local news-right before going to sleep.
3. Get out the "Blankie"
Make your bed into a comfort zone, such as warm down blankets in the
winter, fuzzy pajamas, and your favorite pillow. Anything that gives
you comfort, even your childhood "blankie." (Hey, who's going
to know?) And while I'm thinking of it, don't use your bed for anything
else except the two S's: sleep and sex.
4. Create a "quiet" zone
Make sure that your bedroom is as comfortable, calm, dark and quiet
as you can make it. Install heavy curtains, shades, or double pane windows.
If all else fails get yourself a set of earplugs-the soft foam type
work best-and a dark mask. You may also want to try a soothing CD with
very quiet mood music or the sound of a burbling brook.
5. Invest in a high quality large mattress
Think about it, you spend a third of your life in bed. Marcela and I
spent over 20 years of our married life on a full size mattress-not
even a queen size. That just does not make any sense! (Hey who said
that authors don't do stupid stuff?) Now we sleep on a very spacious,
soft, quality king size mattress. Because Marcela has been suffering
with back problems, we tried a wide variety of mattresses, even one
that was so hard they called it "Granite." (I'm not making
this up.) And what we finally found, after we wasted a lot of money,
is that a soft, cushiony, spacious mattress works best for us.
6. Eat as Early as Possible
Avoid eating before going to bed. In fact, eat your main meal as early
as possible in the day. It will help you with your weight-control program,
plus help you sleep better at night. Also be sure to avoid high fat
snacks, caffeine, nicotine and alcohol late in the day.
7. Exercise
Participate in a regular aerobic exercise program. Since it stimulates
your metabolic rate, avoid this type of exercise three hours before
going to bed.
8. Don't Fight It
If you find yourself unable to sleep for about 30 minutes, don't fight
it. Get up, get yourself a warm glass of milk (yes, it actually works),
watch a boring TV program or read something that will calm you down.
(That's how I catch up on all my professional journals. They work like
magic.)
If all of this does not help you achieve restful sleep, you may have
an underlying medical problem such as clinical depression, apnea or
narcolepsy, and it's time to see your doctor.
For other strategies that will help you to achieve peak performance
read or listen to Make It a Winning Life: Success Strategies for Life,
Love or Business available at http://wolfrinke.com/MIWL.html; or if
you need CPE credits devour Beat the Blues: How to Manage Stress and
Balance Your Life (C178) approved for 28 CPEUs, available at http://www.wolfrinke.com/CEFILES/cepd.html#C178)
4. WANT TO TAKE YOUR CAREER TO THE NEXT LEVEL?
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To get started go to http://wolfrinke.com/mgttraining.html.
5. HUMOR BREAK
Early to rise and early to bed makes a male healthy and wealthy and
dead.
-James Thurber
6. ABOUT THE EDITOR
Dr. Wolf J. Rinke, CSP is a highly effective management consultant and
executive coach who specializes in building peak performance organizations,
teams and individuals. He is the author of 12 CPE manuals, available
at www.easyCPEcredits.com and 5 books including "Make It a Winning
Life: Success Strategies for Life, Love and Business" available
at www.WolfRinke.com. He is also an internationally recognized motivational
and management keynote speaker and seminar leader who delivers customized
presentations that combine story telling, humor and motivation with
specific "how to" action strategies that participants can
apply immediately to improve their personal and professional lives.
You can preview a live demo at www.WolfRinke.com. To take advantage
of Dr. Rinke's services contact us at 800-828-9653 or WolfRinke@aol.com
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