21 Jul 2021 by Leave a Comment

How to have healthy sleep

It’s no secret that I love my sleep.

I both enjoy sleep and I sleep well. Some of it is personality, I think, but I do think I have some very good sleep habits too.

Whenever I put up my sleep stats on Instagram, I always get so many direct messages from people who say things like, “oh that must be nice” and “how do you sleep so much?”.

Well, I sleep a lot because I’ve realised that when I’m tired I won’t be as productive as I will be when I’m rested. Because when I’m up after a good night’s sleep, I’m a machine 🙂

Sleep also has many other benefits like being good for your mental health, stress relief, immune system, heart, good for managing weight. In addition, and this is a big benefit, it’s good for your memory, and helps you focus and concentrate. I also heard Lisa Genova on a podcast say that deep sleep helps clear out brain waste which prevents Alzheimer’s.

Here are a few of my tips:

  1. Set a sleep goal. My goal is 7 hours 30 every night. I upgraded my Fitbit recently and while my Fitbit now gives me a sleep score, my sleep score is always better when I sleep more than 7h30.
  2. Sleep when you’re tired. Realise that when you’re tired, the very best thing you can do no matter how much work there is still to get done, is to actually sleep.
  3. Move your body. I sleep my best sleep on the days I have a good workout. It’s boring to say this but our mothers were onto something when they told us to go outside and play.
  4. Stop caffeine at lunch. This is not a problem for me, but I know many people who do not have good sleep habits when they have coffee after lunch. Dr Rangan Chatterjee, in his book, The 4 Pillar Plan, talks about how, at bedtime, about 25% of caffeine is still in our system. If you don’t sleep well, stop your coffee at 12 and see if it makes a difference.
  5. Avoid your phone before bed. Everyone gives me a hard time about this one but hey, if you want to sleep better, avoid your phone for a good 1 – 2 hours before bed. You can charge your phone at an outlet across the room. I charge mine next to my bed but it’s on the floor, face down, almost slipped under the bed. I also don’t look at Whatsapp after my phone goes dark (shortly after my work day ends). There is a downside to it but I’d rather have a few more messages in the morning than have restless or disrupted sleep.
  • How is your sleep on a scale of 1 – 10?
  • Do you have good sleep hygiene?
  • Do you spend time on your phone before bed?

If you want to work on these tips, all you have to do is start working on one at a time, track your sleep, and see how it is affected.

Filed Under: 31 days of enough time, Four Tendencies, Goals, Intentional living, Mindset, Personal, Sleep, Time management, Work with Marcia Tagged With: , , , , , ,
13 Feb 2020 by 1 Comment

{productivity} My secret superpower for getting so much done

Recently I posted a screenshot on my Instagram stories showing my sleep stats. This one, in fact.

I had a flurry of direct messages from people commenting that they couldn’t believe I sleep so much. How is it possible to sleep 9.5 hours?!

Well, it’s easy if you set your environment up for good sleep (no screens before bed, cool bedclothes, dark room, etc.). I’ve always slept well, ever since I was a child, and most importantly, I believe that sleeping so well is the reason I have such a lot of energy and can get so many things done.

On the other hand, it’s also why, when my twins were newborns, I felt so out of sorts. It’s because I wasn’t sleeping. The minute those two started sleeping better at 10 months it was like the sun shone brightly again because my brain was clear!

When I start working with a new time management coaching client, I always check their sleep habits first. Sleep is so important and even if you’re not aware of it, your body needs good sleep to function well and you need to be well-rested to be most productive and effective. If you’re not well-rested, you’ll find yourself with fuzzy thinking and a brain that can’t focus on a task for very long.

We work with small goals until they’re sleeping at least 7 hours a night, and then we start working on goals. It works because it’s easy to get things done when you’re sleeping well.

I know that it seems counter-intuitive to go sleep instead of working more, but I’ve proven it so many times in my and others’ lives that if you go sleep, you’ll get your list of things done much quicker the following day because you’re rested. I have often said, “I feel like a new woman” when I tackle that to-do list and get things done from a base of good, uninterrupted sleep.

Try it and see. Sleep might very well be your superpower too 😉

Interestingly, I heard from two different sources that there is only a really tiny percentage of humans who need less than 6 hours a night, and how to tell if you’re one of these humans is that you never feel drowsy outside those 6 hours and you don’t need caffeine or other substances to get you going.

How many hours do you sleep per night, on average? Do you feel rested and energised in the mornings, or do you feel you need to work on your sleep?

PS My goal has been 7 hours 30 per night for years and years; this year it’s 7 hours 45 and I’m currently at 7 hours 42.

Filed Under: 31 days of enough time, Intentional living, Personal, Sleep, Time management, Work with Marcia Tagged With: ,
4 Mar 2015 by 4 Comments

I’m not getting enough sleep. Are you?

I’m a total and complete night owl so my natural tendency is to stay up late because my brain is most awake then.

However, I work full-time so I don’t have the luxury of totally living in tune with my body clock.

