Car crashes and heart attacks spike every year.We know exactly what the problem is and we continue to do it year after year.What is this nemesis?
Daylight savings time.
A little over a week ago we as a country lost an hour of sleep.Just one measly hour.No big deal.Except it is.The first few days after changing the clocks can be devastating.
- Heart attacks up 24%
- Car crashes up 20% with fatalities up 6%
- Strokes up 8%
All of this from losing one hour of sleep.These numbers drop back to normal over after about two days.People adjust, but those first few days tell us a lot.They tell us how important sleep is.The other side of the coin is when we move the clocks back in the fall the numbers are almost the exact opposite, car crashes drop, heart attack rates drop (I don’t know about strokes didn’t see the data).
The larger point is that sleep matters.It matters big time.You push and push and push.Going without sleep slows you down.Decreases brain function.In the long run, you’re losing any small gains you make by burning the midnight oil.Decide on a specific bedtime and stick with it.It doesn’t matter when it is. What matters is that you’re routinely getting the sleep you need.
Having a consistent bedtime will help your brain to shut down and go to sleep.A consistent bedtime will increase the chances that you’ll be sleeping instead of tossing and turning while you’re in bed.
As the great Ben Franklin was quoted, “Early to bed, early to rise helps make a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”
I couldn’t agree more with old Ben.The sleep thing will definitely help with the wise and healthy part, and it falls short on the wealthy thing well you’ve got the April issue of the Physician Assistant Exam Newsletter to help you out in that department.Last month we branched out from our normal discussions on passing your exams to huge important topic that will change the trajectory of your life.Seriously, no exaggeration.The April issue (which I’m just finishing up) contains the steps to change the trajectory of your life from living paycheck to paycheck in a proverbial cage to living an extraordinary life of your choosing.Yes, it’s that big.That big-time PA salary can be a blessing or a curse.It was almost a curse for me, but I escaped.This month I’m going to share the story and help you save the YEARS I lost.
If you like horror stories, this one’s a doozy.(No axe-wielding murder, just my wife and kids and I living in a cardboard box because we were as dumb as most new grads on graduation)
Physician Assistant Exam Scholars