Winners Get Better Sleep

“There is nothing easy about running for president. It’s tough, it’s nasty, it’s mean, it’s vicious . . . .”

(Donald Trump quoted in The Seattle Times, February 21, 2007, pg. A 14)

Mr. Trump’s comments apply to all running for any electoral office, including the down-ballot one you are considering or have decided to compete for. Read on to learn more about why you must honor the need for having adequate sleep every night as the secret weapon you can deploy to aid you in your campaign.

Many people in todays over caffeinated, over digitally connected society view needing sleep as a sign of weakness. Indeed, according to a just released study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of three Americans regularly do not get enough sleep. Being sleep deprived does take more mental strength to perform, so skimping on your sleep is really is a symptom of weakness, since losing just one hour of sleep you decrease your ability to think rationally, have a positive view on life and increases your chances of coming under the influence of a cold.

Top Performers Get Adequate Sleep

A study by K. Anders Ericsson documented best performers racked in on average 8 hours and 36 minutes per night as compared to the average American skimps by on just 6 hours and 51 minutes per week night. A sleep expert commented that we are not missing work due to insomnia and and related self-limiting sleep brought on by time spent on-line or other digital pursuits. However, when sleep deprived, we are not as productive nor mentally sharp such that we are not accomplishing as much. As a candidate, you must be mentally alert and sharp as possible to prepare for and execute your campaign. Also when sleep deprived a person does not have the mental reserves to rationally respond to attacks from the opposition. The result could be a flaming email response which can come back to haunt you. So, with adequate sleep you have that hidden advantage that your opponent may not. Think about it: if you are rested and alert you will be more likely to think “it can be done,” vs. “it can’t be done.”

Control the Common Cold

Healthy candidates do better than those who are not. A study documents how

participants who averaged less than seven hours nightly who were subjected to cold germs were three times more likely to catch a cold. However, just hitting the sack for eight hours on average may not be enough if you have poor sleep quality. Known as sleep efficiency in the sleep study world, it calculates various indicators to document how well a person sleeps. These include how long it takes to go to sleep, how often one wakes up and how long one stays awake. People with lower sleep efficiency during a two week test period before being exposed to rhinovirus were 5.5 times more likely to develop a cold. As a candidate you must be at your best every day, so you must do what it takes to avoid resperatory illnesses.

Getting Quality Sleep is Key

In addition to increasing the likelihood of falling under the spell of a head cold, people with low sleep efficiency are not as mentally sharp as those who routinely have high sleep efficiency. And if a person has poor sleep quality they are much more easily fatigued by mental and physical exertion. If you find it difficult to be on top of your game even after getting a good night of eight or nine hours of sleep, consider having a sleep study to determine if you have sleep apnea. It is a condition many have but do not know they do.

Sleep apnea (AP-ne-ah) is the Greek word for "want of breath." It is a common disorder in which a person experiences many pauses in breathing which last from a few seconds to minutes which can occur 30 times or more an hour. A similar robber of sleep quality is when a person with takes shallow breaths while sleeping. You may have sleep apnea if you snore loudly and if you feel tired and experience daytime sleepiness even after a full night's sleep. Contact your primary care doctor to discuss sleep apnea and possible referral to a sleep specialist for a sleep study. Should you be postively diagnosed, it remedied with a CPAP device to increase your breathing airflow. Improve your sleep efficiency before the heat of your campaign and you will have that sharper edge your competitors will not have.

Don’t Let Technology Rob You of Your Sleep

Before we had electricity people went to sleep much earlier than most do now. Even in the early days of TV, broadcasts ended well before midnight. That is not the case today in our ‘round-the-clock immersion in digital technology. Studies reveal 90 percent of us use some form of digital communications within an hour of retiring for the night. Smart phone, TV or computers emit what is called blue light which suppresses melatonin levels by up to 20 percent resulting in difficulty in going to sleep and lower sleep efficiency. To control melatonin robbing blue light, strive to turn off the technology at least one hour before going to bed, and, ideally, two.

Create a Sleep Welcoming Environment

You can make simple changes to your evening routine which can have big payoffs in the sleep department. Start by dimming lights in the evening towards bed time. By doing so, your brain reacts to the lower light as if the sun were setting, increasing sleep inducing melatonin. Decrease the temperature in the room to make it easier to fall and stay asleep. Finally, if where you live experiences background varying noises such as that from traffic or the early morning newspaper delivery, investigate purchasing one or more white noise machines to deaden the invading noises.

The Take Away

Poor sleep is toxic to candidates. Scrimping on sleep is the single most detrimental activity that robs a candidate of mental alertness, creativity, and positive outlook on life. By making it your goal to have seven or more hours of quality sleep every night you will have that positive edge that can help you do what it takes to win your election.