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- Many of us are now working increased hours at home, which reduces our sleep window.
- Sleep deprivation leads to more stress, which then impacts sleep even more.
- To improve your sleep and productivity, try tactics such as paying closer attention to your energy peaks and getting into a routine.
As an impactful leader in your industry, you know how important it is to be productive, right?
But what happens if you're not as productive as you’d like to be? The first thing that we normally look at is energy management and for most people, that means how much we sleep, or the lack of it.
Sleep is something that we’re becoming increasingly aware of, even Elon Musk is talking about it and how it affected his productivity, so you know we are talking sense here!
Elon spoke about his sleep schedule and admitted that if he gets less than six hours, his productivity starts to dip. Now, of course, we’re not all Elon, running several huge companies, but our sleep is just as important.
So how does sleep impact productivity?
The Sleep Foundation in the US recommends that we should all have between seven and nine hours of sleep per night. Anything less than that (we’re looking at you here Elon) is going to start impacting on performance.
However, with many of us working at home due to the pandemic, we’re not working and sleeping to our normal schedules.
This is where problems can happen.
Instead of working a standard 40-hour week, we may be working a 50-60 hour week. This means our sleep window is likely to be reduced. With that reduction, over time, chances are we are going to experience a slowdown in not only reaction times but our ability to think clearly.
This not ideal if you’re looking at making important business-critical decisions!
The more sleep-deprived you get, the more stressed you are likely to be, and the more impact there is on your sleep.
Does that sound familiar?
What can you do?
Below are some of my favorite tips. But if you’re looking for even more, then I would also recommend checking out Michael J. Breus, Ph.D., who is my go-to expert when it comes to all things sleep.
Try not to stress about sleep.
We know everyone tells you this, we know, and it can be hard not to stress when you are not getting a great night’s sleep. But by putting these other steps in place, you may find that you stress less.
Work out where your energy peaks are naturally.
We’re great fans of plotting where your natural energy peaks are. By knowing this, you get to understand when you’re more likely to be productive.
If this all sounds too stressful right now, then the easiest thing you can do is to work out if you’re a night owl or a morning lark. If you’re a morning person, you are likely to perform better earlier in the day. If you’re the opposite, then you’re more likely to be more productive in the evening.
Get into a routine.
There is a reason why parents try and get children into a good sleep routine. It works!
We know that not all your days are going to run like clockwork, but getting into a pattern of regular sleep is important. Try making sure that you get to bed at a similar time each night. Also, try not to sleep in at the weekend either. Over time, you’ll find that you do start to sleep better.
Make time to wind down.
If you are attached to your phone and it’s the last thing you look at before you close your eyes, then you are affecting your sleep. There is no way to get around that!
The blue light emitted from phones is exactly the opposite of what we need at bedtime.
Setting aside 30 mins (or more) before you go to bed when you start to wind down will really help. That means no phone. If you are honest, is there anything that can’t wait until tomorrow?
As you can see, there are some really simple steps that everyone can take to start helping with the overwhelm around not being productive. Of course, these last 12 months have changed how we work, where we work and, of course, have impacted our stress levels. But the good news is you can work on this. You can increase your productivity and still get impactful work done without exhausting yourself in the process. You really do deserve better.
