How well you sleep affects your focus and concentration. Sleep is a necessary must-have because it refreshes our mind, body, and spirit. Still, millions of Americans make a habit of not getting adequate levels of sleep each night.

If you think that you can skate by on less than six hours of sleep for an extended period and it not affect your thinking, you are sadly mistaken.

Poor sleep habits can wreak havoc on your cognitive abilities and mental wellness. Think of your mind as a well-oiled machine and sleep as the fuel it needs to function at optimal levels.

Without adequate sleep, we find ourselves moving through a haze of confusion, poor judgment, and an inability to reason when faced with complex thought. Harvard Medicine says our learning takes place in three core functions of acquisition, consolidation, and recall. Continue reading →

Can you learn during sleep? Absolutely, but it depends on who you ask and your definition of learning! Still, it’s important to note that because we are asleep, it does not mean our minds are taking a break.

Limited evidence exists on whether we can acquire new skills from scratch; Yet, there is plenty of research about the quality of sleep you manage to achieve the length or degree to which you can learn new things.

Studies demonstrate that a lot of our memories and especially, our ability to grasp complex concepts learned during the day happen as we are sleeping.

The key to this process occurring is ensuring that we make every effort to achieve consistent levels of quality sleep.

Sure, you are probably scratching your head wondering how it is possible to create more concrete memories of new information when you know friends who used to pull all-nighters and ace exams. Continue reading →