Did you know that the quality of sleep you have each night has the power to affect your success and productivity?
I learned some valuable lessons the hard way this week.
So I wanted to raise the question, are you taking your work to bed and is it taking a toll on your productivity? Today we are going to talk about the power of sleep without technology, self-care tips for business women!
I hope my experience will help you avoid making the mistakes I made this week!
Best Advice: Do Not Work From Your Bed
I mean, I know it seems totally like a great idea when you work from home to want to work from your comfy warm bed. But that is exactly why you should never work from bed. It becomes too easy to get too comfortable and end up taking a nap instead. Then you wake up hours later realizing you got little to nothing done.
Power of Sleep Secret: Do Not Utilize Technology Before Bed
I think as entrepreneurs that work from home especially if you have children, the biggest struggle is finding a balance between work, kids, and personal time because they can easily get all blended together and then life becomes a mess when that happens. I am a single mother of 1 and my work time is when my daughter is at school and when she is asleep. It also just so happens that I work my best at night. But I also learned that bringing my cell phone and laptop to bed is the worse idea. Quality of sleep decreases dramatically.
Even when I finally went to sleep, I found my brain constantly listening for the sounds of my phone or thinking about how I should just open my laptop to complete more work because it was only an arm-stretch away, despite being completely exhausted. Sometimes the restlessness that settled in from having my technology on my bed would get to me and I would work over-time to 2am, resulting in a major impact in my productivity the next day.
The next day, I basically took a 3-hour nap which took away so much time from my productivity and also impacted my health—I got a major flu which came along with major fatigue. So I was super-mega-tired and basically dying.
Basically, if you want good sleep and good health, let your mind rest and stay off all technology at least a whole hour prior to sleeping, and do NOT take your technology with you to bed. Keep a separate space for work, that is preferably not even in your bedroom at all. Let your brain associate bed with sleep, peace and quiet, and your work with a designated workspace.
What happens if I do take my work to bed?
Your brain will start to associate work with bedtime, and basically, when it comes to sleeping, you’ll end up not having the restful sleep you need to effectively work. Your brain will be working overtime in bed, thinking all about work and this can become very stressful and decrease your sleep dramatically and ultimately affect your health! Which as you know, if you are not healthy, then you are not working at your best. Sleep is nourishment that our bodies so urgently need daily.
What Do You Recommend?
Power of Sleep– Self Care Tips:
As I cannot stress this enough:
- No technology or work in bed
- No work or technology at least an hour before sleep
- Create a space specifically for doing work (preferably separate from your bedroom)
- Go to bed as early as possible and try to get at least 8 hours of sleep
- Set boundaries: Set a time or schedule that you will work and do not go beyond that time so that you can avoid sleep deprivation
I found this incredible Ted Talk by Arianna Huffington and in this short talk, Arianna Huffington shares a small idea that can awaken much bigger ones: the power of sleep, and not just sleep itself, but great quality sleep. Instead of bragging about our sleep deficits, she urges us to shut our eyes and see the big picture: We can sleep our way to increased productivity and happiness — and smarter decision-making.
Let me know in the comments, how many hours of sleep do you get and what do you to to ensure you have the most effective sleep?
I would also like to know what your workspace is like 🙂 Do you have an office, do you work from a coffee shop?
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4 Comments
Ernest
Madelyn Galvez
Gomer Magtibay
Madelyn Galvez