The key to having a productive day is sleep! Think about it. You start and end each day with sleep. Our brain physically cannot live without sleep! It is just as important to our health as food and water. It turns out you can get so much more done in your day when you sleep longer at night!
Wake Up Early
I know this is probably something you didn’t want to hear. Am I right? I am learning that there really aren’t that many people out there that are “morning people”. You can do it!
My guess is that if you talk to anyone who is “successful”, you would find out that they wake up early.
Using that time before the world starts hustling again, to get yourself organized and centered, is going to get your day off on the right foot.
The very first thing you need to do after your alarm goes off is to start centering yourself. Exercise is a fabulous way to start your day. Read some inspirational quotes to get your day started. Yoga and breathing are another really fabulous option.
If you find it extremely hard to wake up early each day, start small! Each week set your morning alarm anywhere from 5-15 minutes earlier. Five minutes might sound silly, but it seriously will work! Over a couple months time you will find yourself comfortably waking up an entire hour earlier then you used to!
Get Your Sleep
Though it is highly recommended to wake up early, you need to go to bed early enough to be sure and get enough sleep. This is key to checking items off your to-do list!
The sleepfoundation.org recommends that adults get seven to nine hours of sleep each night. If you are tired and barely making it through the day with one eye open, it is guaranteed that you aren’t going to be very productive.
You set an alarm in the morning to wake up, try setting an alarm at night to go to bed. It’s really easy to get tied up in your favorite Netflix series, or a good book and not notice what time it is. Make it your goal to go to bed at a certain time each night to help make sure that you are getting enough Zs.
Set the alarm for ten minutes before you want to actually be in bed and also allowing time to fall asleep. Here is an example. I wake up at 4:50am every morning Monday through Saturday. I need to be asleep by 09:50pm to get my seven hours. So I set my nighttime alarm for 09:20pm.
This time allows me ten minutes to finish up any tasks I might be working on, turn off any shows I might be watching, close up the house, check on the little ones, get myself ready for bed, and then allowing for a good 20 minutes of time to fall asleep.
Do you have any tips to share on how you relax before bed to fall asleep faster? We would all love to learn! Leave your tips down in the comments below.
Getting to bed on time is admittedly a huge challenge for me. As someone who is trying extremely hard to start a business, all while being a full time stay at home mom, I find it an enormous task to find time to get anything done.
But I have found that burning the candle at both ends does no good for anyone in our family! You need to make sleep a priority. Once I started setting a nighttime alarm for myself, I went from getting around five hours of sleep to seven each night!
Don’t let give yourself excuses. Set your alarm and know that you are going to be in bed by a designated time.
It’s Simple and Complicated
It sounds simple but getting enough sleep can be a real challenge for many. Try out these tips for making sleep a priority in your schedule and I am sure you will find yourself having more a productive day!
