Head buried in the pillow with your phone alarm ringing to the beat of Juicy by Biggie, you begin thinking that it's too early to rip off those bedsheets and take that first footstep of the day. You may hit the buzzer a few times to grab a few extra minutes of sleep fully knowing that you are only wasting your time closing your eyes. Everyone has been there. Maybe not to the sounds of Biggie but maybe to sound of the intermittent screeching of the 60s era alarm that woke your grandfathers or, as I heard echoing through a hall once, the National anthem. Regardless of how you wake, we want to wake with the energy and foresight to not just let the day occur but live it. This requires us to get precious unadulterated sleep with its waves of REM and nocturnal bliss.
That nocturnal bliss is an unavoidable break from the onslaught of life and for many, a time to re-invigorate their soul with the rest they allow themselves to have. I say allow because, for the majority of us, we sleep to the degree to which we allow it. If you treat your sleep as the time between looking at your phone then you're going to wake up and sleep like an addict urging to get that next glimpse of your screen. If you make sleep a priority in your life and dedicate your environment to it then you may just start feeling like you're going to wake up to seize the day. To start, I follow some simple rules for sleep:
1) Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day regardless if it's the weekend. Hard to follow for the weekend warriors but if you're past your party phase then it's all good.
2) Get into bed only to sleep. Yup, not to read or watch tv but only to rest your soul.
3) Do not touch your phone 20 minutes before you want to fall asleep or during the night if you wake up. It's going to be alright if we miss viewing a post or that urgent news alert that likely has nothing to do with you.
4) Minimize ambient light. The darker your room, the better. Even the glow from your 60's era alarm clock will throw off your sleep despite its red faded cringe.
5) Minimize ambient sounds. My tinnitus really drowns out all external noises but I don't recommend getting it.
6) Find the temperature that works for you ... or the both of you. Don't be selfish.
7) Have a sleep and a wake-up routine. Your brain will catch onto your sequences so you can ease into sleep a little easier.
8) Plan to sleep 7 - 9 hours. When planning this, know your body will transition in and out of REM during the night. REM being Rapid Eye Movement or that stage of sleep where you dream. You want to wake up as you're out of REM into a lighter level of sleep. Don't know how to plan. Use a sleep app on your phone or wearable that tracks your sleep. This will tell you exactly when to sleep and when to wake up. Do be freaked out when the app tells you to go to bed at 9:15 pm to wake up at 5:30 am ... it's not stalking you, just monitoring everything you do and analyzing it to tell you things you don't even know about yourself.
When you get into a rhythm, your sleep can make you feel like the burst of sunlight screaming through the darkness. That sense of energy is pure. It can also be blinding to sleep creep. Sleep creep is that crash that occurs when your days get longer and your sleep gets shorter because you felt so so good which led to you becoming overworked due to your own motivation. If you sleep 20 hours after working three days with 4 hours of sleep then you are likely a victim of sleep creep. It's always best you find your routine and stick to your rules regarding your sleep. What comes of routine quality sleep is improved memory, longevity, healing, and a sharper attention span. None of which are negative. The rising always comes after a good night of sleep.
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