The Good Egg: Welcome to Sleep Week

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Happy Monday you egg-cellent people, you :)

Hope everyone got great sleep before taking on the new week!

Today’s edition is all about that sweet sleep we crave, but often don’t get enough of each night (now, reach for that Monday coffee, take a sip, and read on).

Sleep is potentially the most underappreciated part of our lives, which can have magical benefits (when we get good sleep) and frightening downsides (when we do not). Today, we’ll focus on one of sleep’s miracles, with a little help from Matthew Walker’s NYT Bestseller, “Why We Sleep.”

Ok, dig into your memory bank for a second. Remember those nights we studied for hours, frustrated before going to bed that we just couldn’t remember those key details for the next morning’s exam?

Now, think back to that next morning, when miraculously the information was all right there in your mind! “It’s a miracle… somehow I now remember!”

It may be obvious, but THAT is the miracle we all unlock with healthy sleep.

To study this phenomenon, Matthew Walker took a group of individuals and instructed them to learn a number sequence on a keyboard (for example: 4–1–3–2–4), optimizing for accuracy and speed. He then measured everyone’s speed and accuracy across twelve minutes of typing that same sequence. To no one’s surprise, speed and accuracy increased across the twelve minute session.

But then, Walker split the group into two: one group remained awake for the next 12 hours before being tested typing the same sequence once again. The second group… well, they were allowed a full 8 hours of sleep! Care to guess what happened?

Of course, those who stayed awake showed NO significant improvement in performance.

Meanwhile, the group who got a full night’s sleep showed:

• 20% IMPROVEMENT in speed
• 35% IMPROVEMENT in accuracy

AMAZING!! Your brain is actually continuing to study… while you sleep. It’s making those necessary neural connections overnight that we’re unable to make while awake. It’s pretty safe to say that getting a full night’s sleep is often better than working those long hours.

So this week, try to make sure you’re getting those precious 8 hours each night. Your mind will award you with the miracle of improved performance, just by adding a couple zzz’s :)

Sleep up, Good Eggs!

-The Good Egg 🐣