Whatever your attitude towards sleep, research is now clearly linking the power
of sleep to our wellbeing and ability to perform but, at the exact same time, stats
are on the rise around the poor sleep patterns of Aussies.
“33-45% of Aussies have poor sleep patterns”, 2018 – Sleep Health Foundation
So what better chance than Sleeptember (yes it’s a thing), to shine the spotlight
on something that might just be your secret wellbeing superpower or, in my
case, continues to be my Achilles heel…
Last year, I resolved to change my relationship towards sleep. I set intentions
before I went to bed ‘I love sleep and its blissful and abundant’ to following strict
bedtime routines. Hello glasses of magnesium powder, no screens or alcohol and
even banning ‘adrenaline activating’ Netflix fav shows… It was going fairly well
until the last 2 months when my schedule saw me travelling every week, staying
in foreign beds and delivering a few (higher than normal pressure) speaking gigs
and trainings. I’ve really noticed the knock on effect and I’m back to scraping 7
hours sleep a night in the week and struggling to lie in on weekends.
The cumulative effect is my energy reserves are getting low and I’m noticing my thinking and focus is not at it’s best.
I wonder if you can relate?
So, if like me, you wrestle with poor sleep, your ability to rest eludes you, or a
tough schedule has knocked you off your sleep game, then boy do we have a
great exercise for you!
Design your perfect bedtime routine
Have you ever noticed, as kids, we often had a set bedtime routine that helped prepare us for a good night sleep? What happened to this and when did we stop doing it?!
My business partner Emma Hart is an absolute genius at getting terrible sleepers
sleeping again. In fact she’s currently sitting at 100% success rate with all the leaders she has worked with on this! She says “Preparing for a goodnight sleep needs to begin well before your head hits the pillow”.
She has designed a series of questions that will help you think about your bedtime routine and how it can be improved so you can sleep better.
Ask yourself
1. What activities could you do in the last hour of your day to prepare yourself for high quality sleep?
2. What evening activities could you stop or reduce to optimise your sleep?
3. What does your optimal bedtime routine include?
In my case it’s getting back to:
◉ A glass of magnesium before bedtime
◉ Staying away from alcohol*
◉ Dimming the lights in the house and removing screens from the bedroom
◉ Changing the sheets to crisp ones (especially the night before a big presso)
◉ Having a relaxing bath
*Alcohol is a tricky one as, in the past, I’ve had a glass or two to aid me getting to
sleep but have you noticed it can wake you up around 2 – 4 in the morning
(hello liver processing time), or you just wake up not feeling rested?
If you need something even more comprehensive I also wrote an article deep
diving into developing quality sleep patters beyond just the evening routine.
You can take a look HERE.
Please feel free to email us at info@claretyinc.com with any feedback on what is
and isn’t working from our exercises we’d love to hear about your journey with
sleep.
To your health and happiness,
Clare Robinson
Founder & Head Coach
P.S. Here are 3 ways we can help you personally or, the people within your company, take advantage of what’s coming:
- Join our next ‘Energised Leaders’ Coaching Program
Do you battle with starting and maintaining healthy sleep habits or simply
want to install fabulous health and wellbeing routines that will support you
to be the best leader (parent, partner, person) you can be? Just hit reply to this email with ‘ENERGISE’ in the subject header and we’ll send you all the
juicy details. - Request your complimentary sleep & rest tips worksheet?
Want to go deeper into the world of sleep and get Emma’s proven tips from
helping 100s of leaders improve their sleep routines so they can perform at
their best? Reply with ‘WORKSHEET’ as the subject and we’ll they will hit
your inbox in a jiffy! - Work with me and my team privately
If you’d like to work directly with me and my team in your business to
support you through a major leadership challenge or to develop a healthier
workplace culture, then reply to this email putting ‘PRIVATE’ in the subject
line, tell me a little about your business and what you need some support
with and we’ll get back to you asap.
