Sleeping (Photo credit: Moyan_Brenn)
Are Your Seeping Habits Holding You Back?
Is there a time during your day where you feel drained, yet you have at least three more work hours left in your day? This could be an indication that you are not getting enough sleep. The amount of sleep you are getting at night greatly affects your productivity the next day. Everyone’s sleep needs are different, but sleep experts say that anywhere between 6 – 8 hours a night is optimal rest. By making a few changes in your sleeping habits you can increase your productivity by 20%.
Sleep deprived people tend to lose focus. A person who has had plenty of sleep can lose focus as well, but their brain can help to increase their attention span when needed. If you have not had enough sleep your brain cannot refocus. Here are a few tricks to try, so that your sleep affects productivity in a positive way.
- Try napping. Napping can be a very effective strategy for recharging your mind and body, so choose a time of day that works best for you and make it a daily task. The key to napping is to make it more of a power nap than a long afternoon snooze. Twenty minutes usually works best, but be sure not to go over thirty in order to give yourself the right boost to make it through the rest of the day – and not affect your sleep later.
- Keep work material out of the sleeping environment. That means no phone or computers in the bedroom when going to bed at night. This will train your mind to drift off naturally and more quickly. If your mind is someplace else, it will be more difficult to fall asleep. Make the bedroom a sanctuary for sleep.
- Practice sleep rituals like taking a hot bath before bed or reading a book by a dim light to wind down. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. These rituals will train the brain when it is time to sleep and when it is time to be awake.
Find your own sleep pattern. Keep it consistent and watch how sleep affects productivity in your everyday life. What are your sleep habits? Need help with productivity? For short simple Monday morning productivity tips sign up here.
