‘I have one piece of advice for you: sleep your way to the top’ - Arianna Huffington.

And this, my friends, is the only ‘sexy’ sleep quote you will likely ever read. Why you ask? Put simply: sleep in modern society is considered an activity best left to the elderly (and the boring). Why else do we call those delightful afternoon siestas ‘nanna naps’, or use the term ‘grandma’ to insult our friends when they leave the party early?

Popular quotes like: ‘you snooze you lose’ and ‘you can sleep when your dead’, also leave us with the distinct feeling that sleeping is just a superfluous activity of the lazy.

I don’t know about you, but when I get into a heated debate with friends at a party, I always rely on my good friend ‘scientific research’ to get me out of the pickle. So here are my top 3 go-to pieces of scientific research backing up Arianna’s advice that we should all ‘sleep our way to the top’:

ONE: LACK OF SLEEP IS THE MENTAL EQUIVALENT OF TRYING TO WORK AFTER FRIDAY NIGHT DRINKS

The Science: Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%. Increase that to 20 hours and your cognitive skills are the equivalent of being legally drunk (0.1%) (A. M. Williamson and Anne-Marie Feyer, 2000).

TWO - LACK OF SLEEP MAKES IT HARDER TO LEARN, REMEMBER AND PROBLEM SOLVE

THE SCIENCE: It is the pre-frontal cortex (responsible for high order mental skills) that suffers the most we are deprived of sleep (Namni Goel et al., 2009).

THREE: LACK OF SLEEP LOWERS YOUR EQ

THE SCIENCE: In a sleep-deprived state your brain is more likely to misinterpret emotional cues (tone of voice, facial expressions), and you tend to overreact, and respond more negatively (Els van der Helm, Ninad Gujar, and Matthew P. Walker, 2010).

THE SOLUTION?

The biggest problem, as any of you who suffer from insomnia will know, is that the harder you try to get to sleep, the less likely you are to fall asleep. This is also backed up by a famous 2003 study (albeit small 34 person study) in Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy on ‘paradoxical intention’ which found that those in a group told to ‘stay awake’ were more likely to fall asleep than those who were told to ‘fall asleep’.

So like many things in life, maybe the answer lies in tuning in and listening to your body rather than striving too hard for the perfect sleep pattern. And perhaps next time you’re sleepy and bored at Friday night drinks, forego the espresso martini, laugh off the insults, and head home to your cosy bed. You could even call your grandma for a chat on the way home.