Issue #208: Go to Bed Already
Good morning. It’s Tuesday, July 4th. America turns 247 today! Go enjoy some time with family and friends.
Today’s Quick Win
From the Lab: Don’t Skip Sleep
Speed Read: Instagram Knows Best
Tuesday QR: Chipotle Chili Cheese Dog
“Sleep is an investment in the energy you need to be effective tomorrow.”
Percent by which lack of sleep increases the time to physical exhaustion. If you’ve trained for a 10K race and don’t sleep well the night before, you’ll struggle after 7K.
From the Lab
It’s actually kinda crazy how quickly we’ve changed our views on sleep - it’s no longer about bragging how little sleep we need. Science now proves what our brains and bodies already told us - sleep is necessary.
But even with the best intentions to get the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep per night (and 1-1.5 hrs of deep sleep) - our daily schedule can easily prevent us from making that happen.
Hofstadter’s Law
Everything takes longer than you expect.
Apparently it took until 1979 for someone (Daniel Hofstadter) to coin such an obvious observation.
What’s interesting - even when you’re aware of this law, it still comes into play.
So if I initially allocate two hours to write this newsletter, I’ll add another hour “buffer” to be sure. But by changing the estimate we typically still miss our internal deadline.
We start our day full of optimism that we’ll get through everything on our Calendar and/or “To Do” List on time. We’ll have plenty of time for a family dinner after crushing the day and get to bed on time.
But when 5pm rolls around, well - we’re not done.
So what happens?
We stay up late and sacrifice our time in bed.
But this creates a massively negative spiral that sets us up for bad performance tomorrow.
“You have to give in to sleep and give sleep time to do all of the wonderful things that we know it does. Once you drop below seven hours, we can start to measure objective impairments in your brain and your body. The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life. Short sleep predicts all-cause mortality.”
Without sufficient sleep we’re operating at a sub-optimal level:
Physical performance - lack of sleep decreases our ability to expire carbon dioxide, to delay the onset of lactic acid, and to regulate our body temperature due to inefficient sweating. The result is 15-30%+ decline in performance - whether that’s strength (e.g., squat, bench press) or metabolic training (running a 10K)
Cognitive performance - lack of sleep prevents us from preparing to learn tomorrow and also from retaining what we learned today. Sleep deprivation basically shuts down our memory box. Deep Sleep stores our newly learned information and then REM sleep puts together the puzzle and turns information into insights - generating our wisdom*
Emotional performance - lack of sleep keeps us from undergoing a form of emotional therapy. Whatever pain we experience feels more palatable and solvable the next day IF we get a good night sleep
*See all sleep stages (Issue #13)
Make Sleep a Priority
Don’t just pretend that sleep matters - make it a top priority. It’s on the calendar and doesn’t move - even if you didn’t get through that To Do list.
Whether you’re an early riser and prefer 9:30pm to 5:30am or have a circadian rhythm a little later (see Issue #14), keep to a consistent schedule 7 days/week.
You can’t rush sleep. You’re not lazy AND you’re not cheating on anyone (partner, family, job) when you prioritize a full night sleep. It’s actually what makes you the best person you can be.
Thrive25 Partner Spotlight
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Speed Read
Health & Longevity in the News
Forever Chemicals: 3M reached a $10.3B settlement over contamination of water systems with forever chemicals (PFAS: per- and polyfluorinated substances that don’t naturally degrade). Over 300 communities have filed lawsuits against companies regarding PFAS. 3M states it will phase out production of PFAS by 2025 🤷. (Read more)
Instagram Knows Best: Psychology studies that go viral are more likely to be bogus. Researchers analyzed 14K research papers from 2000 to 2019, and found papers that received more media attention were less likely to be true (shocking). (Big Think)
Luke, I am Your Father: Are you a dad? Whether you're fully embracing the role, under water or somewhere in between, having kids brings a unique perspective to life. Let's take a glimpse into what your world might look like, from your fashion choices to your reading and entertainment preferences. (NYTimes)
Tuesday QR | Chipotle Chili Cheese Dog
What’s more American than hot dogs on the 4th of July? (I guess eating 60 of them)
Try out this recipe to elevate your dog game. Scallions and sour cream (remember go with Primal Kitchen) are optional, along with any other toppings you like. Find your healthy hot dog (or sausage) here. Always feel free to go bun-free or gluten-free and still enjoy a dog.
Also, feeling ambitious today or this weekend - add in some parmesan-basil corn cakes and some french fries. Happy 4th!
Thanks for joining us today!
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We’re 40-something dads that felt our bodies and minds start to slow down and we’re not ready for that. We found too much information on every subject. So we started Thrive25 to transform what we’ve learned into something useful for the rest of us to spend just 3-5 min a day to optimize our health & longevity.
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To health!
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The information in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable based on your individual circumstances. Thrive25 Labs LLC does not provide medical, professional, or licensed advice. Please connect with your healthcare professional for medical advice specific to your health needs.