In an earlier blog post, I wrote about how RCIA team members never seem to have enough time. Some of us are doing more than just RCIA, and juggling all the balls is more than a fulltime job. Days are blurs of activity that fly by. For busy people, there is a strong temptation to carve out more time by cutting back on sleep. Don’t do it!

Lack of sleep is bad for your health, bad for your brain, and actually diminishes your productivity. You think you are getting some extra time by staying awake longer, but the opposite is the case.

A BBC study revealed some interesting facts about the benefits of a good night’s sleep.

Improved memory

Deep sleep moves short-term memories into storage. It’s like moving the papers off your desk and into file drawers. If you don’t sleep enough, it’s not just that the short-term memories stay on your desk top. You actually start to lose them. If you are often forgetting things, you may need more sleep.

Less stress

Sleep is a stress buster. When you are asleep, your body shuts down a natural chemical that is related to stress. If you are awake, the chemical remains active. Sleep calms our brains and allows us to process our stress into a more relaxed state.

More creativity

When we are short on sleep, our brains are on overload. It’s like having too many programs running on your computer. Sometimes, the only way to get the computer working correctly is to reboot. It’s the same with our bodies. If you want to amplify your creativity, shut down for a full reboot.

Higher moral

For some of us, walking around with a tired brain is like attaching a satellite dish to our heads that sucks all the negative signals from the universe into our bodies. Lack of sleep can make us depressed, irritable, and moody. If you are having a string of bad days, start catching some zzzz’s.

Mental sharpness

The less you sleep, the harder it gets to think straight. Your reactions are slower, and your decisions are more often faulty. Getting enough sleep gets your brain humming so you can more quickly solve problems and suggest solutions.

Ditch the weekend catch up

You might think you can cut back on sleep for a few day and make up for it on your day off. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. If your car runs out of gas, you can’t keep driving it until a few days later when it is more convenient to go to the gas station. When you are out of gas, you are out of gas. Your car won’t run right and neither will you.

Where to find the time?

If you have a doctor’s appointment, you show up for it. Think of your sleep schedule as a daily doctor’s appointment. You have to show up for it if you want to be healthy. Watch less TV, leave work earlier, get someone else in the family to cook, and do whatever you have to in order to get more sleep. It’s that important.

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