“He would lie in the bed and finally, with daylight, he would go to sleep. After all, he said to himself, it is probably only insomnia. Many must have it.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Clean Well-Lighted Place
One way or the other, we usually find ourselves among the thousands of sleep-deprived people who roam the face of the earth. This is as a result of circumstances which may or may not be within our power as people and as creatives. Have you ever thought about what happens to the mind when one goes several days without sleep? Again, have you thought about the consequences of sleep deprivation on creative minds? In their sleep-deprived state, do their minds produce better ideas? Ever wondered if creativity is enhanced or weakened in a sleep-deprived creative?
Sleep deprivation basically means lack of sleep. It is a general term used to describe a state caused by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep, including voluntary or involuntary sleeplessness and circadian rhythm sleep disorder which is the natural cycle of physical, mental and behavioural changes that the body goes through in a 24 – hour cycle. Circadian rhythms are mostly affected by light and darkness. Also, they are controlled by a small area located in the middle of the brain.
So, what happens to the average human who is sleep-deprived? Johns Hopkins’ sleep researcher Patrick Finan, PhD opines that not getting enough sleep can affect one’s mood, memory and health in far-reaching and surprising ways. This in turn can affect one’s overall ability to remain productive during the day.
Maybe you haven’t noticed, but the ‘hustle or die’ mentality leads to creativity struggle. Working all the time without adequate rest can be likened to expecting to withdraw money from a bank without depositing in the first place. This tells us that as humans we all need enough sleep to function well and remain productive. There are many people out there with different work and lifestyles; there are some who work on an allocated shift in the day or night – like the police, and others who work throughout the day and most of the night – like doctors. Still, there are the creatives such as singers, rappers, writers, journalists, artists, just to mention a few, who spend most sleepless nights thinking hard about the next big project in their career.
Scientific knowledge reveals to us that the right lobe of the brain is responsible for creativity as opposed to the left lobe which is associated with more logical and analytical thinking. One justification for this occurred in 2010 when some European scientists conducted tests on brain activity during sleep and found support for the hypothesis that the right side of the brain is ‘heard’ more after sleep. The consolidation of memory during a night’s sleep occurs before a change in functional activation which starts in the morning. These scientists concluded that the restructuring of memory responsible for this right brain boost occurs during slow-wave sleep in the first half of the night, and that synthesis of new information may lead to creative insights upon waking.
According to another study, visual creatives are reported to have more disturbed sleep and lower daytime functioning, whereas verbal creatives have more overall sleep time as well as later sleep onset and wake times.
The Creative Mind and Sleep
A lot of studies have shown that lack of sleep results in poor cognitive function including poor focus, concentration, low creativity, erratic behaviour, inability to multitask, and increased mistakes. These are executive functions needed to facilitate a creative’s mind.
Studies have indicated that poor sleep tends to contribute to high blood pressure, a weakened immune system, weight gain, mood swings, paranoia, depression, poor libido and a higher risk of diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular disease, dementia and some cancers. This means that at some point, the body eventually loses the ability to cope with lack of sleep.
As you sleep, you move through a series of different stages which are categorized into rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM (NREM) sleep. NREM sleep is divided into three sub-stages: 1, 2, and 3/4 (stages 3 and 4 are combined into one stage). Moving through these stages once is called a sleep cycle.
Overall, science can safely say that an average, healthy sleep cycle lasts for 90 to 120 minutes. This means that in the end, the longer you sleep, the more sleep cycles you’ll have. Again, on average, some or most people get three to six sleep cycles per night. Sleep begins with stage 1 through 2, followed by 3 and 4, and finally moves on to REM.
