Sleep to improve productivity in your business day (and life)

Can sleep really improve productivity?  Getting a good amount of sleep made a huge difference to my productivity levels and my life in general.

Making a simple adjustment to the amount of sleep you get each night could really improve productivity.

In my opinion getting plenty of sleep is one of the best ways to improve productivity in your business. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to realize that.

I want to give you a head start so that you don’t make the same mistakes I did.

There was a time in my business when I started work the second my son was out the house, I’d work until he came home, I’d be on the computer at the same time as trying to get our evening meal ready.  YES, there have been quite a few burnt meals to show for this action.  Then I’d be back to work, often until early hours of the morning.

You’d think putting in all those hours, I’d have been massively productive.

NOPE, I wasn’t.

In fact, looking back I don’t really know what I was doing with that time. I definitely felt busy, but there’s a huge difference between being busy and being productive.

The results of pushing myself in this way was not a pretty picture,  I was ill, burnt out, bad tempered and not at all productive.

Can you relate?  If you can, read on.

A lesson learned from Brian Tracy

I’m a huge fan of Brian Tracy.  He recommends 8 hours sleep a night.

Watch this video

You can also read Go to sleep and maximize your personal power

When I first heard Brian talk about getting 8 hours sleep a night, I thought there would be no way I could do this. But, you know what, at that time it was a make or break time for me in my business.  I was crashing and something had to give.

I knew that I needed to improve productivity and I really didn’t know how to do that.  My head was fuzzy.

So I decided I had nothing to lose.

My 8-hour commitment to improve productivity and my life

I made a commitment to get 8-hours sleep a night or at least lights out going to sleep 8 hours before I need to wake up.

I start winding down at 9 pm.  I very rarely watch any TV after 9 pm, and I’m usually in bed by 10 pm and lights off going to sleep by 10.45 pm ready to get up at 6.45 am.

I have to tell you it was really hard doing this for about a week, but then I started to see a massive difference to how much more energy I had, and how much more focused I was able to stay.

Before I had flitted from one thing to another and often left projects uncompleted.  With my new sleep routine, I was able to get more done in far less time and actually have a life as well.

How many hours sleep a night are you getting?

Try this: Switch lights out and be going to sleep 8 hours before you need to get up even if you don’t feel tired.

Have a cut-off point from work

There’s no doubt about it when you’re self-employed, there are rarely set hours.  Whilst my normal hours of work are 9-4 Monday to Friday, that’s definitely not where it stops and there are going to be times when we have to put it much longer hours.

On a whole, I highly recommend that you have a cut-off point.  If at all possible, have a good couple of hours non-work time before bed.

Remember, when I heard Brian Tracy talk about getting 8-hours sleep?  I thought there was no way I could do this.  I thought I just had too much work to do.  The reality was that I did have time.  The hours I worked came from a place of fear.  Let that go and you’ll be able to switch off.

Try this: Follow along with my EFT video – Switch off after work

Try Hypnosis Downloads

One of the things I like to do at bedtime, especially if my mind is busy, is to listen to hypnosis downloads.  I’ve been using them for years and they’re incredibly relaxing.  I pop one on once I’m settled in bed and I will often fall asleep listening to the recording which is absolutely fine.

Just to let you know, I am an affiliate for Hypnosis Downloads, so that means if you purchase through my link, I’ll get a commission to say thank you.  You’ll never pay more.

Whilst I’ve found that all of the downloads I’ve personally purchased are super relaxing, I’d like to recommend the Drift of to sleep download and if like me you fall asleep okay and then wake up and lay awake for hours during the early hours thinking up all sorts of weird and wonderful things, this download is perfect Get back to sleep quickly.

Sleep to improve productivity recap

1. Watch the Brian Tracy video about getting 8-hours sleep each night
2. Lights out 8 hours before you need to wake up
3. If you find it difficult switching off from work, try my EFT video 
4. Aim to have at least 2 hours non-work time before bed
5. Invest in a cooling mattress for the best sleep.
6. Try the hypnosis downloads.

As I said earlier, it took me about a week to settle into a better sleep routine but once I did it was amazing.  I really hope you’ll give this a go.

P.S. Pin the image below for a regular reminder.