It was Voltaire who once said he had so much to do that he had to
go to sleep.  “Providence has given us . . . sleep as a compensation for
the many cares of life.”  Voltaire probably saw sleep as an escape, but
sleep provides us businesspeople and professionals with a lot more than
escape.  It can provide us with enhanced ability to problem solve and
innovate. 

Matthew Walker and his colleagues at Berkeley have been
researching the relationship of sleep to personal smarts for nearly ten
years.  The findings are immensely practical, especially when it comes
to problem solving, the development of expertise and creativity.

A number of earlier studies have shown that memory continues to
improve during offline time periods, especially while sleeping.  In
research dating from 2007, Walker and his colleagues studied a specific
kind of memory.  So-called relational memory refers to
the ability to connect and draw inferences across stores of information
in the brain.  The researchers wanted to know whether relational memory,
the kind of memory that allows us to make innovative decisions in novel
situations, requires time and sleep.

To answer their questions, Walker asked 56 participants to take part
in differing learning situations.  The subjects studied six pairs of
novel visual patterns that had been randomly assigned to a particular
order.  They tested differing groups after offline time delays of 20
minutes, 12 hours or 24 hours. They explored how offline processing,
including time awake and time asleep, impacted the development of
relational memory.

Following a number of qualitatively different tests, the research
conclusions revealed, first, that relational memory develops during
offline delays.  In other words, learning works best when you
have time-outs. 

The second research conclusion, however, provides still better
practical application.  Participants who were tested after a delay of 20
minutes showed no significant difference in relational memory.  Yet
those tested following offline periods of 12 and 24 hours demonstrated a
highly significant, increased ability to make relational judgments. 
But participants tested following 24 hours offline, the only sleep
group, showed a “disproportionate enhancement of inference ability.”

Many managers assume that people come up with their best ideas when
time is tight, when they’re under the gun.  In contrast, the research
shows that sleep is necessary for novel learning and creativity.  My
rule is that no matter how simple the idea, if it’s a bit different or
might challenge credulity or common wisdom, sleep on it.  And if it’s at
all complex, requiring great stores of information, I’d get several
nights of sleep before making the idea public. 

The research is here:  Matthew
Walker and Colleagues