Beauty and The Beast of No Sleep (2)

Part Two

How to create your unique sleep routine?

Welcome back. I hope you found Part 1 interesting. As promised Part 2 covers how to create your unique good night sleep routine. If you missed the first article please take the time to read it. Part 1 sets the foundation for understanding this article.

What time do you want to wake up?

Let's say you want to wake up at 6.30 am each morning. This means you must start your nightly routine at 10 pm. A nightly routine should not take more than an hour maximum to complete. Starting at 10 pm gives you a 7.5-hour window for an optimum night of deep sleep.

I can already hear your little brains going NO WAY! "One hour are you kidding, I don’t have time for that" Well, absolutely you do, especially if you sit up till all hours watching live TV, Netflix, playing video games etc. I’m talking about replacing some of that time on something that is much more beneficial for your brains health. Remember a well-rested brain is a happy brain. Zoom brains have the power to buildup your unique immune system. The outcome you want is your body to be better equipped to protect and fight off disease invasions that may come your way.

Don’t think of your sleep routine as a boring chore. Knock that out of your thoughts. This is not stealing your time from other things you love and enjoy. Think of it as a luxury relaxation technique. Your success means a great nights sleep. Embrace your routine to reach your chill zone.

Okay, let’s move into the next step. This next part is a must-do. No halfway wish-washy or how about I just do some of it deals. If you are serious, you MUST adhere to this next step. There are no negotiations for what I am about to ask you to do.

At least half an hour before bed, switch off from interacting with all things such as TVs, Phones, Laptops, PCs, IPads, PSPs and anything similar. This half-hour is crucial. It steers the way towards your good nights' sleep. If you are willing, this means you are ready and open to changing your life.

Principle Guidelines

You cannot take your phone to your bedroom to sleep with you! If you need an alarm, buy a clock. For those of you with elderly or sick people in your life and always have the phone next to you. Advise them no texting after a certain time. Let them know to ring you in an emergency. Set your media pings to silent and phone ringer to loud. Place it out of reach and out of your line of sight. Your mobile phone can no longer live within your bedroom, under your pillow or on the bedside table at night.

As one of my mentors, Darren Hardy often quotes. "We have three brains, the Sage, Robot and Monkey" Specifically for this to work, we must be careful as if you have two sleeping babies in the house. Danger will activate auto-pilot for Baby Robot with a fear or flight response. Anything shiny, new or interesting activates Baby Monkey with feelings of pleasure and a fear of missing out. (FOMO). Just like babies, once awake they will be all-consuming and take your focus away from relaxing.

Your mission should you choose to accept is: Protect your Wise Sage brain. Keep it in control. Hold your mind focused on the path of logic and continue winding down into a relaxed state. Do not veer off or take a detour. You do not want to disturb your sleeping Monkey & Robot brain.

Your routine can be whatever you want it to be so long as it's not media type gossip, entertainment, newspapers filled with commotion or anything else that will trigger the monkey and the robot brain babies. You may believe it’s impossible to change your values, ideas, patterns and beliefs. Yes, this is true for many, they are satisfied, stuck and have no craving for change. Maybe you have always been a poor sleeper. You believe there is no fix unless you take sleeping pills. I can tell you from experience. If you are open to learning, you can change your paradigms. It takes work and dedication and is well worth it.

Let me tell you a story about the little girl that never slept.

When I was around four years old. We were having a picnic at a park in country NSW. I remember playing and later sitting with parents and aunties. The topic of sleep was mentioned both Mum & Dads eyes rolled and the began to rattle off. ‘Oh, Karen is such a shocking sleeper’ Any noise wakes her up. She is an absolute nightmare. She can hear a pin drop. Someone breathing is enough to wake her up.

There were a number of popular stories about me and no sleep. Funny, as I do recall sensing Mum and Dad often tiptoeing up the hallway to go to bed. I would hear the click of the hall light being switched off and bang I was wide awake. When staying at peoples houses, they would wake up to the batteries taken out of clocks. Any wind-up clocks were fair game. I’d stuff in draws.

There was this one time I was looking after Mum and slept in her bed. Their darn clock, tick, tick, tick. I forgot to tell them I’d stuffed it into their sock drawer. It wasn’t till months later they located it and then realised I was the culprit. This was a once-only event.

Yet this story, like so many of my no sleep adventures are retold even to this day by my 90-year-old father. My kids have grown up with these stories and also have the belief I can't sleep soundly.

