What separates elite performers from the average Joe are their nighttime habits.
You don’t want to be average; you want to be better than that. And do you know who isn’t average? Professional musicians and athletes. If you’re going to live your life at an elite level as they do, then you need to live as they do, and that means getting plenty of sleep.
Burning the candle at both ends and working into the night is ok if you want to generate more of the same work. But the hours of sleep you exchange for the time to get more work done prevents you from doing high-quality creative work that will get you noticed and make a difference.
Sleep is a key to elite performance.
Elite performers already know this. Green By Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers aims for eight hours of sleep each night and sees it as a key to his plan to play into his forties. But Rogers looks like a sleep slacker compared to NBA superstar Lebron James who clocking at 12 hours a day. Meanwhile, the average American gets only 6 hours and 17 minutes of sleep while top performers sleep more than eight and a half hours every night.
What you want to know isn’t how to spend more time in bed; what you want to know is how to maximize the performance boost you get from sleep. That means sleeping better. Yet, many people fall into bad habits that interfere with their sleep quality and keep them from maximizing the benefit from the time their head spends in contact with the pillow.
The Big Mistakes that Rob You of Quality Sleep
Not setting a bedtime.
The best way to ensure you are rested and ready to go before the alarm wakes you is to set a time for lights out and stick to it. If you find it challenging to get up in the morning, push your sleep time back until you find the right amount of sleep for you. I set a sleep alarm on my phone to remind me when to go to bed and what I found is that if I follow the sleep alarm, I don’t need a wake-up alarm. Instead, I wake up consistently at the same time every day. You will need to experiment to find the right amount of sleep for you. Once you do, you will be glad you did.
Not following a bedtime routine.
I would hope that you at least brush your teeth before bed. Try expanding that habit into a bedtime routine. I find that reading for thirty minutes is the perfect sleep aid. As my wife knows, I often fall asleep in my book, which I want to happen. My wife finds it relaxing to apply skin creams and do other personal care. The key is to have some routine that helps you unwind and signals that it is time to sleep.
Eating before bed.
We all like to think back to a good thanksgiving dinner followed by a food-induced nap, but eating before bed can have the opposite effect. Large meals, especially those that contain rich and spicy foods, can interfere with sleep. Instead, try not to eat within two hours of your bedtime. And abstain from alcohol. That nightcap does act as a sedative and will help you get to sleep, but it suppresses REM sleep and leads to non-restorative sleep later in the night. It is best to keep evening meals and alcohol to modest amounts and refrain entirely for two hours before your bedtime.
Blue light.
Before the advent of modern lighting and screens, the only source of light was the sun. Our bodies learned to adjust themselves to this timekeeper. In the morning, the light is amber and then becomes bluer through the middle of the day. It returns to amber as the sun sets and the day goes dark. That change in light color is a signal your body uses to recognize when it is time to sleep. But we are now surrounded by artificial light that interferes with that signal and confuses our brains about when we should sleep.
To solve this problem, I installed “warm” light bulbs in a few lamps in my house and use only these lights for an hour or two before bed. The orange glow from those bulbs helps clue my brain into the fact the day is ending, and it’s time to sleep.
Also, avoid TV and screens for an hour before bed. These devices emit a lot of blue light and interfere with your natural rhythm and trick your brain into thinking it is day rather than night. That is why the only electronic device I allow myself for the hour before bed is my Kindle.
Working in bed.
Reserve your bed for two uses; sleep and special time with a special someone. That is it. Do not use your bed to do work. Not even to answer email on your phone. As a surgeon, I do have to take calls at night. When I get called, I get out of bed to talk on the phone. Partly not to bother my sleeping spouse, but also to maintain that separation between work and bed. If you are not an on-call doctor or a similar occupation, I recommend not keeping your phone in the bedroom at all to eliminate the temptation to check it and invite work into your sleep time.
Room too warm.
As with light, temperature also naturally cycles through the day. As the day moves into the evening, not only does the light change color, but the temperature goes down. That drop in temperature signals that it is evening and time to sleep. Keeping your bed chamber too warm can interfere with this natural signal. Ideally, you should sleep in a room between 60 to 66 degrees Farenhieght.
I found that a programable thermostat is a great way to make that happen. I program mine to let the house start cooling before my bedtime. The home’s cooling is another signal that it is time to sleep, as wells as an excellent way to help me get a good night’s sleep.
A counterintuitive use of this principle is to take a warm bath before bed. It’s not the warmth of the bathtub that helps you sleep but the cooling of your body when you get out of the tub that makes you feel sleepy.
Sleeping on an old pillow.
If you can’t remember the last time you replaced your pillow, it is probably time to do so. Pillows are intended to be soft and pliable, which are not characteristics that lead to durability. The National Sleep Foundation recommends exchanging your old headrest for a new one every two years. A good rule of thumb to test your current pillow is to fold it in half and see if it springs back into shape. If not, then it is time to invest in a new one.
If you suffer from allergies, you may want to replace your pillow more often. Pillows can collect dust, dead skin, dust mites, and other irritants that can trigger allergies. And no one sleeps well when their allergies are acting up.
Staring at the clock.
I’m sure you know how this goes; you can’t fall asleep, so you keep checking the clock to see how much sleep you are missing. That creates more anxiety about not sleeping, which makes it even harder to get to sleep. You can’t win at this game, so don’t play.
Instead, don’t keep a light-up clock near your bed. Just set a bedside alarm and then don’t look at the clock again. And if you have trouble falling asleep, try focusing on your breathing, relaxing your body, and emptying your mind. Or do what I do when my brain refuses to settle, read something that will give your brain something else to focus on. I hate to waste fifteen minutes of sleep to read, but it has proven an effective method for clearing my mind and getting me off to sleep sooner.
Conclusion
I used to be guilty of most of these mistakes, and it cost me. It took a deliberate effort to turn my bad habits around, but it was well worth it. Not only do I sleep better and wake up at the same time each morning, but I have lost weight and become more calm and productive during the day.
The best way to a good day is a good night’s sleep. It takes a little effort to set up a sleep routine, avoid food and alcohol late in the day, adjust the light and temperature of your bedroom and change out your worn pillow, but it will be worth it to ensure you get the maximum benefit from the hours you spend in bed.
