Sleep.
I do concede it is something that I do enjoy and in the past have been very good at. Im a head hit’s the pillow and out type of operator. Also I don’t know many people who can conformably fall asleep in the middle seat of a single cab landcruiser ute driving on a dirt road… Drives my wife mad but look its a skill I can’t pass on sorry.
Recently on a long drive I was recommended a podcast by a mate. It was Joe Rogan’s Podcast #1109 with Dr Matthew Walker. This bloke is a neuroscience student from Nottingham University in the UK. His interview with Rogan was one that startled me. "Every disease that is killing us in developed nations has causal and significant links to a lack of sleep," he says. "So that classic maxim that you may [have] heard that you can sleep when you're dead, it's actually mortally unwise advice from a very serious standpoint." Who knew that sleep was so important?!
The average Aussie sleeps for 7 hours a night. Just 7. That is right on the edge of not enough. Meaning a good wack of the population are getting less than 7 hours of sleep every night and thus living a life of sleep deprivation and they may not even know it.
Another crazy insight was that you can fill a sleep deficit but you can not acquire a sleep surplus. In other words you can catch up if you miss some sleep but can’t sleep extra to use down the track….
A few things he recommends for improved sleep is:
- No caffeine after lunchtime
- No exercise in the evening
- No tech in the sack, leave it outside the bedroom
- Limit the grog
If you want to listen to the podcast check it out HERE.