Another thing that happens during the activity is that, unlike the body’s lymphatic system which drains out waste and toxins at all times, the brain’s waste disposal system only works efficiently during sleep. During REM sleep, the brain cells shrink to allow the cerebrospinal fluid to flow 10 times faster between brain cells than it does when we are awake. This process further removes toxins that accumulate when we are awake, which will eventually lead to improved executive skills including:
— Concentration
— Attention and reactivity
— Decision making
— Problem solving
— Learning and memory
— Creativity
— Coordination
— Social skills
— An improvement in mood and Health
Symptoms of sleep deprivation in adults include:
⦁ Constant yawning
⦁ The tendency to doze off during a short while of inactivity; for example, when watching television.
⦁ Grogginess when you wake in the morning
⦁ Sleepy grogginess experienced all day long (sleep inertia)
⦁ Poor concentration and mood changes (more irritable).
Common causes of sleep deprivation include:
⦁ Personal choice – some people don’t realize that the body needs adequate sleep. Instead of regularly going to bed at a reasonable hour, they prefer to stay up late to socialize, watch television or read a good book.
⦁ Illness – illnesses such as cold and tonsillitis can cause snoring, gagging and frequent waking, and have a direct effect on sleep by fragmenting it.
⦁ Work – people who do shift work disrupt their sleep-wake cycles on a regular basis. Frequent travellers (for example, airline crew) also tend to have erratic sleeping patterns.
⦁ Sleep disorder – problems such as sleep apnoea (potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts), snoring and periodic limb movement disorder can disturb the person’s sleep many times during the night.
⦁ Medications – some drugs used to treat disorders such as epilepsy or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can cause insomnia.
⦁ The sleeping environment – sleep may be disrupted by a range of environmental reasons; for example, because the bedroom is too hot or cold or because of noisy neighbours or a snoring bed partner, or a bad pillow/mattress.
⦁ Poor sleep hygiene – some people have disruptive habits; for example, drinking coffee or smoking cigarettes close to bedtime stimulates the nervous system and makes them less likely to sleep. Another common problem is lying in bed and worrying, rather than relaxing.
⦁ Babies, older babies and toddlers – parents almost always experience sleep deprivation because their young children wake frequently in the night for feeding or comfort.
Another important thing worth talking about is the quality of sleep. For example, 5 hours of deep sleep is better than 10 hours of shallow sleep. It is important to note that the amount of sleep you need differs according to your age and perhaps your biological makeup. Also, your body gets used to how much sleep it normally gets such that getting reduced sleep for any day or number of days, can result in accumulated sleep debt. Assuming a person who needs eight hours of sleep per night only gets six, this two-hour sleep loss can have a major impact including:
⦁Reduced alertness
⦁ Shortened attention span
⦁ Slower than normal reaction time
⦁ Poorer judgement
⦁ Reduced awareness of the environment
⦁ Reduced decision-making skills
⦁ Poorer memory
⦁ Reduced concentration
⦁ Increased likelihood of mentally ‘stalling’ or fixating on one thought
⦁ Increased likelihood of moodiness and bad temper
⦁ Reduced work efficiency
⦁ Loss of motivation
⦁ Errors of omission – making a mistake by forgetting to do something
⦁ Errors of commission – making a mistake by doing something, but choosing the wrong option
⦁ Microsleep – brief periods of involuntary sleeping that range from a few seconds to a few minutes.
Does sleep deprivation make some people more creative?
A counter-argument by some schools of thought is that some people are actually more creative when they are sleep deprived. For example, Winston Churchill, who was a British statesman, army officer, and writer, was said to have slept only two hours every night. Other examples of creatives that have suffered from Sleep Deprivation are; Michael Jackson, Jenifer Aniston, Martha Stewart, Demi Lovato, Betty White, and Eminem, among others. Authors are not left out. Many too suffer from this. Some have written Books inspired by sleep deprivation. These include:
Swann’s Way, Marcel Proust (1913)
Marcel Proust’s book _Swann’s Way_ was the first of his seven-volume novel, In Search of Lost Time. The narrator’s inability to sleep is a major theme in the book. He recounts his fear of going to bed at night as a young boy with shimmering detail, describing how it affected his relationship with his family and his view of the world.
