The Sleeping Routine That Makes You More Productive

Did you know that if you sleep less than seven hours consistently, the chance of you getting cancer increases by over 50%? Or, that if you sleep only seven hours for 10 days consistently that your brain works as bad as if you wouldn't sleep for 24 hours straight? These were some negative facts, and I hope for your future that I have your attention.

The truth is, you need to get a good night of sleep for your health and also for success because all those people who state that “every millionaire sleeps five hours only and if you sleep more than 5 hours you will not become successful”, are liars. All these lies are absolutely not true. The truth is you need a good night of sleep to stay healthy physically but also mentally. If we don't sleep enough, we get depressed. We get anxious, our stress levels increase and a lot more bad things happen.

Also, with a good night of sleep, we have more energy in our discipline tank. That means that being disciplined and working on our goals every single day is possible. In combination with good nutrition, sport, and a strong morning routine, this will turn us into success machines. But most importantly, we stay healthy. Most people know that drunk driving kills, but most people don't know that bad sleep kills way more people.

So, let me give you these facts again. If you have a bad night of sleep, if you sleep too little, or if you have bad sleep for a longer period of time, then the chance of you getting cancer or some other terrible mental disease increases by over 50%. The chances of sports injuries increase by 30%, and stress levels skyrocket without good sleep. Burnout also becomes a real issue. Your discipline tank is almost empty. That means being disciplined and getting stuff done is almost impossible. You start to procrastinate and become lazy. You gain weight and so many more negatives. If you don't sleep and therefore have less discipline, reaching success is impossible because even if you reach success financially, then you will get serious health problems, which then become your new problem.

So, how can we make sure we avoid all those negatives and use sleep to our advantage?

And what factors play a crucial role in our perfect sleep routine?

1. Go to sleep before midnight. The reason this is important is humans run on the circadian rhythm. The sleep-wake cycle is one of the clearest and most critical examples of the importance of circadian rhythms. During the day, light exposure causes the master clock to send signals that generate alertness and help keep us awake and active. As night falls, the master clock initiates the production of melatonin, a hormone that promotes sleep, and then keeps transmitting signals that help us stay asleep through the night.
2. Get a sleeping mask & earplugs. The environment of your bedroom has a significant impact on the quality of your sleep as well. Because your body will be more relaxed in a pleasant environment, you will naturally have an easier time falling asleep and staying asleep. Light affects your internal body clock and stops the production of melatonin which as we said, promotes sleep. This is why you need to purchase a sleeping mask to block out any light exposure so you can have restful sleep. Your ability to sleep is also impacted by the amount of noise in the room you sleep in. Distracting noises, such as notifications on your smartphone might wake you up, particularly while you are in the earliest phases of non-REM sleep. For this reason, it is a good idea to invest in earplugs that you can use to eliminate any background noise.?
3. Lower the temperature. Because temperature has an effect on your circadian rhythm, it is also an important aspect that impacts your sleep cycle. The temperature in your room should be kept at a comfortable level. The body is able to more easily enter the deeper stages of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep when the temperature is cooler, which is why cooler temperatures often help people sleep better.
4. Set a bedtime. Routines make the world go around. It’s imperative to stick to a sleeping schedule to ensure optimal sleep and restfulness. Go to sleep at the exact same time every night, and wake up at the exact same time every morning. As we mentioned earlier, make sure you give yourself at least 9 hours of sleep between bedtime and wake-up time.
5. Don't hit the snooze button. Hitting snooze for extra sleep won't do you any good as it disrupts your circadian rhythm by unnecessarily extending your sleep, so get up at the first alarm and let your body get used to waking up this way. The first 5 days are the hardest as your body is used to a different routine. Once you're consistent, it will be much easier to get up immediately and make the most of your day.
6. Track your sleep cycles. If you constantly experience problems maintaining a healthy sleep cycle, tracking your sleep cycles using wearable sleep trackers can help you better manage this. Sleep trackers can gather your sleep data based on your heart rate and other variables and help you analyze your sleep patterns. Sleep is a lot more complicated than we think. By understanding the way our sleep cycles work and how they are affected by our circadian rhythm, we can better overcome the complexity of our sleep-related issues. This way, we can help ourselves attain the quality of sleep we rightfully deserve!