***I am not an MD, consult your physician if you experience any difficulties in your sleep, and take the appropriate actions. This is educational material striving to help people gain an edge on their sleep.

Sleep is essential to the functioning of the human body.

Read that again out loud and process that for a minute. Now ask yourself this one question, “How is my sleep?”

According to the American Sleep Apnea Association, sleep-related problems affect roughly 50-70 million Americans, and some estimates are astronomically higher. What does that tell you personally and for a nation as a whole? Are we so consumed by our daily lives of working, serving others, doing other tasks that we neglect our own sleep, or do we think we can just catch up on the weekend to fulfill that “sleep debt”. I will tell you right now your performance when it comes to your personal and professional life are directly correlated by your decision in the lack of sleep you give your body.

I guarantee you know someone who does not get optimal sleep, or it might be you. So what actions can you take 60-90 minutes before going to bed that can promote you waking up feeling more relaxed and refreshed to attack the day, feeling confident and energized, and simply waking up with a purpose, well here we go:

1. Acceptance– it sounds cliche, but fully understanding that you may not exhibit optimal sleep is the first step to attack it in the right direction. Personally, before I train any of my clients I want them to TRACK for one week their sleep schedule and rate it on a scale of 1-10. What is this doing? This provides me as their coach a “snapshot” into what their routine is like currently, and what we can do to change things up in a more impactful way, and two it gives direct feedback to the client in their personal understanding on what their lack of sleep has on their personal and professional life.
2. Technology Mimic-Fasting– We have all heard of fasting (the nutritional diet approach) now throw that in the bucket when it comes to the usage of your lights in the house, your late night social media/phone usage, TV/Netflix binge fest, etc The less blue light at a high intensity in your house 60-90 minutes before bed, will positively impact your sleep by assisting your body secrete the hormone melatonin and engage your body in the transition from the sympathetic (fight or flight) to parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system.
3. Nutrition– You may of heard your parents tell you, “No eating past 8pm, you will be up all night” now what if I told you, you can eat at 8:30pm and still get fantastic sleep! It is all about what you consume 60-90 minutes prior to bed that can have an impact on your ability to get to sleep and to have a nights well rest. Think of it in these terms, if you have been working all day in the heat, and you get the opportunity to get in the shade, will you take it to afford you that time to rest, take a breather, or will you stay out in the heat and keep your body working hard and exhaust yourself when your co-workers watch you? Simply put, you want to let your body transition to the point that is does not need to focus on digesting a big meal at night, you shouldn’t eat a tub of ice cream and expect to fall asleep right away due to the blood sugar rise, and you should treat your body kindly to promote that next day feeling of waking up refreshed and ready to attack the day.

If you think you might be struggling with sleep or know someone that is, try these simple action steps out. This is all on an individual basis, and everyone responds differently.

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“The State of SleepHealth in America.” SleepHealth, www.sleephealth.org/sleep-health/the-state-of-sleephealth-in-america/. July 1st, 2020.