Sleep is your “most important appointment”

I have a really hard time going to bed, and an even harder time waking up in the morning. It seems that my mind has always come alive as the sun begins to set. During the quiet evening hours I am also most tempted to stare at a screen, wasting hours into the night watching another show or scrolling pointless posts on my phone.

Recently, probably in large part due to stress, I have seen significant changes in my Heart Rate Variability while I sleep. I also have had a string of terrible sleep scores. It has impacted my recovery, my activities, my brain fog, and my overall feelings of wellness.

Frankly, I have just felt terrible.

It has become my mission over the last few weeks to raise that score by doing less of the things that put a strain on my mind and body and to consistently get close to my 8 hours of sleep.

I’m already seeing a turnaround in my data and these past few days have felt really good.

In a recent post, health influencer Bryan Johnson posted about sleep being the “most important appointment” any person has each day. This came in response to a new study on just how toxic and detrimental sleep deprivation is.

This study found that one bad night of sleep caused an increase of the protein s100b by 20%, the same reaction that occurs when someone experiences a traumatic brain injury. The protein enters the blood stream creating a toxic reaction which leads to the destruction of neurons in the brain.

I think about my time in undergraduate where I worked nights and went to school during the day. No wonder it was so hard for me to retain new skills like learning the Hebrew language! As I was pumping information into my brain, I was simultaneously killing it.

I know that for many people, getting good sleep is not always possible. For example, my wife is a light sleeper and takes care of the kids during the night. Our youngest still stirs often, and I rarely am asked to help.

But I think studies like this are good reminders of just how important sleep is, and that we should do our best to avoid those negative impacts to sleep that can be avoided. Things like getting off your phone and away from the screen before you close your eyes. Sticking to a consistent sleep schedule. Getting sunlight and exercise during the day, and managing stress as you enter the evening hours.

We need to do our best to help our body and brain out by making sleep a priority, because when we do, our brain and body will love us back.

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