I used to have a rule about my bedtime and, to be honest, it still exists. I’m just not following it at all.

I like to be sleeping by 12 so I need to be in bed by 11 since I read for an hour every night – bliss!

And here’s my rule – computer off by 10:30.

(I’m typing this at 11:02 pm!)

I found I’d be getting to bed at least 30 minutes later when I didn’t enforce my computer rule because I forgot about tidying the desk, doing my bedtime routine, etc.

What about you? Are you getting enough sleep?

Connor - age 4 and three-quarters :)

Connor – age 4 and three-quarters 🙂

Most adults don’t get enough sleep and we’re all functioning (or not) at below-par levels of productivity and … life enjoyment.

Sleep helps our bodies to work better, helps us manage stress, helps us with weight loss if we’re trying to lose weight and of course, helps us rest and recharge from day to day.

I need 7 hours of good sleep a night. On the weekends I get an extra hour and sometimes even an afternoon nap with or without my five-year-old twins. This weekend I napped for an hour on Sunday afternoon and they entertained themselves. Bliss!

Do you know how much sleep you need?

Gretchen Rubin wrote a post some time ago asking about bedtimes.

She said something interesting in that once you set a bedtime (we now know mine is 11 or 12, depending how you look at it), if you ignore that bedtime, you’re then consciously choosing to do what you were doing instead of going to bed.

I love it!

Here’s a coaching challenge for you:

– What is your standard wake-up time?
– Work back at least 7 hours. That is the time you have to be asleep by.
– How long do you need before falling asleep? Subtract the amount of hours.
– Also subtract time for your bedtime routine – face, teeth, reading, etc.
– For the next week, set an alarm or reminder in your phone or computer that says “go to bed”.
– Keep track of your productivity the following day as you start getting enough sleep.

Let me know how that works for you!

What time do you go to bed?

Filed Under: Intentional living, Time management Tagged With: , ,
21 May 2014 by

{Time Management} Are you getting enough sleep?

I have to tell you about this video of Sheryl Sandberg and Arianna Huffington talking about Ariana’s new book, Thrive.

The whole video is great if you have an hour to watch it.

(I listened while I tidied and decluttered in my study)

The thing I specifically want to talk about is one thing she’s quite passionate about – getting enough sleep. We’re actually far more productive and creative when we’re functioning from a place of rest instead of fatigue.

As many of you know, I also feel quite strongly that most of us don’t get enough sleep.

Sleep

Some of my coaching clients reading know that one of the first things we work on is sleep.

This week, I want you to track your sleep.

1. Write down how much sleep you get every night for a whole week, including weekends.

2. Then divide by 7 and see what your average is.

Is it 7 – 8 hours?

If not, try going to bed just 30 minutes earlier and see how you feel after a week of implementing.

Let me know how it goes!

Here’s a blog post I wrote earlier this year on sleep.

 

Filed Under: Intentional living, Time management Tagged With: , ,
21 Apr 2014 by

Update on the sleep app I use

About six weeks ago, I posted about a sleep app I use.

Since people don’t seem to like to comment, I got emails asking me quite a few questions and this great comment from Rachel so I decided to mush it all up into one post.

How much did my app cost?

$0,99 (Sleep Time) and the one Rachel references in her comment costs the same, which is about R11 for South Africans at current exchange rates.

How does it work?

I keep the iphone on, lay it face down under my pillow and somehow (magic?) it figures everything out by my heartbeat or something similar. I’m not attached to the process but I am results-focussed 🙂 so as long as it works, I’m happy to trust the process.

Do I have a choice as to wake-up times?

Yes, I set the wake-up time as the time I HAVE TO BE UP. And then there’s another setting – basically the alarm can wake me within 20 minutes of that time (time to slowly wake-up and get my mind in gear).

I haven’t checked to see exactly how many minutes it always wakes me before my preferred wake-up time – my schedule is quite erratic based on meetings, gym, church and such.

There is a snooze function which I do use.

How do you stop the alarm?

I believe I have two options; I only figured them out tonight. Somehow I’d set it to the one where I have to hold the big button for 3 seconds to stop it. 3 seconds is long when you’re fast asleep so that wakes me well enough.

What do I find most valuable?

I love stats. LOVE THEM.

Especially stats on me 🙂

So here’s how I’m currently doing.

weekly view – as you can see, I’ve been very naughty, reading very late at night 🙂
and…. my sleep is all over the place

I’m going to be writing up a new training manual over the next two weeks but after that, I want to get my sleep back to some normal bedtimes again.

How have you been sleeping over the last 6 weeks?

Let me know on Facebook.

Filed Under: Intentional living, Time management Tagged With: ,
14 Mar 2014 by

How much sleep do you really need?

I realised as I got into bed at 12:30 am that I’ve been slacking on my bedtime.

Yes, I’m a night owl so my natural tendency is to work late because my brain is most awake then.

However, I work full-time so I don’t have the luxury of totally living in tune with my body clock.

I used to have a rule about my bedtime and, to be honest, it still exists. I’m just not following it all that well.

