Sleep is finally having its moment. I’m a sleep researcher and clinician, and it’s exhilarating to see broader recognition that sleep is important, yet I am often dismayed about the framing of why sleep is valuable. Messages equating sleep with laziness have long been woven into our cultural consciousness, with aphorisms such as “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” and “the early bird gets the worm” reflecting our fears that sleep is a hindrance to success and accomplishments.
We find inspiration in legends of historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci whose fantastic achievements supposedly required only a modicum of sleep. These messages characterize sleep as an impediment to productivity; it is encouraging that we are increasingly turning away from that mindset and recognizing the importance of sleep. However, in our emerging embrace of sleep, the end goal often remains productivity, and the shift in perspective is only that sleep is now seen as a facilitator of productivity rather than an impediment.
Sleep does often increase productivity as a byproduct of its many benefits including increased energy, focus and mental processing speed. However, we do ourselves a disservice to focus too heavily on productivity — especially as it is often narrowly defined by career and financial success — as reasons for prioritizing sleep.
