Many top managers boast about how little sleep they need. However, they are all wrong, Claudia Kraaz writes in her essay on finews.first.
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Many top managers boast about how little sleep they need. For example, the former Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan only sleeps four to five hours per night. And Apple CEO Tim Cook starts his day at 3.45 a.m. Even Napoleon, who slept a mere four hours per night, claimed that only fools and the sick needed more sleep.
However, they were or are all wrong: On average, adults require seven to eight hours of sleep per night (depending on which study you read) in order to recuperate properly. Unfortunately, we don’t always follow this recommendation – in fact, we are sleeping less and less.
Over the last 20 years, the average amount of sleep per adult has decreased by around one hour – with consequences for our health and our ability to function effectively. Several years ago, Jens Acker from the Clinic for Sleep Medicine in Zurzach Bad explained to the Swiss newspaper «NZZ» that: «Only around 5 percent of people can manage on less than six hours of sleep – any anything less than five hours is biologically unhealthy.»
«We consume the same amount of energy while sleeping as we do when we are awake»
Why is that the case? Being asleep does not mean you are inactive. Even though your heart rate and blood pressure are reduced, the body remains highly active. We consume the same amount of energy while sleeping as we do when we are awake – that energy is simply used for other purposes.
The brain processes what has happened during the day and breaks down harmful waste products – in other words, it clears up and cleans up. Your memory transfers data from your short-term to your long-term memory, and new connections between brain cells are generated, enabling us to recognize how things are interrelated. This facilitates learning. Through sleep, we strengthen our mental abilities and are more focused.
In other words: Sleeping makes us smart and productive. In addition, sleeping allows our immune system to work at full power. During sleep, a large number of substances are released in the body that boost our immune defenses.
«People living in our part of the world do not really enjoy good quality sleep»
The facts speak for themselves – but unfortunately, people living in our part of the world do not really enjoy good quality sleep. The Swiss health survey carried out in 2017 revealed that 27.9 percent of men and as many as 40.4 percent of women have difficulty falling asleep or sleeping through the night. When they are facing challenges at work – which is not a rare occurrence – as many as 81 percent of all German managers experience sleep disorders.
What exactly are the adverse effects of chronic sleep deprivation? The harmful waste products that accumulate in the brain cannot be eliminated sufficiently, which makes it harder to process information, concentrate and solve problems. This also impairs our creative abilities.
«A lesser-known fact is that a lack of sleep causes us to gain weight»
Sleep deprivation makes a person less emotionally stable and less relaxed. As a result, they tend to be more moody – as you will no doubt have experienced yourself after a bad night’s sleep.
The Clinic of Neurology at the University of Zurich found that chronic sleep deprivation causes people to systematically take greater risks than usual – which is not ideal in a business context. The reduced functioning of the immune system leads to more infections. In addition, chronic sleep deprivation can have a serious long-term effect on your health, such as causing heart problems, strokes or diabetes.
A lesser-known fact is that a lack of sleep causes us to gain weight because we eat more and burn fewer calories due to our metabolism slowing down. Muscle mass also decreases. It is estimated that fatigue is a contributing factor in around 20 percent of serious traffic accidents. People who sleep less than six hours per night run a significantly higher risk of suffering a burnout.
«People start to behave as if they have one promille of alcohol in their blood»
After just one week of insufficient sleep, people start to behave as if they have one promille of alcohol in their blood – which is not an ideal basis if you want to work efficiently and effectively. It is no wonder that sleep deprivation is estimated to cost the Swiss economy around 5-8 billion francs, while the economic costs are around 57 billion euro in Germany and they even exceed 400 billion dollars in the U.S.
You should follow the example of Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, Sheryl Sandberg and Bill Gates – who believe in the cleansing power of getting enough sleep.
Claudia Kraaz launched her own firm, «Stress and Balance,» as an independent executive and stress coach three years ago. She spent 13 years in leadership roles in corporate communications, including at Zurich Insurance, Swica, and Bank Vontobel. She was deputy head of communications and global media head at Credit Suisse.
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