“After thirty years of intensive research, we can now answer many of the questions posed earlier. The recycle rate of a human being is around sixteen hours. After sixteen hours of being awake, the brain begins to fail. Humans need more than seven hours of sleep each night to maintain cognitive performance. After ten days of just seven hours of sleep, the brain is as dysfunctional as it would be after going without sleep for twenty-four hours. Three full nights of recovery sleep (i.e., more nights than a weekend) are insufficient to restore performance back to normal levels after a week of short sleeping. Finally, the human mind cannot accurately sense how sleep-deprived it is when sleep-deprived.”
-Matthew Walker
Why We Sleep

Risks of Lacking Proper Sleep

A study published in 2024 (See Below) concludes that in the day after the “spring forward” daylight savings time change there was a 24% increase in myocardial infarctions and an inverse 21% reduction in myocardial infarctions post “falling back” time changes. Just losing that single hour of sleep causes a substantial jump in heart attack incidents, and gaining a single hour reduced them.

Another study cites that protein synthesis and testosterone production drop significantly with even only acute sleep deprivation (as opposed to chronic), and that cortisol remains in the body and isn’t cleared properly with a lack of sleep. This can lead to decreased muscle growth, less strength when trying to perform lifts, and overall stress increases.

In his book “Why We Sleep”, Matthew Walker also cites a lack of proper sleep to a nearly doubling in cancer risk, as deep sleep cycling is a part of the process of repairing and recoding your damaged DNA. These examples of heart attacks, muscle dysfunction and cancer rates are not meant to scare you, but simply to open your eyes to the reality that we need more sleep as a country. American culture is a beautiful thing; our determination and work ethic is nearly unmatched in the rest of the world. However, the hustle culture has gone so far that it is now a detriment to our health and ironically our ability to perform. If you lack proper sleep, your brain will not function optimally, your muscles will not function optimally, and you will not live as long which entirely defeats the purpose of trying to stay up burning the midnight oil to be more productive!

What Can I Do About It?

First things first, we need to make your bedroom an environment that is conducive to sleeping. Hang some blackout curtains, take the TV out of the room and make your house cool. The bedroom should ideally be for sleeping only, no lights, no distractions. We need our nervous system to know that “when I go to the bedroom, it is time to unwind and repair”.

Second, establish a wind down routine. You don’t have to go completely overboard and replace all the lights in your house with smart bulbs to switch to redlight at a certain time. Just a few simple things will go a long way. Putting away your screens an hour before bed, having a warm beverage an hour before bed such as a calming tea, and performing a ritualistic task such as reading or packing tomorrow’s lunch to help your mind settle down. Simple, cheap, low impact to our routine, these simple switches will go a long way to helping establish healthy sleeping routines.

If you really struggle with getting to sleep and staying asleep like I do, you can also consider a sleep aid supplement. Melatonin alone is good, especially for somebody like me who has chronic conditions which inhibit my melatonin production. However, when combined with other supplements and minerals like 5-HTP and magnesium, a good supplement will help you fall into a deep, restful sleep that lasts for 8 hours. If you want more information about the exact sleep aid I take, reach out to me!

Sleep is a super drug that improves performance, longevity, and mood. It should not be the first thing that we sacrifice on the altar of being productive! It should be something that is non-negotiable and protected as our ultimate productivity hack!

“In repentance and rest is your salvation”
Isaiah 30:15