I like to be sleeping by 12 so I need to be in bed by 11 since I read for an hour every night – bliss!

And here’s my rule – computer off by 10:30.

I found I’d be getting to bed at least 30 minutes later when I didn’t enforce my computer rule because I forgot about tidying the desk, doing my bedtime routine, etc.

So my question to you is this – are you getting enough sleep?

Most adults don’t get enough sleep and we’re all functioning (or not) at below-par levels of productivity and simply, life enjoyment.

Sleep helps our bodies to work better, helps us with weight loss when we’re trying to lose weight and of course, helps us rest and recharge from day to day.

I need 7 hours of good sleep a night. On the weekends I get an extra hour and sometimes even an afternoon nap with the kids.

 

2014-01-16_1389874983

Do you know how much sleep you need?

Gretchen Rubin, the author of The Happiness Project, wrote a post once asking about bedtimes.

She said something interesting in that once you set a bedtime (we now know mine is 11 or 12, depending how you look at it), if you ignore that bedtime, you’re then consciously choosing to do what you were doing instead of going to bed.

I love it!

So here’s a coaching challenge for you:

– What is your wake-up time?
– Work back at least 7 hours. That is the time you have to be asleep by.
– How long do you need before falling asleep? Subtract the amount of hours.
– Also subtract time for your bedtime routine – face, teeth, reading, etc.
– For the next week, set an alarm or reminder in your phone or computer that says “go to bed”.
– Keep track of your productivity the following day as you start getting enough sleep.

Filed Under: Intentional living Tagged With: , ,
7 Mar 2014 by 3 Comments

An app to check your sleep patterns

I promised you yesterday that I’d share about an app I’ve been using.

First off, this is how it came about.

I was very nervous about oversleeping and I vaguely remembered reading somewhere (no idea where) about apps that sound an alarm when you’re between sleep cycles so you don’t feel so groggy when you have to wake up.

That’s me – very groggy (and grumpy) when I have to wake so I thought it was worth a try.

I searched in the app store and found this one, Sleep Time. There is a free version but that only stores your information for the 5 latest days so after I realised that, I paid R8 and got the paid version and I’m giddy with the stats.

As at this snapshot, you can see my average bedtime is 11:36 pm, my average duration was 7 hours 16 minutes and my sleep efficiency is 91%.

My stats don’t look like that anymore…

My average bedtime is now 12.25 am and my average duration is only 6 hours 23 minutes. Efficiency still 90%.

This is great because it’s giving me the information so I can do something about it. I know I function best on at least 7 hours of sleep, so no wonder I haven’t been at my best and the after midnight sleep really needs to stop 🙂

By the way, I do think I wake easier with this app but the real test will come this winter.

Do you wake easily?

Have you tried this or any other sleep app?

Filed Under: Intentional living Tagged With: ,
5 Mar 2014 by

Are you getting enough sleep?

Ballito starred-047

Tell me, on average, do you know how much sleep you’re getting?

Is it enough sleep for you?

I’m going to write a post on Friday about a new sleep app I’ve been using and how surprised I am by the results.

Filed Under: Intentional living, Time management Tagged With: , ,
22 Feb 2012 by 13 Comments

Are you getting enough sleep?

I realised on Sunday night as I got into bed at 12:30 am that I’ve been slacking on my bedtime.

Yes, I’m a night owl so my natural tendency is to work late because my brain is most awake then.

However, I work full-time so I don’t have the luxury of living totally in tune with my body clock.

I used to have a rule about my bedtime and, to be honest, it still exists. I’m just not following it all that well.

I like to be sleeping by 12 so I need to be in bed by 11 since I read for an hour every night – bliss!

And here’s my rule – computer off by 10:30.

I found I’d be getting to bed at least 30 minutes later when I didn’t enforce my computer rule because I forgot about tidying the desk, doing my bedtime routine, etc.

So my question to you is this – are you getting enough sleep?

Most adults don’t get enough sleep and we’re all functioning (or not) at below-par levels of productivity and simply, life enjoyment.

I need 7 hours a night. On the weekends I get an extra hour and sometimes even an afternoon nap with the babies, also known as my two-year-old twins.

Do you know how much sleep your body needs?

The other day Gretchen Rubin, the author of The Happiness Project, wrote a post asking about bedtimes.

She said something interesting in that once you set a bedtime (we now know mine is 11 or 12, depending how you look at it), if you ignore your bedtime, you’re then consciously choosing to do what you were doing instead of going to bed.

I love it!

So here’s this week’s coaching challenge:

– What is your wake-up time?
– Work back at least 7 hours. That is the time you have to be asleep by.
– How long do you need before falling asleep? Subtract that time.
– Also subtract time for your bedtime routine – face, teeth, reading, etc.
– For the next week, set an alarm or reminder in your phone or computer that says “go to bed”.
– Keep track of your productivity the following day as you start getting enough sleep and let me know how you feel by posting in the comments.
– If you need help getting control of your time, let me coach you! Email me now.Google



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