In our work with clients, whether they are business people, athletes or family members, one of the measures that we look at is 'what is the person's self-care and self-regard like?'.
What does that mean, though?
It shows us whether the person is sleeping well, eating well and taking care of their fitness. In many of our assessments, this is not the case. Now that might be because the person has young children or is caring for a sick relative, so the pressure on them is immense and they might not have the time to sleep enough, eat well and take a lot of fitness.
This report shows that a lack of sleep is going to impact your health and in some cases lead to an early death.
So what is the solution in our busy and hectic lives where the world is turning ever faster and we are spinning more and more plates.
The obvious answer is go to bed earlier, but that might not be possible. Maybe set the alarm slightly later one morning a week, probably in the middle of the week? Are you able to have a nap after lunch?
If none of those are possible, then you have to look to the weekend for a solution. This is where you might be able to get more sleep.
Recovery is a vital part of any elite athlete's programme. It is the same for the 'corporate athlete' who works in an office. In many respects, it is even more important than a sportsperson. Why? Because as a corporate athlete, you are competing for five days a week, every year for over forty years. You are in a non-stop competition.
You know that if you turned up to work on a Monday with only 20% charge on your phone, it is not going to last the week. Similarly, your body is the same. Arriving at work on a Monday, frazzled, exhausted, stressed and with very little sleep, it is going to be a tough slog to get to Friday and more importantly, are you going to drop some of the spinning plates going on at work and home? Are you going to make some bad decisions, as a result? The chances are very probably.
So stop and think about where you can make time to recover. Our lives are getting busier and busier, faster and faster and we are getting overloaded with more and more information. Your body has to recover, if it is to perform consistently over your 40 - 50-year 'working-life' marathon.
Your body and mind need sleep.
The biggest impact was on health, with those sleeping less than six hours a night 13% more likely to die than those sleeping between seven and nine hours.
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