The first 2 months of 2019 have been incredibly exciting for me. I’m in my zone, advancing several new business endeavors, all with significant long term prospects, all at the same time. I do better when I have a variety of diverse challenges on my plate. Though this can also accelerate my racing mind and can create some restless nights. The last two nights have been very restless and so I’m going back to some principals I know work well for me to increase the chances of restful sleep. Here are those principals.
- End emails and work activity at least 2 hours prior to going to bed. For me, I must create some space between work activities and sleep. 2 hours minimum is ideal. If it’s less than that, chances are the emails will follow me to bed and become fodder for my dreams.
- Finish eating no later than 90 minutes before bed. And the lighter the meal the better. It’s clear, if I eat heavy, or eat and then go to bed, I’m in trouble.
- Before finishing work, make sure the next 48 hours to do list and calendar of appointments are clear and set. Spending a few minutes before shutting things down for the day to make sure the next 48 hours clear seem to prevent the 3 AM wake-up calls where my mind suddenly wakes me up to remind me of an important appointment the next day.
- In the two hours before bed, do what you need to do to decompress. For me, that’s playing a round of words with friends, or sometimes reading some articles. I’m sure you have something that slows down the pulsing of your mind and allows it to focus on non-critical activities. Do that.
- Don’t watch more than 1 hour of TV. Now I know this doesn’t work for everyone. My husband, for example, can fall asleep to the TV. I can’t. 1 hour is relaxing, 2 hours becomes an obsession and my mind goes from being relaxed to being focused on the content and can’t let go of it. Know your limits.
I’m sure you have some hacks to get a good night’s sleep. I’ve love to know what they are!