Sleep, Haruki Murakami
In the short story Sleep, which was originally published as part of the anthology, The Elephant Vanishes, an unnamed Japanese housewife suddenly finds that she can no longer sleep. The story begins with the statement: “This is my seventeenth straight day without sleep.” At first, the narrator’s insomnia seems like a gift – but soon her days start bleeding into one another until she slowly loses her grip on everything around her.
Insomniac Dreams: Experiments with Time, Vladimir Nabokov, ed. by Gennady Barabtarlo (2017)
Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov was a lifelong insomniac. In 1964, he began an experiment of writing down his dreams to see if he could use them to tell the future. At the time, he was barely sleeping at all, but the results are vibrant vignettes into the mysterious subconscious. He dreams, for example, that the solution to the supreme mystery is that “the cosmos with all its galaxies is a blue drop in the hollow of my palm.”
Strategies for a Better Night’s Sleep
- Create a regular sleep schedule
- Create 30-60 minutes healthy and relaxing Winding Down Routine
- Get sunshine exposure during the day
- Exercise regularly within 2-4 hours before bedtime
- Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine 4-6 hours before bedtime
- Prepare your bedroom environment for only sleep, sex and sickness
- Manage temperature fluctuations with appropriate mattress, bedding and room temperature
- Eat healthily and avoid heavy and spicy meals within 2 hours before bedtime.
- Promote healthy social interaction to enhance emotional stability and a sense of wellbeing.
- Avoid television, computers, and screens (such as smartphones or tablets) for at least an hour before bedtime.
- Make a list of things you are grateful for.
- Make a list of things you need to do when you wake up.
- Practice your favourite relaxing activities such as listening to music, playing an instrument, stretching, or singing.
If you’ve tried all of the above tips, and are still struggling to sleep, it’s time to seek medical advice. There are a lot you can do at home to try to manage sleeplessness, but after a certain point, you may need help to overcome the barriers that are stopping you from resting properly. Sometimes, lack of sleep can point to an underlying health issue that may need addressing.
The first step is to speak to your General Practitioner and explain the issue. They may be able to recommend some medication for short-term use that will help to break the cycle of sleeplessness; especially when used in conjunction with other methods of relaxation. Sometimes this is enough to restore the balance and get things back to normal. If there are signs of a bigger problem, your doctor can make a referral to a sleep clinic which can investigate the cause of your sleep issues further.
In the end, it is vital that you manage your sleep challenges today before it gets worse and creates a negative impact on your health and creativity. Although we tend to get busy with a lot of things in today’s era, there is a solution to an altered sleep pattern which will improve daily performance, memory, and the body system as a whole. This means that having a good sleep should be seen as a remedy rather than something we need to get rid of. The best thing to do is to see beyond the day’s activity and fall into a period of natural self-recovery.
Finally, while there are many studies that say getting the recommended hours of sleep helps one’s ability to be creative, and many others that say lack of sleep actually enhances one’s creativity, it all really depends on the individual in question. Ask yourself this question, at this moment in your life, could you do with more sleep or less? Further, ask yourself if the situation you are in is helping you or preventing you from reaching your full creative potential. Again, ask yourself if the amount of sleep you are getting is helping your ability to remain productive during the day. If the answers to these questions are all negative then there is some work to do but if otherwise, you may not have a problem after all. At this juncture, we can conclude that creative or not, it’s never a good idea to go through life sleep deprived.
Sources
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/sleep-deprivation
https://www.we-heart.com/2019/10/29/how-lack-of-sleep-affects-a-creative-mind
https://www.thecut.com/2016/09/25-famous-women-on-insomnia-and-sleep-deprivation.html
Mimi Machakaire is a Zimbabwean with a Diploma in Film Production from the University of Zimbabwe and a Diploma in journalism from Rutherford Hayes University, in the United States of America. She has a great passion for writing, journalism and storytelling. She currently resides in Maseru city, Lesotho.
