Sleep Well = Perform Well!

In recent years, we've heard a lot about sleep as an important factor in our performance. Until I saw the article I refer to here, everything I've seen related to quantity and quality of sleep.

Several years ago, as Chief Pilot for a small air freight company. I was often called upon to substitute for a pilot who was unavailable for his or her scheduled flight. This could mean anything from an all-night run to a mid-morning flight. Naturally, my sleep schedule varied greatly.

Comparing that time to now, I'm quite sure my mood is more settled now when I sleep on a very consistent schedule.

Here's Inc. magazine's Bill Murphy Jr. discussing a study which indicates that consistency of sleep schedule is important to effective rest. To the surprise of many, this study says you can't "make up" for missing sleep with more sleep hours! I guess you could say, "Lost sleep is never found!"

For anyone who works "Swing shifts" - a different shift every week - it may be impossible to avoid this. That's not as common now in the information age as it was a few years ago. If you're one of the few so affected, you might want to encourage your employer to reconsider that policy.

I haven't done a lot of research on this thought. It seems to me this issue is likely a root cause of the phenomenon known as "jet lag". If you've traveled across multiple time zones you're no doubt familiar with that. For many, it results in serious disorientation for up to a week after arriving in a new time zone.

So if you're used to sleeping at different hours on different days, you may want to consider sleeping more regularly.