Quality Sleep is very Important. Agreed.
An Adult needs to sleep 7-8 hours everyday. Agreed.
But how many of us get both good Quality and Quantity of Sleep ? . In this busy age, it’s almost impossible to get 7-8 hours of sleep without getting stressed about all the things to do.
I’ll tell you what worked for me in having a good sleep for the past 3 months.
Step 1 : Fixed Sleep Schedule.
I have a fixed Sleep Schedule wherein I sleep at 12pm and wake up at 5am. Solid 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Step 2 : Staying away from all electronic devices
A good 45 minutes before my sleep I put away my laptop and phone. I then read a chapter from a book and complete my daily entry in my journal.
Why to stay away from electronic devices? I’m putting it in a simple way. Melatonin is a hormone which needs to be produced by the body for us to feel sleepy. An essential natural process. But looking at our laptops and phones hinders its production. Thus we don’t feel sleepy even when scrolling through the Facebook newsfeed at 2am.
Step 3 : Listening to Sleep
This is the most useful hack I use. Just before going to sleep I either play a song or play a podcast.
How does this help? My mind is focussed and I don’t drift into thoughts. And I usually immediately fall asleep. Podcasts are more effective here. Just queue 3-4 songs or better, play a 15min podcast tonight and watch the difference.
Step 4 : Power Naps
As I mentioned, I get only 5 hours of sleep in the night. To compensate for the remaining 2-3 hours, I take naps of 10-20 mins during the day whenever possible mostly during commute or after lunch. Helps me in remaining active throughout the day.
Step 5 : Diet and Excercise
Regular excercise in the morning keeps you fresh and energetic throughout the day and your body would automatically shut down at night.
A Healthy diet results in a healthy mind and a healthy body, ultimately resulting in healthy sleep.
These were the steps which worked for me. Tell me how they are working for you or better, tell me which steps do you follow?
Since I mentioned Podcasts, I would highly recommend to check out the PodcastAddict App on the Google Play Store. In that, The TimFerrissShow was the single most influencing podcast.