Here’s what my life used to look like in the early days of my business. Wake up to the alarm, hit snooze until the very last minute possible, drag myself out of bed feeling dreadful to say the least, wake my son up, grab a breakfast and feel grumpy and half asleep for at least the first hour (on a good day), take my son to school and work right through to the time I pick him up again, do the normal mum stuff, homework help, sort the dog out, tidy, cook a meal, eat it in a blur, clear up, back on the computer whilst my son does his own thing on the computer. Switch off for a little while to read a book to my son and say good night and then back on the computer for another 5+ hours work and bed in the early hours. And repeat.
No, it was not a positive picture. I was tired, unproductive and rather more bad tempered than any life coach should be.
I was about at breaking point when I heard Brian Tracy, Author of Eat That Frog talking about getting 8 hours sleep a night. Now at first I thought something along the lines of “Yeah right, that’s not going to happen any time soon!” But then I gave it a bit more thought and I decided to give it a go.
My alarm goes off at 6.45am on a school day. So I made a rule for myself to be in bed, lights off and going to sleep by 10.45pm. Giving me 8 hours shut eye.
My body soon got into this routine and something amazing happened. I was waking up before my alarm, giving me some quality time to visualize my day and run some powerful positive thoughts through my mind. Yes, this was good news.
Now here comes the time management bonus. Even though I was now working around 5 -7 hours less each day. I was getting loads more done. Sounds crazy right? It’s 100% true. I was more focused, more alert and more productive. I had the energy to get things done and I started to feel really great.
When we don’t get enough sleep, we feel distracted, unfocused hungry, impatient, tired, exhausted… the list of negatives goes on.
Get enough sleep and you’ll feel like you’re adding hours to your day.
So if your current lifestyle resembles my old life or even if you’re just feeling a little sleep deprived, I challenge you to have those 8 hours SHUT EYE time. This means you’re in bed and going to sleep 8 hours before you need to get up.
[tweetthis]Get enough sleep and feel like you’re adding hours to your day [/tweetthis] Share your thoughts below.
This blog post is part of a series. To read the rest of my time-management tips, go to Time-Management
OVER TO YOU
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WENDY XX
Mmmmm, I’d have to go to bed around 8:20 every night.
I guess I could give it a try and see what happens.
Seems like the earlier I go to bed the more I toss and turn and the more tired I feel in the morning.
I have a sleep tracker app that confirms this. So I guess I’ll trynitnfor a couple weeks and see how it goes.
Yes. I learned the hard way, too. Burning the candle at both ends took me to breaking point so I HAD to get more sleep.
Amazing the difference an extra couple of hours kip made to my mood, productivity and attitude 🙂
Good post!
It might not be right for you Kevin. If you feel you currently need more sleep, try adding 15 minutes for a few days and then add another 15 minutes until you feel like you’re waking up refreshed.
Thanks for commenting Shan. I’m pleased you worked it out.