I remember when my kids were little. Often at night, they would appear at the bedroom door. Boom my eyes would pop open. Maybe that's a phenomenon for all mothers, to be more aware of their child's presence. Looking back, one thing that is funny. My teenagers and ex-husband could never sneak home in the middle of the night. The turn of the key in the lock, click bang I was awake.

What about earplugs or sleeping pills

Earplugs helped to a degree to block my ex-husband's atrocious snoring. I'd stuff them so far into my ears I thought I'd never get them out. The boom-boom of my heartbeat often kept me awake. Exhaustion would take over and I would drop off. I do not recommend sleeping pills. They are a bandaid, not a cure.

I now have a better understanding of what was happening. We have five stages of sleep which cyclically follow each other: wake, relaxed wakefulness, light sleep, deep sleep and REM sleep, (rapid eye movement sleep). Bingo no surprise there. I was not achieving a deep state of sleep. Seems I was often in the light phase. Maybe this was why I awoke so easily.

The thing is I have always operated on around a maximum of four hours sleep sometimes less. While I did wish I could sleep for longer, I rarely felt weary, grumpy. Cognitively I was alert and solving problems. My strategic thinking didn't appear lacking.

Suffering from joint pain definitely hindered my sleep. I knew my snoozing was unsatisfactory what could I do? I thought it was set in concrete and my burden to bear in life. Today I think differently.

What changed?

I learned everyone has the power to transform themselves. If you are willing to do the work you can alter your reasoning, perspective or set of ideas. All you need is an open mind, dedication, discipline, consistency and believe you can.

As an international speaker, I have met a number of medical experts and other speakers. During our discussions, I was enlightened about the several health dangers associated with less than 7 hours of sleep. I began digging deeper, reading more and doing my own research. That was it. I understood I needed more sleep. This would improve my overall health and help me to live longer!

How did I achieve this?

I began with the sleep equation listed in Part 1 and moved onto the Principle Guidelines. No toxic trash or media junk was allowed Committing to not taking my phone and laptop to bed. I admit this was probably the hardest part. Next, no watching movies in the bedroom. Then I created a 12 step routine.

It sounds like a lot yet it's not. My list includes things such as: Putting on my PJs, taking off my makeup, reading. Two very important factors. Make sure your room is dark and your are physically tired. If you are not physically exhausted then do some exercise before bed. Listing them all down helped me action them each night.

I yearned for more sleep. I followed my routine consistently with discipline and focused on the prize. New studies have upgraded the time to change a habit from 21 days to 66-90 days. It's way past 90 days. I regularly sleep for 7 hours. This has changed my life and my philosophy on sleep.

What happens when travelling or unforeseen circumstances?

There are times when all the steps are not possible. I have 4 main elements that make up my sleep routine. I can always follow these no matter where I am or who I am with. Some are not necessary every night. I gauge how I am feeling and go with the flow. The 4 key elements are a habit.

When you do this without fail for 90 days, your exhausted brain will reward you with your premium good feel hormones. I like to call them your happy drugs. Even a smile will release your Serotonin & Dopamine. These two are my favourite giving us feelings of warmth and pleasure.

Why Now?

There has never been a better time to work on this. Many of you are in lockdown due to coronavirus. You are anxious, concerned, sleeping less. Free your mind and spend time training, studying and adopting your new and improved sleep policy. Better sleep helps your thought patterns to move more easily into a positive frequency. When this happens everyone in your proximity will reap the benefits and emotional rewards. You may then realise how significant and extraordinary the three main choices in your life can be.

1. What you choose to do.

2. What you choose not to do,

3. How you react to what happens to you.

I hope you now have a new understanding of the value of sleep. It keeps us stronger and more energetic. I am so grateful to the wise owls that took the time to enlighten me. Now you know the perils to your mind body and spirit of disordered sleep.

What to do?

That's easy. Make a decision. You want to change. That you want more sleep. Once you have made that personal decision, say out loud. I will create my sleep routine today and commit to it for 90 days. Tell someone about it. When you tell someone it helps to enforce your accountability.

Remember the easy 3 step equation. Work out the time you want to get up. Work back 8 hours for the answer to your wind-down time. Create your sleep routine ensuring it is within the Principle guidelines. That's it.

You will never know if you don't give it a go. Remember a well-rested brain is a happy brain. Zoom brains have the power to buildup your unique immune system. The outcome you desire is - A healthier mind body and spirit. All ready to protect and fight off disease invasions that come your way.

If you have any questions or need help in creating your unique sleep routine I'm here to help.

If you would like a PDF of my 12 step routine, note this in the comments and I will PM it. You can use it as a guide to working out your unique sleep routine.

Make today the day you decide to ensure you get enough sleep by starting your night-time routine.