Ahh, to sleep, perchance to dream. It's safe to say we all need strategies that help us sustain our energy and brainpower, so that we can continue to work smarter, learn quickly, and focus our attention on the things that have the highest value.  

According to the National Institutes of Health, one of our biggest obstacles to performance is that we are not getting enough zzzz's;  50 to 70 million Americans have sleep problems.  Sleep deprivation has serious consequences, not only on our moods and physical health, but also our cognitive function.

Harvard School of Medicine’s Division of Sleep published several studies in 2012 that indicate poor quality sleep leads to an increase in errors at the workplace, decreased productivity, and accidents that cost both lives and resources. It also steals our ability to learn: when we are sleep deprived, our focus, attention, and vigilance drift, making it more difficult to receive information.

Once the world gets quiet, does your mind wake up? Do you start ticking through your to-do list the minute your head hits the pillow? A churning mind can’t sleep; and a mind without sleep doesn’t function.  Sleep deprivation is miserable--it steals energy and productivity from the next day — so you don’t enjoy your waking hours either, and the cycle starts all over again.

So, how can you reclaim the pleasure of a good night's sleep?  First, I want to ask you a question: Do you think of sleep as the end of one day or the beginning of the next? I find that......