Growing up in a hard-working Midwestern city in the 1980s, I quickly learned that sleep is the first expense I should cut in a given day. The men I looked up to at a young age regularly boasted about running on just a few hours of sleep. While this was rooted in a good-natured work ethic, it led me to view needing sleep as a sign of weakness. I continue to see this perception in the workplace today, where it is considered a badge of honor to stay at the office late working on a project.

　　我生長在上世紀80年代美國中西部一個崇尚努力工作的城市中，我很快就認識到睡眠是我在一天中應該削減的第一樣東西。我小時候崇拜的人經常夸耀自己每天只睡幾個小時。盡管這根源于一種良好的職業操守，但卻使我認為對睡眠的需求是一種軟弱的表現。如今在職場中我仍能看到有人持這樣的觀點。在辦公室為一個項目工作到很晚被視為是一種榮耀。

　　The problem is, one less hour of sleep is not equal to an extra hour of achievement. In many cases the opposite occurs. When you lose an hour of sleep, it decreases your well-being, productivity, health, and ability to think the following day. One of the most influential studies of human performance, conducted by professor K. Anders Ericsson, found that top performers slept 8 hours and 36 minutes per day. The average American, for comparison, gets just 6 hours and 51 minutes of sleep on weeknights.

　　問題是，少睡一個小時并不等于多做出一個小時的成績。很多時候情況恰恰相反。少睡一個小時，第二天的精神狀態、效率、健康和思考能力就會降低。埃里克森教授的研究發現，表現優秀的人每天睡8小時36分鐘。相比之下，普通美國人工作日每晚只睡6小時51分鐘。這是有關人類表現的各種研究中最有影響的研究之一。

　　You are simply a different person when you operate on insufficient sleep. And it shows. If you do not get enough sleep, it can lead to a cascade of negative events. You achieve less at work, skip regular exercise, and eat poorly.

　　當你在睡眠不足的狀態下工作時，你會失常。而且這會表現在方方面面。如果你睡眠不足，可能會導致一系列的不良后果。你的工作效率會下降，定期的體育鍛煉也不再堅持，飲食也會一團糟。

　　This lack of sleep is also costly. According to a study from Harvard Medical School, lack of sleep costs the American economy $63 billion a year in lost productivity alone. The problem is not just people missing work on account of sleep, the larger issue is people who show up for work in a sleepless state. One scientist, who has studied this topic extensively, claims a loss of four hours of sleep produces as much impairment as consuming a six-pack of beer. According to a survey from the National Sleep Foundation, roughly two-thirds of people studied do not get enough sleep on weeknights.

　　睡眠不足還會帶來不菲的代價。據哈佛大學醫學院的一項研究顯示，睡眠不足導致生產效率低下，僅此一項每年就給美國經濟造成630億美元的損失。問題不止是人們因睡眠不足而翹班，更大的問題是人們在睡眠不足的狀態下繼續工作。一位一直研究這個問題的科學家稱，少睡四個小時造成的損害與喝六瓶啤酒不相上下。據美國國家睡眠基金會的一項調查顯示，約有三分之二的被研究者在工作日晚上睡眠不足。

　　However, if you are able to get an additional hour of sleep tonight, it can make the difference between a miserable day and a good one. A small adjustment, even 15 or 30 minutes, could make or break your next day. The key is to aim for somewhere between seven and nine hours of quality sleep per night. While getting this much sleep each night is easier said than done, there are a few small tricks to improve your odds of a good night’s sleep.

　　不過，如果你今晚能夠多睡一個小時，明天就會是一個美好的一天，而不是痛苦的一天。小小的調整，哪怕是15分鐘或30分鐘，都可能使第二天你的狀態有天壤之別。關鍵是爭取每天晚上能有七到九小時的高質量睡眠。盡管每天睡這么長時間的覺說起來容易、做起來難，但有一些小竅門可以幫助改善你的睡眠。

　　What you do in the hours before bed could matter most. More than 90 percent of Americans admit to using electronic communications in the hour before bed. This is an obvious problem in terms of allowing things like late-night messages to enter your thoughts. What you may not realize is that the light from these devices alone could also suppress your melatonin levels by as much as 20 percent, which is a more direct threat to your sleep. To avoid these issues, impose a moratorium on all electronic devices in the hour before your normal bedtime and be cautious about bright light from any sources in the hours before bed.

　　你上床睡覺前的幾個小時都做些什么是最關鍵的。有九成以上的美國人承認在睡前一小時使用電子通訊工具。這是一個顯而易見的問題，因為它使深夜發來的信息等可以進入你的頭腦里。你可能沒有意識到的是，這些設備發出的光本身也可能使你的褪黑素水平至多減少20%，這對你的睡眠是一個更為直接的威脅。為避免這些問題，在正常上床睡覺前的一個小時停止使用所有電子設備，避開任何光源發出的亮光。

　　Creating the right environment for sleep in your bedroom can also give you a head start. It is easier to sleep in a room that is a few degrees cooler than the temperature you are accustomed to throughout the day. This prevents your natural body clock from waking you up in the middle of the night. The same principle applies to noise, where using white noise apps or devices can drown out sounds that wake you up unnecessarily throughout the night. What’s critical for a good night of sleep is to create a routine where you eliminate as much variance as possible.

　　在臥室營造一個良好的睡眠環境也可能有助于睡眠。在一個溫度比你全天習慣的溫度略低幾度的房間里，可能更容易安睡。這可以防止你的天然生物鐘在半夜把你喚醒。同樣的原則也適用于噪音。使用白噪音應用或設備可以消除會在夜間將你意外吵醒的聲音。一夜好眠的關鍵是制定一套固定程序，盡可能消除各種變數。

　　Prioritize seven to nine hours of high-quality sleep ahead of all else. You will be more likely to have a good workout, get more done at your job, and treat your loved ones better when you put sleep first. Keep in mind that every hour of sleep is a positive investment —not an expense. Based on all of the research on this topic, we need to make sleep a core value at home and work.

　　把每天力爭七到九個小時的高質量睡眠擺在其他任何事之前。當你把睡眠放在第一位的時候，你更有可能開心地健身，工作效率提高，更好地對待你的親人。記住每一個小時的睡眠都是積極的投資，而不是一種支出。根據有關這一主題的各種研究顯示，我們需要在家庭和工作中把睡眠作為一個核心價值。

　　Sacrificing sleep may no longer be a sign of strength.

　　犧牲睡眠可能不再是實力的表現。

（來源：滬江英語，編輯 Helen）