Sleep Smarter, Achieve More: Unlock the Power of Peak Productivity

Today, we’re going to talk about something super important but often overlooked – how getting a good night’s sleep can make you do better at school, work, or whatever you’re up to during the day. Just like your favorite superhero needs to recharge, your body and brain need sleep to be at their best. Let’s dive into how you can sleep like a champ and wake up ready to conquer the world!

Why Sleep is Your Superpower

Imagine your body is like a smartphone. Every night, it needs to plug in (sleep) to work well the next day. If you don’t charge it enough, it might turn off when you need it the most. Sleep helps your brain remember things better, keeps you in a good mood, and makes you sharper at solving problems. Also, waking up early in the morning boosts your productivity. If you are able to get up as early as 4 or 5AM when no one in your house is up, you have an hour or two to yourself, that is completely free. Having 2 hours of your completely free time everyday especially in the morning when your brain is full of energy will be a game changer.
I want to share 6 strategies I try to follow every day to keep my sleep and early rising habits. Please trust me your life will change if you haven’t done these.

6 Simple Sleep Strategies to Start Tomorrow with a boost of energy

1. Set a Hero’s Bedtime and Wake-Up Time
Starting a great day starts from the night before. If you want to wake up early in the morning, you want to go to bed early. It is that simple.

What to Do: Pick a bedtime and a wake-up time. Stick to them every day, even on weekends.
Why It Works: Your body loves routines. By going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, you’re training your body to know when it’s time to power down and when it’s time to wake up, making it easier to fall asleep and get up. The key is to keep your brain used to the routine, so you are able to feel sleep and fall asleep naturally at the same time and wake up at the same time without much efforts.

2. Create a Batcave for Sleep
What to Do: Make your bedroom cool, quiet, and dark. Think of it as your own Batcave – a perfect place for rest.

Why It Works: Just like bats love the dark and quiet for sleeping, your body does too. A cool, dark, and quiet room tells your body, “Hey, it’s time to sleep!” Decreasing your body core temperature quickly, naturally increases melatonin, which is a sleep hormone that helps you fall asleep.

3. Power Down Your Gadgets
What to Do: Turn off TVs, computers, and put away your phone an hour before bed.

Why It Works: The blue light from screens can trick your brain into thinking it’s still daytime, making it harder to fall asleep. By turning them off, you’re giving your brain a heads-up that it’s time to rest. But if you live with other people who do not follow the same sleep schedules, you may want to use glasses that shut off blue light. OcuSleep provides these fantastic blue light blocking glasses that help you naturally fall asleep. We want to rely on these blue light blockers if our environment is not suitable for following regular sleep schedules.

4. Be a Sleep Detective
What to Do: If you’re doing everything right but still can’t sleep, play detective. Keep a sleep diary to see if something specific is messing up your sleep.

Why It Works: Sometimes, things we don’t even think about, like drinking soda before bed or worrying about a test, can keep us awake. By writing it down, you can spot patterns and figure out what to change.

5. Morning Sunshine and Evening Chill
What to Do: Get some sunlight in the morning and relax before bed.

Why It Works: Sunlight in the morning helps reset your body clock and makes you feel awake. Relaxing before bed, like reading or taking a warm bath, tells your body it’s time to wind down. It helps set our circadian rhythms. Getting sunlight the first thing in the morning gives us more benefits. If you are curious about it, please check this video where Andrew Huberman, a prominent neuroscience professor at Standford University talks about why getting sunlight is great for you.

6. Never hit snooze button
What to Do: When you set an alarm to wake up, never hit snooze button. Just jump out of bed.

Why It Works: If you hit the snooze button and fell asleep again, your internal systems that regulate your sleep time get confused. If you want to dive deeper into how to sleep better, you may want to check out this book by Shawn Stevenson, “Sleep Smarter”. He talks about 21 strategies that help you sleep better and gain healthier life. This book is filled with real life episodes, tips, and ideas that help you start sleeping better from today.

Because hittinig snooze can be a truly bad habit that you want to avoid, I added more detailed explanation of why it is bad. So, you’ll have a clear reason to not do it.

Circadian Clock:
Imagine your body has an internal clock, kind of like the one you have in your room, but this one is inside you and it tells your body when it’s time to wake up and when it’s time to sleep. This clock works with the sun: when it’s light outside, your body knows it’s time to be awake, and when it’s dark, your body knows it’s bedtime. This is your “circadian clock.”

Sleep Homeostasis:
Now, think of sleep homeostasis as a kind of sleep “battery.” Throughout the day, as you do activities like playing and going to school, your sleep battery gets used up and you start feeling tired. The longer you’re awake, the more your battery drains, and the sleepier you get. When you sleep, you recharge this battery.

Hitting the Snooze Button:
When you hit the snooze button in the morning, it’s like telling your body’s internal clock and sleep battery to pause. But this pause can confuse them. Your internal clock gets mixed signals about whether it’s time to wake up or keep sleeping. And your sleep battery might start to recharge a little, but then you interrupt it by waking up again. This can make you feel even more tired and groggy because your body isn’t sure if it should be waking up or going back to sleep. It’s like trying to start and stop charging your phone really quickly; it just doesn’t work well.

So, hitting the snooze button messes with your body’s natural wake-up and sleep processes, making it harder for you to feel refreshed and ready for the day.

In Conclusion
Getting enough sleep is like having a superpower. It makes you smarter, happier, and ready to take on the day. By following these five simple principles, you can start sleeping better from tomorrow. Remember, every superhero needs their rest to be great. So, let’s make sleep our secret weapon for being awesome every day! Please share what works for you to sleep better.