Lack of Sleep Makes You Stupid

 Hi, I'm Tyson Franklin and welcome to this week's video. Today I am titling this Lack of Sleep Makes You Stupid.  We've all had friends who have said or done some stupid things and when you pull them up on it or you'll bring it to their attention, they'll normally say, oh yeah, I've just, I've been really busy at work lately, or I haven't been sleeping well, and they will pinpoint it's the lack of sleep that has made them say or do something stupid. 

Now, I think in a podiatry situation when you are dealing with patients, I think patients deserve our mental energy to be as good as it possibly can be.

And the only way you can do that is by getting enough sleep each day. And I know some people will go, they'll be at work super early and they'll stay really late and they almost wear it like they feel like they're a hero. They wear it like a badge. Look at all the hours that I'm actually putting in. How good am I?

And they're burning the candle at both ends. And the reason I know business owners do this, it's because I used to do it. And it was a long time before I realised that it was not. It was actually harming me. It was affecting my health. And I don't know anybody that burns a candle at both ends for long periods of time has ever said that the health improved by doing it.

 And I think the other thing, when you are staying awake too late, and this is why I'm saying it makes you stupid, is if you're not mentally at your peak when you're with a patient and they're explaining a  detailed history, you need to be sharp.

You need to be at your best. So sometimes when you are tired, you may miss certain  cues  that you are not actually picking up on. And I don't think that is right for the patient. And like I said, I did do it myself. I used to be at work early, I'd stay late, but then when I started questioning why was I staying back so long?

Whatever it is I was working on in the clinic, or sometimes you take the paperwork home with you, you'd be doing stuff in front of your computer. It's time that you should be with your partner, should be with your family. You should be doing things when you're away from work that actually make you happy.

And a lot of the times we don't. We just keep doing paperwork or we stay at work and we, we think we're achieving something by being there, but really stop and think about. What is it you're actually doing at work late at night? Or what paperwork are you working on? What are you working on on the computer at night?

If it didn't get done, will it be the end of the world? And if it won't be, then just stop doing it and actually have some time for yourself. There might be a few other things where you might just be staying awake late at night 'cause you're watching tv. I used to do that as well. You get hooked onto a show, especially when you've got programs that you can binge on hour after hour, and you just gotta be aware that at a certain time you've gotta switch off the TV and you've gotta go to bed. 

Think of sleep as your best friend. Think of it as an ally. Don't think of it as an enemy, which this is what I used to do to. 

Here's something want you try doing is the next time you're having a holiday break or you've got a few days off from work, stay awake for as long as you want.

Wake up at a certain time. Wake up at say, 6:00 AM if you're not already doing that, and see how you feel that day. And then the next night, go to bed a little bit earlier and wake up at the same time and look at how many hours it is that you actually need. I know myself personally, I wake up at 5:00 AM every single morning.

Normally I wake up just before the alarm goes off. I'm so used to doing that. So think about yourself, what time do you want to wake up or what time do you need to be awake to start the day? I get up at five because I go to the gym every day at 6:00 AM But I know I can go to bed at midnight and I can still get up at five and I'll function through the day, but I won't function as well.

So I've worked out as long as I go to bed around 10 to 10 30, that six and a half to seven hours is all I need. And even when I'm on holidays,  I'll still wake up at five or very close to it because if, especially if I go to bed at 10, 10 30.

So you've gotta work this out for yourself. What is the optimum time for you to actually go to bed at night, for you to wake up to function throughout the day, mentally function really well because that's what your patients deserve, and figure out that pattern. I guarantee you will feel so much better  

and I think just to summarise this, if you are staying at work longer than what you should really question why are you there? And whatever it is you're working on, can it wait till tomorrow? Can somebody else in your business do it as well? You don't. You don't have to be doing everything yourself.

Now, I know if you're a solo practitioner and you may or may not have a receptionist working with you, sometimes you have to do it all yourself, but really think about how it's affecting your health.  Long term you do not, you don't wanna look back. I, I always say whatever it is you're working on right now, whatever it is that's chewing up all your time, when you are there on your deathbed, and somebody said this to me once, when you look back at what it is you're about to do right now, if you didn't get it done on your deathbed, would you be sitting there going, damn, I, I really regret I didn't do that email or I didn't send out that newsletter, I didn't shoot that video. Probably not. It's a lot of the things we do day in, day out, the things that chew up in mental energy that make us tired are just tasks that we think are important, but they're not as important as what we'd like to think they are.

 So, remember, lack of sleep will make you stupid and you gotta be aware of that. So if you've got friends, family that you are quite close to and you are not sleeping as well as what you should, they can actually notice that.

So make sure you get to sleep, and uh, function at your best. And then they'll be saying, geez, you are smart. Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye.