The early bird gets the worm, but at what cost?

By Shannon Marshburn

Which one have you heard? There is the 5 a.m. warrior. - Rise and Grind. - The early bird gets the worm, or better yet, the even earlier bird gets the gummy worm.During the first three years of my time at college, my art studio was open 24/7. Pulling all-nighters were encouraged and even expected by faculty. It was even written in our syllabi. When a new president took over the arts college in my senior year and changed the studio hours to close at midnight during the week, and even earlier on the weekends, you would have thought we were going to start a riot. The battle scars of shaky, caffeinated hands and sleep deprived twitchy eyes were a right of passage in our minds. If we slept then did we really work that hard or could we have gotten a 2 a.mm-coffee and plowed through the night and morning?

Lack of sleep is such a societal norm, but lack of sleep is really a flirt with death. It’s not new to hear that sleep is important, but really just how important is sleep?

The Heart
There are numerous studies on the lack of sleep and how it affects heart functions. Professor Francesco Cappuccio, leader of the Sleep, Health and Society Programme at the University of Warwick, found that getting less than 6 hours of sleep on a continuous basis makes you 48% more likely to die of heart disease and 15% more likely to develop a stroke. Professor Cappuccio,said “the trend for late nights and early mornings is like a ticking time bomb for your health”. Another recent study found people who slept fewer than six hours a night – compared with those who slept six to nine hours – had a 20% higher risk of heart attack.

Deprived Driving
According to reports from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2013), based on careful analysis, experts believe the number of annual fatalities due to drowsy driving in the U.S. may be a total of 6,000. This would mean drowsiness is involved in approximately 21% of fatal crashes every year. By contrast, alcohol was recorded to be involved in 9,949 fatal crashes in 2017, comprising almost 30% of all fatal crashes.

Weight and Diabetes
Studies have shown that people who usually sleep less than 5 hours a night have an increased risk of developing diabetes. When you miss out on deep sleep, it may lead to type 2 diabetes because of the change in the way the body processes glucose, which the body uses for energy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How much sleep do you need?
The National Sleep Foundation found that the average amount of sleep needed for young adults, 18 to 25 years - old and adults 26 to 64 years - old- is 7 to 9 hours. A minimum of seven hours is a step in the right direction. 

"Busy professional people are very distracted during the day, and they hope their brain is like a light switch you can turn off whenever you want to," Grandner said. "A lot of people need to think about giving themselves enough time to wind down. They should see their sleep as an investment in the next day's productivity and potential." 

So the next time you are faced with a long list of tasks, do your best to break them up with the timeframe you have to ensure the nights don't get too long. Do what works for you best and try to keep your health in mind when night rolls around. Take the time to invest in learning about how to get proper rest for you so all your hard work in life won't be shortened. 

How will you change your sleep schedule? 


American Psychological Association (May 2020) Why sleep is important https://www.apa.org/topics/sleep/why

Cappuccio FP, D’Elia L, Strazzullo P & Miller MA. (2010) Short Sleep Increases Risk of Death & Over Long Sleep Can Indicate Serious Illness https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/short_sleep_increases/

Center for Disease and Control Prevention (2020) Drowsy Driving: Asleep at the Wheel 
https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/features/drowsy-driving.html

The American Heart Association (June 5, 2020) The dangers of sleep deprivation
https://www.heart.org/en/news/2020/06/05/the-dangers-of-sleep-deprivation