Welcome to Day 3 of the 5 Days to a Better Morning Challenge! I’m so excited that so many of you committed to join me in this journey. If you missed the first posts in this series, read Day 1 here and Day 2 here.
For years, I ran myself ragged. I burned the candle at both ends. I thought that the best way to be more productive was to be as organized as possible, work as efficiently as possible, and get up really early.
Being organized, working efficiently, and getting up early can all be great things, but in my case, I forgot one very important truth: if I get up really early only to go throughout my day completely exhausted, I won’t be able to work anywhere near as efficiently and I won’t be able to stay at all as organized and focused.
Not only that, but not getting enough sleep for days and days and days on end is a surefire way to hurt your health and to probably also go through life feeling frazzled and irritable.
Today we’re going to talk about the importance of getting a great night’s sleep. I truly believe that this one of the keys to a better morning. When you wake up feeling refreshed, rested, and energetic, you’ve given yourself a huge head start for a fantastic day.
Ever since I first started blogging, I’ve known and preached the importance of good sleep. For years, it was something I really wanted to make happen and did try to make a priority, but between babies and toddlers and a business and life, it was hard for it to ever really consistently happen.
I love the quote that says, “If it’s important to you, you’ll find the time. If it’s not important to you, you’ll find an excuse.” This was true for me with sleep.
Even though I preached all about sleep and had amazing intentions to get good sleep, it was rare that I actually got a good night’s rest more than a few days in a row. And there were a number of periods of time where I ran on fumes for days on end and had to just keep pushing through in order to meet the deadlines and goals I had, follow through with my commitments, and still have time for my family.
I had bought into the lie that, “I had no other choice.” That I needed to say “yes” to these things in order to be a good businesswoman, a good friend, a strategic author, a good wife, a good mom.
In reality, I had brought almost all the stress, the to-do’s, and the tasks on myself. I had said “yes”, I had chosen to feel obligated, I had set those goals. I was the problem, but I was also the solution! I could choose to say “no”, I could choose to not feel obligated, and I could set fewer goals.
This Year of Rest has been bursting with lessons and a-ha moments. One of the greatest lessons for me has been that saying “no” to a bunch of things hasn’t ruined my life or my business. If anything, it’s made things so much better because I’m only doing a few things which means I can do those few things really, really well. And not just that, but I can also fully enjoy those few things instead of feeling stressed over what else I still have to do and what’s coming up right around the corner.
This breathing room in my life has giving me the space to start actually getting good sleep. Not just one good night’s rest here and there. No, it’s becoming very rare that I get less than six hours of sleep in a night and it’s becoming very normal for me to wake up before my alarm clock — something I basically never, ever did before.
2 Strategies for Better Sleep
If you’re struggling to get enough sleep at night, I want to challenge you to try these two strategies:
1. Learn Your Triggers
Are there specific things that are keeping you from getting a good night’s rest? Things that are either keeping you up at night or keeping you from going to bed at a decent hour or waking you up early in the morning?
Now obviously, those things might not be a thing; they might be a baby or a toddler who is waking up at night! I get that because that was my life for about six years. My nights were full of interruptions and crying babies needing to be fed.
But in that season, I also had other triggers: I was addicted to busyness and productivity. I felt worth from what I did. And I had bought into the lie of chasing after “more”.
So instead of getting up with the babies and then letting myself sleep in or take a nap to compensate, I got up early and worked through the baby’s naps. Because there was always so much to do… almost all of which I had put on myself.
As I’ve talked about before, I struggle with being a performer and a people-pleaser and this fed into how I short-changed my sleep.
I have been so challenged by Emily Freeman’s quote in Simply Tuesday: “When I’m performing for my own acceptance, burnout is always the result.”
If you’re feeling worn down and worn out, take a step back and examine if any of the exhaustion is a result of trying to earn someone else’s acceptance. Are you only saying “yes” to that opportunity because you want someone to like you? Are you only volunteering or sending that email or showing up for that event just so someone else will be impressed with you?
2. Track Your Sleep
One of the most helpful things I’ve done in the past two years is to start tracking my sleep. I always had a general idea of how much sleep I was getting, but actually tracking it really opened up my eyes in big ways.
I started out by tracking my sleep with the Sleep Cycle App. This is an app that you download and run on your phone during the night. You choose a 30-minute window of time when you’d like to wake up and then it tracks your sleep patterns (based upon your movements) and wakes you up when it’s the most optimum time during that window.
The Sleep Cycle app also tracks your sleep and gives you a report each day on your sleep cycles and how deep and restful your sleep was. You can read more how it works here.
While I found this to be a really great start, I felt like the tracking wasn’t as accurate or in-depth as I wanted. Sometimes when it would say I got great sleep, I didn’t feel like I had.
So I started researching other options. Though I had resisted getting a fitness tracker for a long time as they felt like such a “fad”, I finally caved and bought myself a Jawbone UP3 at the beginning of this year. I’m SO glad that I did as it truly made such a difference for me.
Not only have I found myself much, much more motivated to be active and get in more steps, I’ve found that the sleep tracking has been incredibly enlightening.
For instance, I’ve learned that when I go to bed hungry, I don’t sleep as well. I’ve also learned that it takes me a lot longer to actually go to sleep than I realized. So I’ve made adjustments to my schedule so that I’m in bed for at least 7 1/2 hours in order to get close to 7+ good hours of sleep.
