In case you’re still looking for new year’s resolutions, here’s a good one from Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post.
Speaking at TEDWomen, Huffington in the video below encourages her audience of powerful women to — wait for it — sleep. Yup, you’ve read that right: sleep.
Drawing from her own experience (she fainted from exhaustion two and a half years ago) and using good humour, Huffington made a good case for her simple (and yet big) idea.
Many studies have confirmed the value of getting lots of sleep. Studies have suggested, for instance, that consistently getting a good night’s sleep might benefit your heart’s health and help you avoid the common cold. Huffington concluded that sleep can lead to “a more productive, more inspired, more joyful life”. Sleep a lot and be successful? Sounds like a good deal to me!
Getting enough sleep is a challenge for many because they can’t sleep early enough, but here are some things that have worked for me in the past:
- Doing Bikram’s yoga. It tires me out and leaves me with no other choice but to hit the sack.
- Running for 30 minutes in the daytime. See Bikram’s yoga.
- Getting my life organized. Because it leads to less stress, which lowers the chances that I’ll be up late.
- Avoiding coffee after 1:00pm. Let’s face it: caffeine isn’t always your friend, especially once you’re past a certain time.
I’m no expert in this field though — in fact, I’m guilty of sacrificing sleep during busy times — and so I’d recommend reading this article that offers 15 tips on how to get a better sleep instead.
What do you think? Can sleep help you become a more successful person? Or is sleep overrated?
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