• Are we a sleep-deprived nation? And other observations from Arianna Huffington.

    Posted on November 1st, 2010 by and currently 11 commenting.


    This little guy is not thinking about his iphone. Wonder what his challenges for a good night sleep will be…. photo via Flickr via kbbear’s photostream.

    I’m fascinated with Arianna Huffington. Whether you support her political beliefs or not, you have to admire this about her:

    She is clearly puts her point of view out front and center.

    That’s what draws me toward her. On some level we are all drawn toward those among us who take a stand for what they believe in — both companies or individuals.

    Don’t you think that’s true?

    Anyway, if you read the blog, you know that Dodds and I attended the Pivot Conference in NYC as “part of the press” a couple of weeks ago. I love that. It was such an up close and personal perspective on the shift in how and from whom we’re getting our information these days.

    So tonight (it’s Sunday when I am writing this), I’m going to share with you the three things that stuck in my heart and my mind about Arianna’s talk. I am not even checking my notes or facts, just shooting from sheer memory.

    Challenging myself and doing that on purpose to make a point.

    See, if you’re a speaker or writer, I think that is all you hope for. That something you might say will get stuck in your audience’s heart in a way that allows them to write about it or speak to it two weeks, two months or two years later.

    BTW, It was also so insightful to watch the live twitter stream during her talk. We’re now able to see in real time what’s hitting an emotional nerve. I love to listen in when one of us is out speaking from Brains on Fire. The stuff that gets repeated and recorded by “the press among us” really makes you think.

    So — from Arianna:

    1. We are a sleep deprived nation. Her advice to us all was to charge our electronic devices in a separate room while we sleep. I’m guilty of checking my phone in the middle of the night. For no reason other than the fact that it’s there. I’ve started leaving my phone charging in another room and it really makes for a better sleep. I have to leave it in my bathroom because it’s also my alarm. But even that small shift works. Try it. Her remark about us being sleep deprived was repeated over and over again on the conference twitter stream. It hit a nerve and I believe it stunned us all to have her say something so simple and personal and true out loud.

    2. There has been a tremendous value shift in our country    . Arianna told this story (perhaps that is why I remember it so easily) about her friend. She that years ago her friend took a job. A good job and he grew up the ladder with loyalty and dedication. But she knew it was not his passion. It was just a job. A year or so ago she ran into him and he had quit his “steady job”. And instead was following his passion, his dream. She asked him what changed. He said he used to think there were two paths in life. You either followed your dream or you got a secure “steady” job. Then, as he watched the layoffs of 2009, he realized that there simply are no secure “steady” jobs. And he said, “I might as well follow my dream.” Hmmm. That’s a beautiful lesson from the great recession in my humble opinion. The world will be a better place if we all take that point of view. AND the challenge will be for companies to put their passions front and center in an effort attract and retain talent. Both changes for the better. We all work better and smarter and with more love when we are working with our passions showing.

    3. We’re not getting our news sitting on the couch watching Walter Cronkite. We are riding a fast paced horse and galloping away with it. Retelling and spreading it like never before. I am seriously taking some liberties and not quoting her exactly of course. Like a game of “telephone” gone wrong, I might even be missing the point. But I love this metaphor. We are the press and we have to tools and the technology to shout from the rooftops as we gallop about our days. Use your words wisely.

    So that is what I learned that got stuck in my heart. Hope it helps you in some small way.

    Stay close. And Happy Monday. Geez, it’s November already. Can you freaking believe that?

  • Julie Finlay

    Sleep Cycle app on my husband’s iPod Touch is making me realize how erratic my sleep is. OK, so it requires me to have the device near me while I sleep, but its revelations are making me rethink my priorities with respect to sleep. Love, love, love this app and am so jealous of my co-worker’s app stats that show she gets several hours of deep sleep every night. Me? I’m fluctuating in and out of dream state and rarely going into deep sleep. No wonder I’m always tired. And no wonder my co-worker is always smiling!

  • http://brainsonfire.com Robbin

    I will have to check that app out for my iphone today! I have been so focused on sleep, quality sleep since I heard Arianna’s talk. Thanks for sharing.

