Peak Performance at $0

A 2024 report highlighted that organisations spent an average of $775 to $1,500 per employee per annum on learning and talent development.

It’s also true that employees value these organisations that put their training needs in the forefront.

And here is the crazy part…

There is one straightforward, guaranteed, and completely free-of-cost tool available to everyone, including organisations and employees, that can bring about results (if not significantly more, as recent neurobiological studies suggest), equivalent to skill and talent efficiency as those dollars and time spent on learning… Not to mention improved creativity, which cannot be force-skilled.

That 0$ miracle tool? A solid 8 hours of sleep every night.

There is so much that a good nightly sleep habit can do that no training or development program can.

In the Mad Men series, Don says this to Peggy when she is struggling with an ad copy: “Peggy, just think about it deeply. Then forget it. And an idea will jump up in your face.”

“In ways your waking brain would never attempt, the sleeping brain fuses together disparate sets of knowledge that foster impressive problem-solving abilities.” – Matthew Walker (Why We Sleep), Scientist and professor of neuroscience and psychology.

Unfortunately, following the footsteps of a dysfunctional education system, organisations also use dysfunctional metrics and tools for performance improvements (think PIP…).

Rarely, or probably not at all, are there organisations measuring performance or attuned to connecting disruptive thinking to the amount of time their employees spend sleeping.

Skipping the essential sleep hours and expecting peak, creative performance is like downing a few scotches and believing you’ll drive home safely.

Sure, you might get home once or twice. But it’s called a gamble. In the same vein, by compromising sleep, day after day, if we are seeing a rise in our fortunes, it’s nothing less than gambling our health away.

We do not know how sleep deprived we are when we are sleep deprived. A low-level exhaustion becomes an accepted norm.

Sleep is a very convenient and acceptable gamble when chasing deadlines. And it’s a useless bet.

Still ain’t convinced? Just put this prompt on your favourite AI tool: “David Dinges research on sleep and the impact of less than 8 hours sleep”.

Bottom line: ProProPhro Circles, a mindful productivity skill to help one lead a values-driven life, is built on the foundation of sleep; a first in productivity skills.

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