I’ve also determined that stress and certain other factors result in a lot lighter sleep. So I’ve worked on eliminating as many of those things from my life — or at least around bedtime! — so that I’ll sleep more restfully.
In not only making sleep a priority, but also in making deep sleep a priority, I’ve discovered that I have much better focus, I feel a lot calmer, I’m a lot less irritable, and I’m a lot happier! And all of those things definitely help make for better mornings!
Day 3 Project
1. Think through what your triggers are that are keeping you from getting a great night’s sleep. Are there things you could avoid, remove, or eliminate from your life in order to cut down on hindrances to a good night’s sleep?
2. Start tracking your sleep and see what you learn from it. I recommend tracking it for at least two weeks so you can notice trends and see what’s working and what’s not working.
Looking for some more practical help?
- Read my post on How to Get More Sleep and How Getting More Rest Has Changed My Life.
- Download Day 1 of Make Over Your Mornings (it’s FREE!) — my 14-day course to help you jumpstart a successful day.
- Grab a copy of Rest Assured or The Abundant Mama’s Guide to Savoring Slow for inspiration to incorporate more rest into your life.
- Sign up for the FREE 21-Day Go to Bed Early series from my friend, Beth.
- Have young kids? Read my post on How to Get Up Early — Even If You Have Young Kids. And be sure to check out this post where I talk about some hard lessons I learned with balancing business & family life.
- And finally, check out my post on How to Get Up Early — Even With a Crazy, Ever-Changing Schedule.
K. Ann Guinn says
Hmmmmm…..I am a couple of days behind and definitely needing to slow down and work on this one!
One trigger is getting/staying on the computer, esp. like today (right now!), when it was so busy and supper was so late! (We’re already on “summer schedule”.) Sometimes I just finish or do too much work that lasts really late, and then I feel I need a “break” before bed (which also usually involves my using my computer). We’re getting ready to go on vacation, so it’s not the best week to commit to this entirely, but I’ll keep working on this. (I’m seeing a trend here with the computer)….
I also struggle with getting deep sleep. I know that some of that comes with age (I just turned 50 this past month), but also believe there are other issues that I can work to make better for my health.
For years I worked full-time and was always so tired. I really felt I could not get everything done and get to bed, and I was NOT being a perfectionist about it. I know many women do that and much more, but for me, we have decided that at least at this stage in life, part-time work (outside the home) is all I can do, regardless of the financial sacrifice. When I try to do too much, I end up taking away from and stressing my husband and family, instead of it being a blessing. I am also building up by blog, so I work a lot on that right now, but it’s fulfilling and mainly enjoyable. It does not yet provide income, but hopefully will at some point.
Thanks, Crystal, for challenging and encouraging us in these important and life-changing areas!
Diana says
You must be one of the people Gretchen Rubin describes as Upholders–you’ll fulfill expectations from everyone, whether yourself or others. What a great gift! I, on the other hand, would run myself ragged if I told someone else I’d finish a project, but I have absolutely no drive to burn myself out for a self-imposed project or deadline–so I have no trouble napping or going to bed if I need to. Definitely pros and cons to each personality type, I think! 🙂
And I love your Good Morning with the sunshine! So cheerful 🙂 Have you seen this? https://www.facebook.com/30daysoflettering/ It doesn’t say it in the URL, but it’s actually 30 Days of Bible Lettering, where they chose a verse for every day and there are some incredibly inspiring examples that people have done! Just thought I’d share, in case the handlettering is still something that’s restful for you and you wanted a different take on it 🙂 (But don’t join it! Then you’ll have to do it and you won’t go to bed on time! *wink, wink* 😉 )
Kristina says
My sleep interrupters are: feeling like I haven’t accomplished enough, waiting for hubby to be ready for sleep and sometimes I hear the kids when they wake up (so it makes me feel like I should just stay up because they may wake me). As for sleep, I have been getting more, so that is a help. Around 7 1/2 hours last night and about 7 the previous night.
Crystal Paine says
Way to go on getting more sleep!!
K says
Going to bed is one thing. Going to sleep has been quite another for me. I might have gotten three hours sleep last night. Wearing amber colored glasses the last two hours before bed & wearing a sleep mask were helping me. I backed off on wearing the glasses & need to go back to wearing them again. The problem with them is that I have difficulty seeing to read with them on. I’ve also found that daylight cfls or leds (research backs this up) will cause sleep problems. Unfortunately, I was just given 10 & am hoping the giver will trade them out for less bright ones.
Crystal Paine says
I’m so sorry you have such a hard time sleeping. 🙁
Need A Nap2 says
Pink ear plugs!! Makes such a big difference. My husband is willing to get up with the kids if needed. 🙂
Crystal Paine says
I love this!!
PantsuitsMom says
Haha, my biggest trigger right now is a newborn ? I really can’t complain though because he eats well and goes back to sleep!
Another trigger is being less active than usual. I’m looking forward to being cleared to run in a few weeks and I will begin another half-marathon training cycle.
When I did track my sleep I averaged 7-8 hrs a night.
Right now it’s all about that grace though ?
Crystal Paine says
YES! Give yourself grace, mama!