Sleep is your Superpower—Matt Walker

“Sleep is a criminal waste of time, a heritage from our cave days” quoted by the famous scientist Sir Thomas Alva Edison is a sentiment that is still very much alive, these words which corresponds the idea that sleep is for the lazy and success belongs to the sleepless is the silent rule behind our hustle culture, the very reason we flex our sleepless night and exhaustion as part of the grind. But what if that mark of pride was a receipt of self-sabotage?

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Enter neuroscientist Matt Walker. In his eye-opening TED talk on “Sleep is your superpower”, he makes us rethink what we think sleep is; instead of just a pause button, it is actually our save your progress button. For instance, trying to cram for an exam all night?  Walker’s research shows that without a whole night of sleep, our brain's save button is basically broken. You might even be better off not studying at all!

But it goes beyond just memorising what we learned, the foggy or mentally exhausted feeling after an inadequate amount of sleep at night? That’s because the brain's personal cleaning crew could not complete their task of sweeping away toxins related to different conditions.

His talk is not just another lecture but a reminder for everyone who isn’t taking sleep seriously. The talk reveals that the key to being sharper and healthier and scoring better marks is not just another energy drink at night, but an additional hour of sleep for our brain to reset and function properly the next day. Hence, by taking sleep seriously, we can all start to utilise the superpower we have within our grasp.

We are living under the collective delusion that burnout is the necessary price for success. — Arianna Huffington

Credits

Ben Joe Kuriakose

2025-27