The Science of Slump: Why Sleep Deprivation Kills Your Motivation

For most of us, our days are filled with work commitments, shuttling kids back and forth, maintaining a household. You may also just struggle to find a few minutes to yourself. Busy is the buzzword of today and for most, it is very real. With all that “busy-ness” comes, however, comes health impacts. You may notice at the end of a long day, it becomes more difficult to maintain your concentration. Vegging out on the couch in front of some mindless TV show becomes easier.

Obviously, our brains and bodies are tired from the day. Moreover, our busy lifestyles can take a toll on our sleep schedule, which leaves us feeling more than just tired. As a general standard for most adults, doctors recommend getting at least 7- 8 hours of sleep every night. Anything less than the daily recommended hours of sleep will put your physical and mental health at risk. A proper night’s sleep is crucial to many aspects of our daily lives.

Lack of Sleep Can Impact Your Willpower

When you do not get a good night's sleep, thought processes decrease, causing it to become nearly impossible to commit anything to memory. Lack of sleep will negatively impact learning anything new. Without an adequate amount of sleep, your brain has a difficult time producing the energy needed to absorb and recall new information. Researchers aren’t exactly sure how sleep enhances our memory, but they do know sleep has an effect on the part of the brain where it stores long-term memories. Researches say that during sleep, this part of the brain replays events and moments from the day in order for our brains to process and commit information to memory.

Motivation Can Be Negatively Impacted by Lack of Sleep

Interestingly, lack of sleep also has a profound influence on our self-control. Those late night fast food dinners are many times, due to being too tired or having the willpower to resist the temptation. Having good self-control requires a lot of effort, which wilts away when you are sleep-deprived. Thus, without the energy for willpower, people who are sleep-deprived tend to gain weight.

According to Sanjay Patel, professor at the Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at Western University, poor sleep is linked to both present and future obesity. Without a restful night's sleep, it is difficult to control temptations for junk food and have the willpower to exercise. In order to function properly, your brain requires a good amount of glucose. However, when you’re tired, your brain quickly exhausts your glucose reserves and is not able to absorb or replenish them properly. When your brain realize its lacking glucose, the craving for simple carbs, sugar and caffeine begins.

Have you ever noticed when you are sleep-deprived you often feel very irritable or angry? D The reason is that sleep deprivation can lead to a state called “mild prefrontal dysfunction,” during which your brain no longer has the ability to regulate your emotions or attention. During this state, you are much more likely to get angry when working on tasks and can easily become flooded with emotions. In turn, the effects of sleep deprivation cause poor performance at work or school because you are not able to concentrate, or have no motivation.

Tips to Get a Better Night Sleep:

1. Meditate - Take 10 minutes before bed every night to meditate in order to settle your mind and steady your breathing. Avoid going to bed stressed or angry. Meditation when sleep deprived will significantly improve your ability to function properly.
2. Wind down your mind before bed - Do not do stressful tasks that require concentration in bed, like paying bills. Turn off your TV/Cell phone and let your mind relax. Your bed should be only a place to sleep.
3. Turn off distractions – It is important to keep bed the place you sleep. Paying bills online or surfing the web before bed can be a distraction to your minds peace.
4. Practice good sleep hygiene - This means going to sleep and waking up at about the same time each day. Sticking to this routine for sleeping help your body create a balance.