I'm reading a fascinating book about developing one's willpower. Part of it addresses something most expediters can relate to. Note how the cravings for sweets or comfort food increase when you are tired. Note also how you get more irritable when tired. And note how you make more mistakes when your are tired than when you are rested.
Excerpt:
Why does poor sleep sap willpower? For starters, sleep deprivation impairs how the body and brain use glucose, their main form of energy. When you're tired, your cells have trouble absorbing glucose from the bloodstream. This leaves them under fueled, and you exhausted. With our body and brain desperate for energy, you'll start to crave sweets or caffeine. But even if you try to refuel with sugar or coffee, your body and brain won't get the energy they need because they won't be able to use it efficiently. This is bad news for self-control, one of the most energy-expensive tasks your brain can spend its limited fuel on.
In other words, fatigue is to your brain like a dirty fuel filter is to your truck engine. In both cases, the full amount of fuel does not get through.
If you find yourself getting angry behind the wheel, saying things to your dispatcher that you later regret or binging on food you really want to avoid, the problem may not be that you need more willpower. The problem may simply be that you need more sleep.
Not only for on-road safety reasons but for many others too, sleep management is one of the most important tasks expediters have.
The book is: The willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why it Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal, PhD.
Excerpt:
Why does poor sleep sap willpower? For starters, sleep deprivation impairs how the body and brain use glucose, their main form of energy. When you're tired, your cells have trouble absorbing glucose from the bloodstream. This leaves them under fueled, and you exhausted. With our body and brain desperate for energy, you'll start to crave sweets or caffeine. But even if you try to refuel with sugar or coffee, your body and brain won't get the energy they need because they won't be able to use it efficiently. This is bad news for self-control, one of the most energy-expensive tasks your brain can spend its limited fuel on.
In other words, fatigue is to your brain like a dirty fuel filter is to your truck engine. In both cases, the full amount of fuel does not get through.
If you find yourself getting angry behind the wheel, saying things to your dispatcher that you later regret or binging on food you really want to avoid, the problem may not be that you need more willpower. The problem may simply be that you need more sleep.
Not only for on-road safety reasons but for many others too, sleep management is one of the most important tasks expediters have.
The book is: The willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why it Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal, PhD.
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