On sleep, recovery, reading and having a healthier and happier life!

Some weeks ago, I wrote that I started reading two books at the same time. I just did not told why. This is the story about many small changes,I have been making in my day to day in order to live a healthier life, physically and mentally, that are working for me and that I would like to share with you.

Sleep in good amount and feeling tired...

Sleep has been an issue I have been trying to know and understand better for some years. Over the years, I have been trying to improve the amount of sleep I have to around 7 to 8 hours per day, but many days I felt tired when waking up... I have done it all: beed time rituals, not using my phone in bed, reading. But even so, I still felt tired at the first kick of the morning.

After attending a conference of Professor José Soares, a Physiology and Performance expert from the Porto University, I read his book, "Reload", and got him on the phone. In less than a week we had met almost 3 times.

"Reload" is exactly about my problem. A busy life, non stopping schedules, doing some sport, sleeping, but still, felling tired. After some talks we decided to work on an individual program to see how I work, how I sleep, how I eat and how I rest during the day.

Recovery is not only about sleeping: is about how you manage your day!

During 3 months I was monitored, analysed, done all the test I could have done. One of the things I did was analysing my Hear Rate frequency and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) or periods of 4 days, several times.

In a simple way, the lower your Heart Rate and the higher your HRV, the more you rest.

But what does your HRV really measure? During the day and during the night, it is a strong proxy to the activity of your Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous systems. And what the hell is that?

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) prepares the body for intense physical activity and is often referred to as the "fight-or-flight" response. The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) has almost the exact opposite effect and relaxes the body and inhibits or slows many high energy functions. The effects of the parasympathetic nervous system can be summarized by the phrase 'rest and digest'. 

What did we see?

My SNS, "fight or flight", was "on" during the day and during the night. My PNS did not kick in during my sleep. Basically I was sleeping, but my body was not resting. This did not allow me to have enough deep sleep, I had more sleep cycles that normal.

Ok. This is great. So how did I try to change this?

Recovery starts in the moment you wake up!

The big issue, is that recovery, is not something you get home, after having a day at 200km/h, go to 10km/h, go to bed, and that's it!

The way we manage our day is critical to how we will recover from it. This doesn't mean we need to work less. What we need is to work better. Here are some tips on how I did it:

1. Let your phone rest when you wake up. Take the first minutes of the day to see how you feel. Stretch yourself. See the morning papers 1st pages. Take good care of yourself, with a good breakfast. And after reloading your body with fuel (food), go for the phone and make a difference.
2. Make shorter meetings and reset several times during the day. It is a fact today that going non-stop from meeting to meeting tirelessly during the day is highly inefficient. Make meetings shorter and to the point. Take 10/15 min breaks during the morning and afternoon for yourself. Read an article you wanted to read, ear some music, see a magazine. But above all, reset. If the day is not going your way, take a break! This way you put your PS system restoring yourself a little during the day. It's not about working less, it's about working better with more energy, drive and focus.
3. Do Sports, but avoid doing it late. Doing sports in today's world is crucial to keep yourself physically fit, and mentally sane! But try not to do it late in the day. You will be producing several hormones in your body to keep you awake, making it more difficult to go to sleep
4. Read at night, but don't read about work! This was a highly relevant tip for me. I love to read! Management books, Biographies, romances, you name it. I usually did it at night. But when reading management books, I always end up taking a lot of notes, sending mails to myself with relevant ideas, etc... In the end of the day, I am making myself work! What did I do? I started reading two books at the same time: one about business related or personal development issues and another one about things I love but are not work related. The work related one I read during the day, at any break I have for myself, and the other I read at night, helping my fly away to places and times I love to read about.
5. Kill your phone when you get home. As soon as I get home, the phone is out of reach. I use the favourites and the "quiet mode" in my phone (all urgent family or business contacts can "disrupt" if needed), I have dinner quietly with my family - whenever possible - and I make a quick check on phone calls and mails around 9h30. If there is any call that needs to be placed, I make it. If there are no emergencies, I take things again up in the morning. Our phone has become an object of stress and of useless interactions, that take us away from our family, and from full concentration in our work.
6. The next day is always an opportunity for a fresh start. I believe that after a bad day, the sun always rises on the next one, and you can simply start over (The photo in the start is the Sunset in my home city of Porto). So if today was a bad day, simply wait for tomorrow and a new day full of opportunities is about to begin!

So what results did I have?

After a couple of months, I sleep 7 to 8 hours per day, but my recovery levels are almost always on the green (except for days with late dinners or some drinks - that is an red recovery for sure!) I use Whoop to help me measure my Recovery. When I follow my routines, my resting heart rate is low and my HRV is high. Many days, you simply cannot make it. Problems to be solved, closings that need to be done in that week, or family related issues.

But when I see myself on the Red side of Recovery with Whoop, I take it seriously and go back to my routine. And I sleep better, awake better, and I have days with much more energy.

Conclusion

The reason I shared these thoughts, was the realisation that small changes in your daily life, can have a huge impact in your performance, in your health, and in your happiness. I don't believe in huge changes or in human transfiguration. But I believe that with all our challenges and limitations, we can thrive to be, everyday, the best possible version of ourselves.

I love my family, I love going to work, and I love living life to max of its healthy potential. But in order to be able to enjoy all of this, in the current challenging world we live in, we need balance.

Balance in our work, in our family life, in doing the things we love, but also balance in taking care of yourself.

Like in an airplane - were you are advised to put your mask first before helping others - I believe that in life, the more you take care of yourself, the more you try to know yourself - your drivers and your blockers - the more balance you will give to your daily life and the more you will be able to help those you love!