Especially when you are in a leadership position (organizational, specialist, or a parent) demands can get high. Furthermore, we can easily find ourselves running short on time to get everything done. As a consequence, cutting down on sleep seems like a straightforward approach to fix this problem.

In reality, this approach is a more or less direct path to a broken work-life balance.

Once we’ve moved into this space we feel overworked, exhausted, and stressed.

But let’s start at the beginning.

How it all starts

Mostly we see ourselves faced with this ‘special’ situation. It’s only an exception. High demands that need to be fulfilled in time. We cut down on sleep once or twice….and it works! We reap a real reward! How much more could I get done if I only wouldn’t waste that much time sleeping.

Suddenly we see ourselves cutting down our sleep on a regular basis. Over time we get used to the feeling of tiredness. Accept it as normal. Fight it with coffee and the stress that comes along with working on the edge.

We start to believe that we get so much more done as a reward for torturing us!

The Sleep Deprivation Effect

The reason why we believe we are still super productive? Probably because sleep deprivation has the same effect as being drunk…

Here is the true picture. Cutting down on sleep has been broadly researched through the science of the last decade. What truly happens with us is that we

1. harm our immune system
2. have a hard time to concentrate
3. feel moody
4. are slow when it comes to memorizing things
5. make weak decisions
6. experience measurable productivity drops

Path To Recovery

Now best google all of the above (if you don’t believe me) and have an honest discussion with yourself. How do you want to feel in the next years to come? How do you want the quality of your relationships (kids, spouse, friends, partners, colleagues) to be? Want to feel happy and energized? Trust science?

Knowing the effects of sleep deprivation now… Are you with me that more sophisticated juggling of your tasks will not help you to create a good work-life balance? OK – then let’s move on.

Let’s focus on getting the fundamentals right.

Reaping high-quality sleep will deliver the energy and mental capabilities to create a healthy and lasting work-life balance.

So, here are the 6 steps you want to take for fast ‘sleep recovery’:

1. Prioritize sleep (you won’t change if it’s not important enough)
2. Set up a specific sleep goal (make good sleep a part of your overall life goal)
3. Align your sleep hours to your biorhythm (check your chronotype)
4. Sleep enough (typically between 7-9 hours, find your sweet spot)
5. Keep sleep times steady (maintain regular sleep schedule)
6. Protect a good sleep environment (make your bedroom a place you love to end the day – no work!)

If you still have problems with prioritizing sleep (I get that…). Think of it as getting oxygen in a crashing airplane. We all know that we need to use our oxygen mask first before we help others.

So start off with getting enough sleep and balance your priorities between work and life afterward.

Sleep is an essential part of life. In fact, it is so important that it is at the core of my 9 step Performance Through Sleep system that helps business professionals like you to move from feeling worn-out to energized and happy in less than 90 days without losing productivity.

I recently created a simple framework to let you implement this system with ease. It goes along with training that I want to share with you (at no cost) today. You can download it here…

Sending you sleep and harmony

— Michael

P.S.: Are you an entrepreneur or business professional looking for support to move from feeling worn-out to energized and happy without experiencing dropping productivity levels? Hop on a free 15-minute call with me and let’s find out how I can help you…