How to succeed? Get More Sleep

Get More Sleep – This post is inspired by Arianna Huffington’s Ted Talk from early 2011.  She spoke to a conference of women and shared how getting enough sleep will lead to the awakening of millions of ideas that lie dormant in people’s heads.

She joked that the women will be able to “sleep (their) way to the top.”

Although this talk was geared towards women, it is applicable for both men and women.

We live in a society where not getting enough sleep is a badge of honor.  It shows how busy we are and how connected we are to everything that we are doing.  There is a competition for getting the most amounts done but the fact is that a lot of major mistakes are being made by very smart people.

Is lack of sleep at the heart of the problem?

Get More Sleep

Huffington’s big awakening (no pun intended) came when she fell asleep at her desk a few years back. Typically not a huge deal but she hit her desk so hard that she broke her cheek bone and was required to get stitches.

She, then went on a journey, met with doctors and experts and learned what seems like common sense -

WE NEED TO GET MORE SLEEP

See the Ted Talk that inspired this post here - GET MORE SLEEP

Below are some tips for ensuring that you get enough sleep each day.

Work against a clock - Set a timer for your daily activities – Give yourself some gentle pressure to get your work done more quickly and when the time is up, the time is up for the day.   A lot of us do not put boundaries around our work day. This is very dangerous, especially for the Type A personality, because these people are more likely to work and work until they drop.

Come up with ways to take yourself out of the picture - If you can delegate, outsource or systemize certain tasks, then you will not need to be as involved with the tasks.  If you take yourself out, then you can be freed up to take on other activities and responsibilities.  You may resist this at first because it may require that you take a few steps back before you take a leap forward, but in the end the effort that you put in will pay off.

Kill off entire projects – You probably spend a ton of time doing major projects that do not forward your goals and do not inspire you.  As opposed to slumping through those activities, simply decide to kill them off and not working on them anymore.  This will free up a lot of time and will free up a lot of energy.

After you completed the items suggested above, you will have more time available.  Fill this time with rest and relaxation and you will find that you are more productive in your life, simply because you are going at it with a clearer head and perspective.

Make it a great day.

Make the Decision to Get Enough Sleep

Get Enough Sleep – If you would like to be successful, then it is imperative that you get enough sleep every night.  Do you believe that you are superhuman and can survive on less sleep than everybody else?  Do you figure that if you stay up a little longer that you will be more productive?

Well, you may be the exception, but that is probably not the case.

Get Enough Sleep

The average person needs between 7 and 9 hours of sleep every night to be productive.

Failure to meet these guidelines may lead to –

- Increased weight

- Increased strew and maybe even depression

- Lack of focus and clarity

- Increased chance of accident

I, like many of you, fall into the trap of thinking that if I cut out an hour of sleep each day, I can get more done.  I made that error last night and wound up setting my alarm to get up an hour early. I am not sure if that was a good decision or a bad decision, but I do know that I did not get enough sleep last night.

As a result, I am going to put in a new practice to make sure that I can get more sleep on a daily basis.  This may benefit anybody who struggles with getting enough sleep.

Go to sleep at the same time every night - This is easier said than done.  However, the body craves consistency and the best way to give it this consistency is to go to sleep at the same time each day.  It helps if you can have a bedtime routine, which may include winding down about an hour before you want to go sleep.  Get your body and mind trained that it s about to sleep and you will be more likely to fall asleep quickly.

Complete things that day - A major cause of people’s inability to sleep is worry because of things that are not done.  You will not be able to get everything done every day.  However, you o have control over completing a few things a day and creating plans for those things that you can complete during that day.  Putting in this simple practice will allow you to go to sleep at night with a fairly clear head.  Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds, attributed much of success to being able to get enough quality sleep each day, even when he was facing tremendous stress and pressure in building his business.

Whatever is going on, make every effort to clear your mind at night. If you are successful at doing this, you will be in a much better position to make tomorrow a more productive day.

Don’t beat yourself up - Like anything you do, getting enough sleep is more of an art than a science.  If you are not completely successful at achieving your sleep goals, do not beat yourself up.  Learn from your experiences and you will put yourself in a much better position to get everything that you want out of your life and your work.

Practice great sleeping habits and you will be in a much better position to have greater success in your business and in your life.