“Personally, I enjoy working about 18 hours a day. Besides the short catnaps I take each day, I average about four to five hours of sleep per night.” ~ Thomas Edison
Brilliant as he was, Edison was wrong about this one. If you identify with his statement, you’re wrong too. And dangerous. And DRUNK.
Drunk? Yep.
Maybe I should explain. Research shows that trying to function on a lack of sleep will give you the mental capacity of a serious drinker. Actually, more like a drunk. Your thoughts will be fuzzy, with no real clarity. You know… like… drunk. Really drunk.
BBC Science recently reported the following findings on sleep deprivation:
“With continued lack of sufficient sleep, the part of the brain that controls language, memory, planning and sense of time is severely affected, practically shutting down. In fact, 17 hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.05% (two glasses of wine). This is the legal drunk driving limit in the UK.”
Ouch.
They go on to say…
“Research also shows that sleep-deprived individuals often have difficulty in responding to rapidly changing situations and making rational judgements. In real life situations, the consequences are grave and lack of sleep is said to have been be a contributory factor to a number of international disasters such as Exxon Valdez, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and the Challenger shuttle explosion.”
There you have it. You would never allow yourself to stay drunk on the job, drunk behind the wheel, drunk all the time. At least I hope you wouldn’t.
You should take a serious look at your own sleep deprivation.
Sleep is not a luxury. You were built to require it. It’s time you started paying attention to your need for it. Ignorance is dangerous. So are you if you ignore the warning signs your body and mind are giving you.
I hope this post inspires you to re-think your relationship with sleep… and the get some. As soon as possible.
Have you had a dangerous close call because of exhaustion? What was it?
Not sure how much detail I should give, but in my former career air traffic control one became very intentional. About sleep. Rotating work schedules, 24/7 coverage, being on call- I hit very adept at power naps! I enjoyed the work but two years into retirement I realize I spent 34 years at some level of sleep deprivation. Gods grace for sure
Wow. I wonder how many people think to pray over air traffic controllers. Grace is good!
Years ago God began to minister to me about Psalm 127. He explained to me that if I do impressive things and look like I worked really hard (sacrificing sleep, etc) then I get the credit. However, if I get plenty of rest (and live in His rest) then He gets the credit.
It’s taken many years to really understand how to make sleep a priority.
Thanks for that, Debra. I think many of us have struggled with “working for it.” great insights!