My Top 5 Sleep hacks for maximum energy and productivity

"For those of you who say you need to sleep 8 hours... I say that you should sleep a little faster."

(my pal - Arnie)

With such bold advice coming from such a well known icon from the "health" industry, it it any wonder why there's some confusion out there over how long you should sleep for or even why sleep is important?

As directors, VPs and CEO's performing at the top of their game (in the business world), I try to encourage my clients to treat their body's and minds similar to that of an athlete, which for some of them when we start, is a facry from where they're at currently.

The main change necessary is a slight reframe in terms of WHO the most important person is in your life

It needs to be YOU

You can't serve anyone else, unless you first serve yourself (was careful not to put service in there...)

In fact, one of my clients just came back from the states, having watched Grant Cardone at one of his 10X events. As an 8-figure biz owner, he felt like one of the small fish, with billionaire after billionaire taking the stage.

The one thing that they all had in common?

The rhetoric that to be successful, you need to look after YOU, before you look after anyone else.

So why the focus on sleep?

First, let me give you just a tiny little bit of science, (just a bit I promise).

Lack of sleep = Stress on the body = weight gain, premature aging, hair loss, hormone imbalances, infertility, and lowered immune function.

Doesn't read great right?

Most people go in a simple sleep cycle of:

1. Drowsiness?

2. Light Sleep?

3. Deep Sleep?

4. Deepest Sleep?

5. Deep Sleep?

6. Light Sleep?

7. REM?

You can go through this cycle up to 5 times when sleeping.

So enough about how we sleep, what's some solid takeaways to improve it and why would you want to anyways?

5 ways to optimise your sleep for maximum productivity

1. Sleep timing

The American Journal of sleep suggests that the optimum sleep for an average adult is between 8.5 - 9.5 hours of sleep per 24 hour cycle.

Any more than that and you're going to make yourself sluggish.

Less (which is where most of us are at right?)

It's probably not optimum BUT quality does count for something, which is where we're going to focus most of these hacks.

So, first let's look at what happens during sleep

10pm - 2am - Physical repairs take place in the body

2am - 4am - Immune system defence upgrades happen

4am - 6am - Psychogenic (mental) repair happens

If you're sleeping outside of this general cycle, you're going to be robbing Peter to pay Paul.

So what's the key takeaways from all of this?

• Where possible, the best sleep timing is 10pm - 6am.
• Where you can't do this, power naps are a great way to add some well needed rest to your schedule.
• Try to eat your last meal 2 hours before your head hits the pillow, so that digestion doesn't stop your body from it's essential physical repairs.

2. Exposure to bright (blue) lights?

There's different colours of light... and without getting too technical - blue light is the one that you want to avoid too much exposure to in the evening.

Only problem is... it get's dark in the evening and most of us like to watch TV, have lights on, are on our phones.

The blue light from these devices is 4 times more powerful than the blue light from the sun in the morning.

The blue light emitted from the sun is what triggers a cortisol (stress hormone) dump in your body and that's what wakes you up.

So by having lights on and looking at devices, you're effectively telling your body it's the middle of the day, which stops the production of the night time hormones we want for optimum sleep and recovery (melatonin and serotonin).

Key takeaway?

Most of us like to watch TV and may need to be on laptops phones, so it's about limitation rather than abstinence.

• Turn the lights down (dimmer switch or off).
• Put night mode on devices (not as good as using bullet 4, but still better than not).
• Try and limit exposure.
• And if you want to go full Bio-hacker - you can invest in a pair of blue light blocking glasses or "gimp glasses" as they're affectionally referred to by my wife (WARNING: sex appeal may decrease when worn).

Here's a great brand to use that blocks the right amount of blue light:

https://www.blublox.com/

3. Ensure water consumption before bed?

The body has very limited supplies of reserve water, meaning that if you go to bed not adequately hydrated, then you are likely to produce stress hormones (cortisol), which will stimulate the sympathetic nervous system (turn you "on", but not in a good way) and disrupt your sleep.

I personally drink a small glass of water before bed and take a pint with me to sleep.

4. Using sunlight to reset your circadian rhythm.

Your circadian rhythm is your body's internal clock.

It runs everything!

A "master clock" in the brain coordinates all the body clocks so that they are in synch. This master cock controls circadian rhythms consists of a group of nerve cells in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN

Circadian rhythms are important in determining human sleep patterns. The body's master clock, or SCN, controls the production of melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy. Since it is located just above the optic nerves, which relay information from the eyes to the brain, the SCN receives information about incoming light. When there is less light - like at night - the SCN tells the brain to make more melatonin so you get drowsy.?When there is more light - it wakes you up by increasing levels of cortisol.

Disruption to rhythms usually has a negative effect in the short term.

Many travellers have experienced the condition known as jet lag, with its associated symptoms of fatigue, disorientation and insomnia. Jet lag occurs when travellers suffer from disrupted circadian rhythms. When you pass through different time zones, your body's clock will be different from your wristwatch.?

Constantly having a body clock that is out of alignment with the actual clock can lead to a host of problems in later life. A lot of emerging evidence is linking it as a contributing factor to Diabetes (as metabolic processes are put out of synch), cancer (as cell repair doesn't happen as it should) and even Dementia.

Scary as it is, we must only focus on what we CAN control, not what we CAN'T.

So what's the solution?

Staring at the sun, even just for 2 mins in the morning, will help reset your circadian rhythm and body's clocks.

What if it's overcast?

Yup - still works!

5. Ask yourself who are you taking to bed?!

When we go to sleep, there is a handover from the conscious mind (which is the part of our mind that is aware) to our subconscious mind.

There's a "handover" where your subconscious mind takes the information of the day from the conscious mind and it/s predominant thoughts and starts to store these for use later (based on what it perceives is important for SURVIVAL - this is important).

The more "negative" thoughts you go with and the more thoughts of "I must do this or that" (which is generally based from a state of fear), the more disrupted your sleep is likely to be.

So what actually works?

I get my clients to start setting up an evening routine, which is the base of their high-performance pyramid.

This is super simple to setup and takes 5-10 mins.

It consists of a quick reflection on the best parts of the day, focussing on what you are grateful for and celebrating the wins and a few affirmations.

All of this is designed to prime the subconscious with what we want to happen and to link positive thought with survival (which is what we are all hardwired for).

And for anyone struggling with a constant "to do" list - defining what this is, so that you don't have to "worry" about it in your sleep is an additional step that I'd add.

So there you have it folks!

There's my Top 5 Sleep hacks for maximum energy and productivity that my Director, VP and CEO clients use to optimise their health and wellbeing so that they can get more done, in less time and focus on the important things in life.

If you've got something that works for you, please do share it in the comments below - I'm a life-long student so always eager to hear what's working for other people.