We’re always looking to make better decisions. From gathering the right information to asking others who may know more about what you’re deciding on, there are so many methods we utilize. But what if we told you that sleep can actually help you make better decisions? It’s not that you’ll make the decision in your dream, but that getting proper sleep might actually be the reason you can make more sound decisions that help you work smarter, not harder.
In this article, we’ll explore why this is true and how getting a proper night’s rest could be the key to expert decision-making. We’ll look at how sleep and decision-making are linked, why better sleep benefits your decision-making skills, and the consequences of poor sleep in these moments when you have to make choices. We’ll even go over some tips to get better sleep. Let’s get into it!
How Sleep and Decision-Making Are Connected
You might not think at first glance that our sleep and decision-making are connected, but when you consider the function of sleep, it all makes perfect sense! When we sleep, we are not only resting our bodies and allowing our muscles to recover, grow, and repair, but we’re also encouraging emotional regulation and memory consolidation. Your brain is essentially preparing for the next day, forming new pathways and helping you learn and remember what you need to know.
With the added benefit of sleep being great for learning and problem-solving, it all comes together to help us become better decision-makers. When we get enough sleep, we can make sound decisions, but when we don’t get enough sleep, or it’s absolutely poor quality sleep, we see it in our behaviors, decisions, and how we control our emotions (Source: PubMed). The best example of this is with teens: when they get little sleep, their moods might fluctuate, they might make poor decisions, and they may struggle to perform well in school.
Let’s take a look at how getting enough sleep helps our decision-making, and how the opposite can affect how we make choices in our life.
The Benefits of Getting Proper Sleep on Your Decision-Making
Getting enough sleep and proper deep sleep helps us way more than we think. When we consider how it helps our decision-making, there are several reasons why we should aim to get more rest at night:
- Enhanced Cognitive Function: How well we sleep, and our cognitive performance when we are awake have a bidirectional relationship. In other words, if we sleep well, we will perform well cognitively. However, if we don’t sleep well, we’ll struggle and we will likely not be able think as clearly or make sound decisions (Source: PubMed). This goes for our problem-solving skills, focus, and concentration. That’s why it is so vital that we get seven to nine hours of sleep per night!
- Improved Emotional Stability: When we sleep, our brain works while our body rests. That’s when our memories are consolidated, we dream, and we are able to take care of any repairs or recovery that needs to happen in our cells and muscles. Yet, it’s also beneficial for our emotional regulation. Experts show that processing memories during sleep can help with our emotional regulation as we process what happened to us so we can make better decisions later. This also helps reduce anxiety, stress, and mood swings.
- Greater Impulse Control: When you get poor sleep, how often do you feel like you’re acting on impulse? If this sounds familiar, there’s a good explanation for this. When you’re getting enough sleep regularly, your body should be functioning optimally, which means you’re not stressed and your body is not exhausted or fatigued, which can help you keep a lid on your impulses so you make more sound decisions.
How Poor Sleep or Lack Thereof Affects Our Decision-Making
Unfortunately, while getting good sleep helps our decision-making, losing out on quality rest can have adverse effects on us as we attempt to perform cognitively. Here are some of the main challenges you’ll face with decision-making if you lose quality rest at night:
- Cognitive Impairments: Where good, quality sleep supports your mental performance, losing out on sleep or getting less quality sleep can do the opposite. In fact, studies show that acute sleep deprivation, even for just one night, can reduce your reaction times and focus and even impair how well you assess risks (Source: PubMed). In other words, if you don’t sleep well before, you might want to rethink your decisions the next day so you don’t make a mistake.
- Emotional Dysregulation: Losing out on sleep can also lead to heightened emotional reactions and mood swings that will be unpleasant for you and others you interact with. For example, children who lose out on sleep are more likely to have mood swings, feel angry or impulsive, or even feel depressed or unmotivated. The same can happen to you with less sleep, which means your decisions might not be as bright as they could be on better sleep.
- Negative Impact on Physical Health: Poor quality rest or fewer hours of sleep at night will not only make you a lousy decision-maker, but they will also impact your physical health. Sleep helps reduce mental fatigue, but when you don’t get enough, you can suffer from intense brain fog, sleep inertia upon waking, and even long-term health challenges. Long-term sleep deprivation can hurt your overall health and well-being, leading to an increased risk of cardiovascular conditions and other health problems.
Improve Your Sleep Quality and Enhance Your Decision-Making Skills
With clear connections between sleep and decision-making, it’s essential to take steps to prioritize proper rest and recovery. To do that, focus on creating an ideal sleep environment and sleep routine, and even take steps to reduce blue light exposure while living a healthy lifestyle. Combined, you have the makings of a healthy lifestyle, complete with adequate rest. We hope that you learned something new in this article that will impact your sleep health! What steps will you take to ensure you make better decisions in the future?