I try my best to get 7+ hours of sleep per day. I’ve noticed my ability to focus and concentrate on tough problems tends to decrease when I have 6 or less hours. Despite controversy and claims by some to be able to function “fine” on very little sleep, studies keep telling us adequate sleep is quite necessary.
CNN Money Small Business reports:
“The researchers were startled to find that subjects’ mental acuity declined markedly after just one night and kept dropping with each successive night of four hours’ sleep. Even more worrying: The study’s volunteers were unaware of their impairment. One woman, so fatigued that she could barely say her name, was nonetheless certain she was able to drive home.
Says David Dinges, who ran the project: “Like people who have had too much to drink, the chronically sleep-deprived have no sense of their limitations.” The consequences can be dire - Dinges believes inadequate sleep was a factor in some of the world’s worst accidents, such as Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Imagine the implications for your small business.”
Full article at: http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/19/smallbusiness/make_sleep_work_for_you.fsb/