5 Reasons To Sleep Away To Glory
Why must you sleep well? Well, the obvious answers are to feel refreshed, to rest your body, etc. What if I told you that you must sleep well in order to solve your problems, get flashes of inspiration, and be more successful? Yes, shuteye does all this and much more! It can bring in life-changing creative ideas. Here's how it works:
1. The brains works when we rest: When our bodies sleep, our mind continues to function, and more efficiently at that. During our waking and working hours, our mind is constantly engaged in one thought after another, one task after another. But at night, it gets a respite from continuous stimulation. That is when it can take stock of all our thoughts and mull over them. And that is when new ideas and creative ways of doing things come to the fore.
2. The mind synthesises inputs: Sleep stimulates the mind to connect ideas, events, memories and people in creative ways. That is how dreams are created. But how much of it does one need to let the mind get into the ‘genius' groove? Well, that varies from person to person. A sure way to check this is to notice if you feel sleepy during the day. If you do, you are not getting enough zzz's at night. Lack of night rest kills creativity. If you can't find a solution to a vexing problem, the best course of action is to sleep over it.
3. Sleeping early creates solutions: These days, most youngsters hit the hay rather late at night. They forget that the old dictum, ‘early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,' does carry some truth. Yes, the most creative and productive part of our sleep occurs in the first half of the night. So, going to bed early helps us find solutions. When we find solutions we become wise and wisdom leads to success.
4. The mind ‘takes over' your problem: In bed, mull over your problem. Don't worry about it, just direct all your thoughts towards it. Ask your mind to find a solution to it. Hand the problem over to your mind. Once you have fallen asleep, your brain will start working at your problem. The answer may appear in your dreams or may pop up in your mind in the day.
5. Recovery of memories starts at night: Sufficient slumber also helps you achieve success by improving your memory. When you sleep, the brain sorts out all your experiences, consolidates memories and stores them. Even this function happens most effectively in the first half of the night.
That is another reason why you must retire for the day early. The recovery of memories starts just half an hour after you have been asleep, and carries on for at least five hours. Those of you who have problems with remembering ‘stuff' should catch at least seven hours of sleep. The best way to remember all that you learn is by studying for two hours in late evening just before switching off for the day (early). This habit will help you take advantage of the active learning circuits of sleep. The habit of reading before sleeping may have something to do with this.
Author: Chitra Jha (HT Horizons)
Date: 10th March, 2011
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