Sleep is the number one stress reliever that you could ever try out. Whether it is work related stress, personal or family issues, you need to sleep them away.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg who also happens to be author of award winning book ‘Lean In’ captures this so well saying that we at times need to sleep in to lean in. She also says that sleep is not only important for our health, but is also a necessary ingredient that we need to embrace when we want to achieve our goals.
It is however so unfortunate that most people ignore this important magic of life and go on to deny their brains critical rest and rejuvenation. And what is the result of sleep deprivation; low productivity at work, tempers and bad blood at homes and in the workplace. Karen Brody refers to people who do not get sufficient sleep ‘cooked, fried and done’. Dr Frank Lipman has an even better word for them; spent.
Arianna Huffington captures the importance of quality sleep when she writes her book on The Sleeping Revolution where she looks at how less productive our society can end up being when we forego sleep.
Every person no matter how successful or insightful they are need sleep. And that is why most of the successful entrepreneurs take power naps in the afternoons in addition to their regular night sleep.
It leaves you wondering—what is it that the rich know about sleep that we the common folks do not know?
Rather than answer that I will look at what you would need to ensure that you get quality sleep in the night?
1. Low light
Your sleeping room is no disco or operating room that would need to have high intensity light. No. Your bedroom lights should emit the least of lights compared to all the other rooms in your house. If possible, you could switch off all the lights and sleep in the dark.
2. Keep technology out of the bedroom
You should keep off from all tech gadgets be it TVs, smartphones or tablets some 30 minutes before you sleep. If you are an avid reader, kindly do desist from reading ebooks or blogs when you are in bed. If you have to read, go the physical hard copy way.
3. Ask people not to disturb your nap time
Your nap time also ought not be interfered into. Ask people not to walk into your napping room and also keep phones away.
4. Have a good bed plus nice beddings
A good sleep routine requires the right accessories to allow you quality rest time. Your bed needs to be sturdy and big enough so that you are not crouched and feeling uncomfortable sleeping on it.
The mattress also needs to be of high quality so that you feel great on it. We have seen that accessories such as weighted blankets allow people with Parkinson’s disease or autism spectrum disorder good rest without so much anxiety.People who have gone ahead and bought the best weighted blankets have always had great reviews of the product.
5. Have the air free from dust, odors in the bedroom
If you or your partner are a smoker, kindly do it away from your bed room. Cigarette odors would distract your sleep and secondary smoke have been found to be worse off than the smoke inhaled by the real smoker.
6. Wear lightly and comfortably
You need to wear light tee-shirts and loose fitting trousers that allow your body to feel comfortable and nice.