When I say "Sleep your way to success" I don't mean in a "Hollywood casting couch" way but if that works for some people who am I to judge! What I am talking about is making sure your body has enough rest during the course of the week to ensure that you remain fully alert and at peak productivity! A month ago I decided to do a little research and find out about sleep and how it affects your performance and to find out how much sleep you really need! I was amazed with the benefits of getting the correct amount of sleep and horrified at the side effects of not getting enough sleep. Armed with this information I decided to make a concerted effort to make sure I got enough sleep each night, for the past 2 weeks I have managed to get the optimum amount of sleep needed to keep the body in top productivity.
The results are fantastic, so good in-fact, I wish I had made sure I was getting the correct amount of sleep much sooner. Prior to taking on my new sleep schedule I had been going to bed no earlier than 12.30, getting up around 7.00am on most days averaging on around 6 to 7 hours sleep per night. During the day I was tired but I had put that down to the type of work I was doing and all the traveling, little was I aware of, was that even just 1 extra hour sleep would have made my whole day much more productive and more enjoyable! After about of 7 days of my new sleep schedule I began to feel much more alert, I noticed it at the point in the day when I remembered I used to feel tired and it was a drag getting things done. This time it was different, everything seemed much easier and most of all enjoyable, I had become more productive! I truly believe after only 2 weeks of maintaining a good sleep pattern that this is one of the keys to being successful and another powerfull aspect of personal self development!
What getting the correct ammount of sleep can do for you
- Increase your productivity.
- Make you more alert during the day.
- Help you manitian a healthy body.
- Will help maintain you imune system.
- Will increase you ability to learn.
- Will help you brain review the days information.
- Will make you more socilable (a by-product of the above)
How much sleep do we really need?
There are may "old wives tails" suggesting how much a typical person needs each night such as 6 hours for a man and 7 hours for a woman. But through research the National Sleep Foundation says that no matter if you are a man or a woman your body needs 8 hours sleep (7.5 to 8.5 is optimal) for good health, safety and performance. Research suggests that people who go without deep sleep with rapid eye movement have problems learning new skills. Learning new skills are the lifeblood of self development and progressing your life, getting the correct amount of sleep will help you learn more efficiently and in-turn make you more productive!
Stress, the vicious circle!
It is a common fact that people find it harder to sleep whilst stressed but also a lesser known fact is that we become more stressed when our bodies don't get enough sleep! This is a vicious circle as how do you get to sleep whilst stressed and if you cant get enough sleep you will become more stressed. Dr William Dement, a sleep researcher from Stanford University says their is compelling evidence to say that how long and how well you sleep directly relates to how long you live! Heart problems are the main ones which are known about as a person who is restricted in their sleep will have higher Cortisol concentrations - again, the body chemical to do with stress.
Not just any old sleep will do
An ordinary nights sleep is split into several stages made up of several stages of NREM sleep (non Rapid Eye Movement) and several single stages of REM sleep which is generally repeated in 90 to 110 minute bursts. It is generally accepted that this deep REM sleep is what enables to body to recharge and ready the mind and body for the following day. REM sleep is usually accomplished about 90minutes after falling asleep not including the approximate 10 to 15 minutes it should take to fall asleep for a healthy adult. Genrally it is accepted that if you fall asleep in anything less than 5 minutes you are sleep depraved, how you time this im not sure? Not only will the correct amount of REM sleep help keep you healthy and alert it is also a time which you body processes the information it has learned during the day. Getting enough sleep will help you "lock in" and evaluate that important information in readiness for more learning!
Top tips for sleeping to improve work and productivity
- Ensure you get between 7.5 and 8.5 hours sleep each night, even missing 30 minutes per night can add up to allot during the course of a week. Try to keep this up at weekends too, get up early even if you don't need to go to work!
- Maintain a good sleep schedule by going to bed and getting up around the same time each day, dont be tempted to oversleep as this will ruin your schedule making you restless for th following nights sleep.
- Use your bedroom for sleep, and any other bedroom activities only
, this helps associate your bedroom with going to sleep making it easier to get to sleep when the time comes.
- Kick the caffeine habit and avoid sugary drinks near bedtime as you will probably know that caffeine is a stimulant and will make it harder to get to sleep.
- If you struggle to get to sleep try repeating a "mantra" in you head see my post "You CAN make money from blogging" to see how you can combine this confident building technique with the process of getting to sleep.
- Try and do something restful before going to bed, avoid watching a horror or action movie as this will leave your brain reeling from the film.
Summary
Just by sticking to these simple points and ensuring that you get the correct amount of undisturbed sleep each night will have major beneficial effects. Through research (most of which we have learned in the past 25 years) scientists have presented us time and time again that sleep is one of the most important parts of a humans routine (we spend around 33% of our lives asleep). Whats more is these benefits will have a cumulative effect, meaning you will become more productive and alert enabling you to be able to get more done to a higher standard in less time than you would if you were lacking say 30 minute's sleep each night. And we know that being more alert, more productive and with a higher capacity to learn you have a massively increased chance of being successful in whatever you strive to be best at.
I challenge you to give this a go, even if it is only 14 days try it and see what a difference it can make. 14 days isn't long, after that if you decide haven't felt any benefits you can revert to you old sleeping pattern. What have you to loose, you may just surprise yourself!
If you enjoyed this post please feel free to buy me a gingerbread late! mmmm!
Yes, the title of this post is no joke, laughing really can improve may aspects of your life, from your well being, health and even your productivity all of which can have a determining factor of your success! Firstly lets look at the health benefits of laughter, did you know when we have a real good laugh we use almost 90% of the muscles in our body. This helps stimulate blood flow getting oxygen to all of our organs. Not only that but for every 60 seconds of laughter we engage in on average this burns off around 10 calories. I deal for anyone wanting to loose weight! Laughing helps exercise your diaphragm which can help toward strengthening this area which is beneficial for anyone with asthma! And yet another benefit through laughing is that it can help lower the blood pressure over the long term which is very helpful for anyone with high blood pressure or diabetes. Just to break this down for anyone who is now saying "doesn't laughing increase your blood pressure?". Well yes this is true but it is the effects after laughing when your muscles relax and your blood flow returns to normal, over the long term this has been scientifically proven to reduce blood pressure.