Sleep More, Work Less

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, left, came to Princeton April 22 to talk about the benefits of digital detox, nap rooms, and getting enough sleep, telling students and other community members, “We now take better care of our smartphones than we take care of ourselves.”

In a conversation with ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER ’80, president and CEO of the New America Foundation and a Princeton professor emerita, Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post website, spoke at Richardson Auditorium about her new book, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder. Huffington criticized companies “that expect employees to be permanently on” and “people still being congratulated for working 24–7.” We need, she said, “to recognize that we are more than our jobs.” She encouraged people to put down their smartphones, take up meditation, and “realize we need quiet time to create.”

Slaughter decried “what I call time macho.” She recalled reading that former President Bill Clinton slept just two to three hours a night in college, “and I remember thinking, ‘If that’s what it takes, I’m never going to make it.’” Slaughter suggested Americans end the custom of asking people they meet, “What do you do?” Instead, she said, ask, “What book have you read recently?”

Video: Watch the full discussion on Princeton’s Media Central