  • tracy

    My father was a journalist. I have several old newspapers that hold his byline. The cover story on one is about Yuri Gagarin – first man in outer space and first to orbit the Earth. The paper ran a piece from AP about an intrepid reporter’s call to the U.S. government. It quoted the government spokesperson – a general whose name I can’t recall – responding to the reporter’s request for a quote by shouting ‘It’s 3 a.m. you idiot! Our answer is, we’re all asleep!’. Just because you can be on a horse and can gallop and can shout from rooftops, doesn’t mean you should. Wishing all social media pundits and reporters the humour and grace of Walter Cronkite or Canada’s own Knowlton Nash. As well as a keen sense of time, sleep patterns and good manners.

  • http://www.dontdrinkthekoolaidblog.com/ Katy

    Thanks for sharing this, Robbin. I love getting those wake-up calls from people I truly admire and am influenced by and this post sounds like that’s how you feel about Airanna Huffington. I have a friend struggling to find a job, trying her luck in a new city. She seems to be so stuck on just finding a pre-existing position that pays the bills, rather than viewing it as an opportunity to create a job she’s passionate about. I think this is a great reminder to everyone to take advantage of the country’s shift. While loyalty is nice, passion is what works.

    Thanks for the reminder.

  • Bobby

    Robbin…I so wish that Airanna Huffington was in the newsroom I worked in over 10 years ago. I think back to the days of Katrina, Columbine, and other big events that I was a part of and knew that people received information based on how fast we could tune in a satellite shot. I remember seeing that change during Katrina when we could not communicate except with text messages…that is how we kept WWL-TV on the air. Now…information flies faster than reporters can write the Tweet or Facebook update. I remember talking to Andy Still who used to be the News Director for WYFF-TV and he tells the story when he received a call from Hearst saying that he was no longer a television station, they were a digital broadcasting group. It is so fascinating to see how user generated content is competing with traditional news outlets and it is moving as fast as lighting. I love the Huffington Post and the rigorous style it delivers the information and yet continues to embrace how we are progressively receiving this information. Great Post. BTW…I am moving the iPhone charger to the office. Sleep is a good thing.

  • http://brainsonfire.com Robbin

    Wow. Great comments and conversation from all of you. Thanks for chiming and making this a better post. I love your input.

    And Julie, I got that Sleep Cycle app last night. Wow. I am determined to have more than two hours of quality sleep. I’ll keep ya posted. Maybe eating fried pizza for dinner last night was not a good idea.

    OXOXOX to you all

  • http://WillEzell.com Will

    First – LOVE your blogs, your thoughts and ideas, and inspiration – Thank You!!

    Okay – regarding your phone… GIVE ME A BREAK!! I beg of you to put in on a charger in the farthest room from your bedroom, or better yet, leave it in your car. Get an alarm clock! You’re just giving us excuses!

    How did my father deliver 15,000 babies without a cell phone?! Come on – we’re NOT THAT IMPORTANT!! I bet you’ll sleep even better when you move that cell phone farther away.

    No – I’m not a cell phone hater! I just hate what they’ve done to us.

  • Julie Finlay

    Robbin:
    So glad you got the Sleep Cycle app. I’m becoming obsessed with it. Can’t wait to post stats of my first really good night’s sleep on FB. Just don’t know when that night will actually arrive! At least I’m consciously thinking about getting more sleep, and my natural competitiveness will likely force me to improve my “performance.”

  • http://brainsonfire.com Robbin

    Julie, I am so competitive too. And a bit OCD.

    Last night a friend of mine downloaded it too. And we compared charts this morning. Love how easy they made the info to share. Anyway, I am challenging him to see who can stay in deep sleep the longest.

    NOW, after talking about it at work, I am not sure that IS the goal. What a talkable app! Lots to learn from it. Has made for some interesting conversation around Brains on Fire. Seems the patterns are what matter most. I am doing more research tonight. I’ll let you know what I dig up.

    People are passionate about sleep.

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