Sleep is something that we all have in common. Incredibly precious and often challenging especially for us working in arts and culture. Things like deadlines, travel and jetlag, late night functions and performances can throw your sleep schedule into disarray. In fact, I’m typing this at 2am on a Saturday morning!
So why do we need it? Studies suggest that sleep clears away toxins from the brain, refreshing your mind and repairing your body [1]. There is also evidence that poor sleep is a risk factor for a variety of health conditions such as mood difficulties, impaired judgement and reaction time, fatigue, and poor concentration and memory [2].
Additionally, there are a lot of studies about neurodivergent kids [3] and sleep trouble, but (as usual) not a lot for adults. Anecdotally, though, there is a fair bit of comment from neurodivergent folk on trying to "catch up" on the things they couldn't do during the day at the cost of a full night’s rest. We often do best when we can to get in that "flow state" of hyperfocus, yet that often pushes into sleep time and can contribute to burnout if it becomes a habit.
So what are some good tips for getting good sleep? Our good pals at the Arts WellBeing Collective [4] have a lot of great advice on sleep strategies and tips for learning to unwind:
As always there is also a great How to ADHD episode focusing on sleep challenges and solutions that is pretty useful for all [6].
What are some of your favourite tips or annoying challenges about sleep? Pop them in the chat below. (I’m off to bed)
Heath (thanks to Shelly for the extensive editing and motivation)
References:
Thanks for this important reminder, as well as all the great resources, Heath Wilder and !