Ep 10 – Maintaining a Sleep Hygiene
By Shweta
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Are you tired of hustling day in and day out, boxed within the four walls of your house? How many times have you sacrificed your sleep to be productive and hustle all day?
I have seen a lot of individuals proudly boasting about how they can run on just 2-3 hours of sleep or in some cases no sleep at all. It’s because they are passionate about their work. It keeps them going 24*7.
But personally, I cannot even function when I sleep lesser than 7 hours, so I wondered if there was something strange in my body. Why did I need so much sleep when others could manage with fewer hours?
Well, there is enough evidence to prove that no amount of passion can replace the biological clock that uses sleep to replenish the cells in our body, rebuild tissues, and restore energy. This cannot happen when we sleep for only 2-3 hours. Our biological clock works around the 24 hours schedule called ‘circadian rhythm’, a 24-hour sleep-wake cycle linked to light and darkness in our environment.
A good sleep hygiene is known to keep anxiety and depression at bay. It also helps to lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, stroke, etc.
You are not healthy if your sleep isn’t healthy.
A consistent lack of sleep eventually affects our productivity and creativity. Needless to say that sleep is important for our vitality and functioning and that’s where a good sleep hygiene comes in.
A sleep hygiene is a series of steps taken to ensure you get a good night’s sleep.
1- Eat at least a few hours before your bedtime : This has worked wonders for me. Finishing your dinner by 7 ensures that you are not feeling heavy when you are about to crash in bed.
2- Eat lean : Avoid rich, creamy, and heavy foods at night. Indigestion could keep you up several times, so the simpler the food is, the easier it is to digest.
3- Have a bed-time ritual : it could be a cold shower, reading a book, stretching, anything to indicate to your body regularly that you are about to sleep. For me it is not using the phone and a dose of some good fiction.
4- Avoid caffeine in the latter part of the day : For obvious reasons, caffeine acts as a stimulant to our nervous system by blocking adenosine from binding, due to which we can’t fall asleep. Preferably avoid coffee after 6 pm.
5- Exercising : A 10-15 minutes of physical activity can help improve your sleep cycle. However, exercise earlier during the day rather than late-night for better benefits
6- Journal : if you find your mind running around in circles thinking about one thing or another, sleep is far-fetched. Pull out your journal and pen down things that are occurring to you. As long as your mind thinks it needs to remind you of something important, you are not going to fall asleep.
So no matter how important your work is, remember to prioritize yourself and your sleep. Maintain a good sleep hygiene and reap benefits with sharper clarity, increased energy, and enhanced productivity.
Remember to take care of yourself amidst all the hustling.
