Arianna Huffington keynoted a conference of over 2000 women in the food service industry. But, her message was not limited to foodservice, and certainly not limited to women. Although her line about how women should sleep their way to the top was gender specific, it’s not what you think. She wrote a book The Sleep Revolution: Transforming your life one night at time. Her message is that we must take better care of ourselves in order to be better leaders, and to live longer. She mentioned how several senior executives have died on treadmills. That got our attention.
Here are some of her suggestions:
1. Stop using expressions that sound like you need 9-1-1
It’s not a badge of honor to be so busy that you get exhausted and use phrases like “I’m drowning” or “I’m swamped” or “I can’t breathe”. Those are warning signals that you need to stop what you’re doing. Find a way to slow down, and say no to more energy-sucking things on your to-do list.
2. Sleep more, but not with your Smartphone!
Arianna asked the audience “How many of you sleep with your Smartphone?” I was not alone in raising my hand. According to a study cited in her book, 71% of the population sleeps with their phone. How have we become so addicted to checking our emails, texts, tweets and Facebook posts that we go to bed with our phones and wake up to them re-engaging with what we checked before going to sleep? Instead, she suggested we use our electronic devices for guided meditations, relaxing music, or ambient sounds to induce sleep.
3. Sleep is a performance-enhancing tool
Since she was addressing a convention of leaders, Arianna stated that she became a better leader after taking better care of herself. In her book The Sleep Revolution, (p.243) she quotes Warren Buffet in a 2008 letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway “When forced to choose, I will not trade even a night’s sleep for the chance of extra profits.” So if you want to move up the corporate ladder, if you want to be a better leader, if you want more success in your career, don’t forget to look at improving your sleep patterns; specifically get more sleep.
Apparently, only 1% of our population has a genetic mutation to be a short sleeper. Those are the people who can get by on very little sleep and not have any negative consequences. The rest of us? Need more rest. That’s when she said, “Ladies – we must sleep our way to the top!”
It’s time to take better care, get more sleep.
From your needing to find a new place for my Iphone at night motivational speaker,
Marilyn Sherman.
