How Quality Sleep Boosts Productivity and Performance

Photo by Julian Hochgesang

We have all been there. You are just going through the motions of the day because you didn't get enough sleep.

I believe sleep is the number one contributor to having great performance and productivity.

We have also all heard the statements from experts as well as our parents, "you need 8 hours of sleep a night". I know some of you may actually require less but the vast majority of us need to be close to that 8-hour mark. However, as much as we hear the 8-hour target, do you actually invest in your sleep?

You invest in other things like the stock market but what about investing in your sleep? Do you have a quality mattress, comfortable pillow and good sheets?

Think about it for a second. There are 24 hours in a day, and we are supposed to sleep for 8 of them. That is 1/3 of the day but also 1/3 of your life in bed. Should you be investing 1/3 of your income on a bed and pillows, probably not, but I would recommend investing the time to research a comfortable mattress and pillow. There are probably reasons why we see mattress advertisements every three seconds on TV!

Mary Beth and I didn't realize how uncomfortable our bed was until we went on vacation to see my dad about 10 years ago. During that 7-day vacation, we slept great and realized that our mattress at home wasn't nearly as comfortable.

When we got back to our home, we immediately went mattress shopping, and it was the best decision we ever made.

At that time, we also bought a quality pillow, not just for ourselves but for our kids too. Recently, we just bought a new set of pillows, and I was fascinated in the depth of research and type of pillow needed based on how you sleep (side/back/stomach).

If you have a limited budget and need to choose, I recommend starting with a great pillow. This will help you get your 8 hours of sleep but improve the quality of the sleep as well. As your budget allows, a really comfortable bed is a game changer for your productivity during the day.

Again, we can all choose on what we spend our money on. Think about prioritizing your sleep because if you sleep better, your productivity and performance will improve... and then you will be happier and maybe even get a promotion out of it giving you a great Return on Investment!

I will leave you with this quote from Dr. Angela Holliday-Bell, "Instead of thinking of sleep as the ending of your day, start thinking about it as the beginning of your tomorrow".

You may just change how you think about sleep.

Cover photo credit to Jordan Whitt