We all know we can’t survive without food and water. But for some people, the ability to get by on just a few hours of sleep is a point of pride. It shouldn’t be. Not getting enough sleep is downright dangerous. It has a powerful, negative impact on your job performance, brain function, appearance, health, and longevity.

That’s why sleep deprivation has been used as a method of torture. It is used as an interrogation technique because it:

• Lowers your ability to deal with stress
• Causes confusion and lack of focus
• Weakens your body’s ability to fight infections and illnesses 

In actuality, sleep deprivation is similar to being outright intoxicated. Studies have shown that 

sleep deprivation delays your body’s ability to send signals, decreasing your coordination and increasing your risk for accidents. After just two hours of sleep deprivation, study participants performed at the same levels as they would if they were drunk.

While you wouldn’t show up to work or drive around town drunk every day, by depriving your body of the restful sleep it needs, you may be putting yourself, and others, at risk.

If that’s not enough to convince you to increase the quantity and quality of your sleep, consider the upside:

• One night of quality sleep can improve your ability to learn a new motor skill by 20%.
• Eight hours of quality sleep increases your ability to gain new insight into a complex problem by 50%.
• Healthy skin and a youthful appearance are the result of quality sleep.
• Quality sleep increases testosterone levels, which improves sex drive in men and helps balance estrogen in women, also often leading to an improved sex drive.
• Poor sleep is the #1 cause of uncontrolled blood sugar, leading to diabetes and obesity, while quality sleep greatly reduces your risk of getting diabetes and helps you manage your weight.
• Getting quality sleep encourages healthy cell division, which can help prevent cancer.

Advice on how to get more sleep is plentiful, but really, it’s about making sleep a priority. Studies show that people who go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day tend to get the highest quality sleep. Try it for a week and feel the difference. It may become a wonderfully healthy habit.