Hey - It’s Michael.
Caught a cold the other day & spent considerable time in bed - not so much fun! Enjoy the newsletter!
The Situation
The alarm rings and tears you out of bed. The reason for your lack of sleep doesn’t matter - the effect: life becomes dreadful.
Lack of sleep impairs your life. Heavily.
You get sick more easily. You learn half as efficiently. Emotional regulation becomes difficult and the risk for accidents rises. Your physical abilities plummet. Your social attractiveness goes down the drain. Your decisions get worse, you damage your heart & creativity is lost.
Even if you’d eat healthy, exercise, have a healthy social environment & work you love - without sleep - you’ll perform worse, feel worse and die early.
The System
It is scientifically undisputed: sleep is the #1 foundation for a healthy life.
Without it, nothing works.
It is the most important lever for effective recovery from stressors of high performance - whether mental, emotional or physical.
Principle:
Protect your sleep, no matter what.
Great sleep entails great recovery entails high performance.
The classics of good sleep hygiene are:
Go to bed & wake up at the same/similar times everyday - even after nights of bad sleep.
Get outdoors to get morning sunlight to set your circadian rhythm.
Give yourself enough sleep opportunity (= at least 8h in bed, most adults need 7,5-9h of sleep).
Avoid late big dinners, late exercise, alcohol & coffee & screen time before bed.
(All proven to impair sleep - no matter how much you’ve convinced yourself that you’re “used to it”)
Keep a cool, dark & quiet room.
In Practice
My personal favorites for improving sleep quality are a bit different. I’ve found that they naturally affect all classics positively without the mental effort:
Mindset
Change your attitude towards sleep. Make it a non-negotiable priority.
For example, I now refuse to schedule early flights, meetings or anything else that endangers/conflicts my regular sleep schedule.
Wind Down Ritual
Have 1-2h routine before bed to ensure good sleep.
This might include: journalling, preparing the following day (reduces mental stress), stretching, a hot shower (induces physical relaxation), reading,…
Possibly the most effective tool because it ensures most of the classics by naturally excluding all the damaging stuff like drinking, overstimulation or screens.
Redesign your bedroom
Get a physical alarm clock, throw out the TV and strip down your bedroom to its core purpose: a good environment for sleep.
I highly recommend you read “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker - it’s a book that quite literally changed my life.
A Quote To Ponder On:
“Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day.” - Matthew Walker
A Question To Reflect On:
Have I really slept enough?
See you next week - Michael