Lack of Sleep or Legally Drunk?

Image by soylentgreen23 via Flickr

Sleep is essential for your overall health and many times we don’t realize the significant impact that a lack of sleep has on our day and overall life. It doesn’t matter if you’re a student or a busy executive, sleep is essential for your overall performance. The excuses about having a lot of work to finish, big exam or presentation just doesn’t fly. Plan ahead, prepare and get it done on time.  Once you get into a pattern of inefficiency and try to compensate by pulling all nighters, the vicious cycle begins. Lack of  sleep further disrupts your efficiency and you’ll find yourself plummeting further down the rabbit hole.  Take a look at how insufficient sleep can disrupt brain function during exams or during long days at work:

With continued lack of sufficient sleep, the part of the brain that controls language, memory, planning and sense of time is severely affected, practically shutting down. In fact, 17 hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.05% (two glasses of wine). This is the legal drink driving limit in the UK.

via BBC – Science & Nature – Human Body and Mind – What is sleep.