Did you sleep well last night?

Margaret Thatcher, former British prime minister was wrong. You cannot
survive on four hours of sleep each and every night. Your
productivity, sanity, and even health will suffer.

When I ask executives I’m working with at companies including Amazon,
Google, and Starbucks if they slept well last night I rarely hear “yes
Val, I slept great and often have the right amount of sleep."

My first daughter was not yet two when our twins were born so I know
all about sleep deprivation and how to function on minimal sleep.

Coming out of our no alarm clock summer schedule with our three kids
all back to school, I knew I needed to pay attention to my sleep so
last month I bought a Fitbit and the most fascinating insight that I
perhaps knew but didn’t want to acknowledge was how inconsistent my
sleep was. So I have been conducting an experiment to consistently hit
seven hours sleep a night.

As any parent may be able to relate to, there have been many 9pm
moments where the kids are in bed, the kitchen is back together,
lunches packed, and I have to decide if I watch TV, read, actually say
hello and talk to my husband Andy, or go to bed. For the last month
I’ve prioritized the latter, going to bed at 9 or 10pm. (Which hasn’t
been easy when we just get addicted to a new TV series like Succession
which is simply brilliant!)

Data on my Fitbit has helped me see my sleep patterns, how many times
I wake up at night, how much deep sleep, light sleep, REM sleep I get
and what I need. Now I am fascinated with how what I eat or drink
affects my sleep and how my performance the next day is impacted.

I’ve also started cycling two of our girls to school, then I cycle
onto my CrossFit class, (more on that next week,) but my sleep is
impacting my cycling performance. I cycle 2 miles up hill each morning
and finally after eight rides over two weeks I could make the journey
without stopping. That I put down to my sleep.

So enough about me, what about you? Did you sleep well? When did you
consistently last get a week of seven or eight hours sleep and how did
it impact your performance? Do you know the accelerators and
decelerators for your perfect nights sleep?

Try the one hour sleep test. Add one hour to your typical sleep time
for seven days and pay attention to how you feel and what improvements
you see to your productivity.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

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