don’ t get enough sleep are less empathic.
Lower risk of heart disease: One risk factor for heart disease is high blood pressure. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention( CDC), getting adequate rest each night allows the body’ s blood pressure to regulate itself.
Better productivity and concentration: Sleep helps improve the brain’ s capacity to attain and retain information. Everyone can attest to the difficulty to focus on an activity without good sleep.
Weight control: According to WebMD, when you ' re well-rested, you ' re less hungry. Being sleep-deprived messes with the hormones in your brain- leptin and ghrelin- that control appetite. With those out of balance, your resistance to the temptation of unhealthy foods goes way down. And when you ' re tired, you ' re less likely to want to get up and move your body. Together, it ' s a recipe for putting on pounds.
Better athletic performance: Not getting enough sleep results in a dip in energy and takes time away from muscle repair. Lack of sleep also saps motivation which is necessary when faced with physical and mental challenges.
Personally, I’ ve noted a poor control of emotions when I haven’ t had a good night’ s sleep. I get quite snappy and the smallest thing gets me irritated. Later on, as expected, I regret my words and actions but as the Kiswahili saying goes,“ Maji yakimwagika hayazoleki.” So if for no other reason, I try to sleep well to avoid future guilt and sometimes that means stealing a few minutes in the morning.
I’ ve pondered what keeps me up. There’ s a popular belief that sleep struggles are because one’ s not tired. That they didn’ t work enough. True, but not in my case, I’ m generally tired by evening. Maybe it’ s a case of my brain on overdrive, like an ADHD patient. Possibly, but my sleep struggles started as an adult so this can’ t be the reason … I recently read‘ Grit’ by Angela Duckworth. It’ s an amazing read. I’ ve had it with me for some time, however it’ s only recently I read it to the end. Must be the global pandemic and the obvious tough times that have resulted that drew me to the book. In it, she speaks of‘ learned helplessness.’ Reading through this portion of the book got me to my‘ Aha!’ moment. It finally hit me, the
Businesses are having their antenna erect at all times lest they’ re passed by. As the competition grows, marketing professionals worry about how to secure their fair share of the marketplace. Marketing professionals are finding it difficult to create and maintain the corporate distinction and unique selling proposition they need to thrive.
underlying reason for my inability to get some good shut eye.
In 1964, two researchers Marty and Steve conducted an experiment. They watched a caged dog receive shocks to the back of its paws. The shocks came randomly and without warning. If the dog did nothing, the shock lasted five seconds. However, if the dog pushed its nose against a panel at the front of the cage, the shock ended earlier. In a control experiment another dog receives the same shocks but there’ s no panel to push against meaning that they couldn’ t stop the shock. A number of dogs were taken through these experiments.
These dogs were then kept together in a separate cage. A high pitched tone played, heralding an impending shock. For the dogs that had control over the shocks previously, they would leap whenever the shocks would come. In contrast, those dogs that had no control over the shocks in the control experiment would lie whimpering waiting for the punishments to stop. This experiment proved that it isn’ t suffering that leads to hopelessness but rather suffering that you think you can’ t control. In other words, it’ s possible to learn helplessness.
How exactly is this experiment correlated with my situation? All I can say is that the brain has an interesting way of making connections. I’ m one who believes that I have significant power over my destiny. This means that I ought to be alert at the steering wheel. I don’ t want to be the dog that just lies whimpering about unfortunate events. I want to be the dog that leaps. The‘ Yes I Can’ problem solving mentality is the attitude I purpose to embrace. What happens when I sleep though? I’ m in a subconscious state, which means I’ m not in full control. And therein lies my issue. I’ m not good at resting and relinquishing.
With a pandemic in the mix, it has proven even harder to get a good night’ s sleep. It’ s now clear that we all need a new set of skills and tools to navigate this new world. In his article,‘ Covid-19 and the Unfolding Mental Health Crisis in Kenya,’ Walter Nyabundi shares some sobering statistics. Infotrak’ s June survey revealed that: 81 % of Kenyans had feelings of anxiety and stress, 68 % were feeling confused, 63 % felt confined and trapped, and 61 % felt lonely. Close to 40 % noted that they had difficulty sleeping. Clearly trouble with sleep is widespread.
We all have ideas about why there’ s a palpable sense of worry and anxiety. Specifically, as a marketing professional I was curious about what’ s keeping us up at night. 2020 has exacerbated our reasons for worry no doubt. Below are some of the issues that keep marketing professionals up at night:
Covid-19
According to the‘ 2020 Goalkeepers Report’ published by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in 25 weeks the coronavirus pandemic had wiped out approximately 25 years’ worth of global development spanning health and economy. Consumer behavior has changed. Needs and wants have been redefined; people have learned to do more with less. As a result of stay-athome orders, many are considering what can be done to make their homes more comfortable and conducive for productive work. Consumers expect brands to be empathic in this season. If a brand is perceived as focusing too much on profit, then it’ ll likely lose trust and loyalty from supporters. Marketers have to find
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