How To Sleep Better

How To Sleep Better

Welcome to Diary of a Worthy Pursuit! In today’s episode, titled “How To Sleep Better,” we’ll explore the vital role of quality sleep in achieving success in both life and business. Our hosts will share personal experiences and expert insights on creating the ideal sleep environment, establishing effective bedtime routines, and how to navigate challenges that can disrupt our sleep patterns. From the impact of sleep deprivation on decision-making to practical strategies for optimizing our sleep, this episode is packed with valuable tips to help you unlock the power of a good night’s rest. So, grab your favorite relaxation drink, get cozy, and let’s dive into the world of better sleep!

Enjoy!

Podcast Transcription:

Speaker A [00:00:06]:

So the other day, I had in laws staying overnight, which, as you can imagine, was a blast. So a couple things happened that made sleep less than great for some of my in laws. So first, my mother-in-law loves to putts in the backyard. Gardening, all this kind of stuff, weeding, which I love because I don’t love doing that. Interesting thing, though, is that my mother-in-law happened to leave the hose on in the backyard. Not a big deal. I didn’t know it, but whatever. Anyways, so my sister and brother-in-law end up sleeping in the basement, and I learned the next morning that they had terrible sleep.

Speaker A [00:00:42]:

They were grouchy, and they essentially said or I got the feeling from their body language that they never wanna stay here again, which on the one side you may think, well, win win. At any rate, what happened was since my mother-in-law left the hose on. That meant that our well pump was running about every 10 minutes. It also meant, because it was a warmer day, that the the line the copper line going through the basement started sweating, and that started dripping water on the basement floor. On top of that, we have a dehumidifier there that was just going crazy because there’s all this water in the basement. On top of that, my mother-in-law happened to leave the hose right by the sump pump. Saw the sump pump pit was filling up with water, and the sump pump was going off. So I had no idea this was happening, but I did know that my brother and sister-in-law got a terrible night sleep because there was a lot of motors doing a lot of things, moving a lot of water, all because my mother-in-law happened to leave the hose on in the backyard.

Speaker A [00:01:41]:

Sleep is a big deal.

Speaker B [00:01:43]:

Welcome to Diary of a Worthy Pursuit.

Speaker A [00:01:44]:

How to get what you truly want in life and business.

Speaker B [00:01:47]:

And I bet they would tell you that sleep super important after a terrible night sleep like that.

Speaker A [00:01:52]:

You know, it’s so funny because I’ve fallen asleep just watching movies or something like that in the basement before. And when they said there’s so much noise, I was thinking, what are you talking about? Right. It’s one of the quietest places in the house. Until I went downstairs and I saw the strip of water from the pipe, I looked up, and I was like, oh, no. And then you heard the pump go off, and I’m like, oh, man. I am a terrible host.

Speaker B [00:02:15]:

Oh, well, I don’t I don’t think it was it’s fault. But it’s still so interesting how things like that can impact our sleep and just make it so unpredictable. You know? I can of relate. As a parent of 2 littles, I underestimated what sleep deprivation would do to you. And I think when

Speaker A [00:02:33]:

they say, Oh, you’re in the thick of

Speaker B [00:02:34]:

it here. You’re like, oh, you know, whatever. It’s gonna be fine. Or you try to you try to prepare new parents for, like, oh, get ready. Sleep all you want now. Mhmm. And and they don’t get it. But then by the end of, you know, I don’t know, the 1st week, the 2nd week when you’re not getting any sleep these newborns, you’re like and this is what solitary confinement would feel like.

Speaker B [00:02:54]:

Yeah. Because you just you just go crazy. And and It’s interesting because we were programmed to need that sleep. So when we don’t get it, our brain just falls apart.

Speaker A [00:03:05]:

Mhmm.

Speaker B [00:03:06]:

So whether a new parent had you’re sleeping in an unfamiliar place. You probably have a story about a night you didn’t sleep well. But sleep is so important When we’re growing our business because we actually it impairs judgment when we don’t have sleep. I was just reading a study the other day that said Only operating on 5 to 6 hours of sleep every night is the equivalent of driving drunk as far as impairment goes. Wow. So you are slower in your I had judgments. You’re not making the best judgments. There’s also research that says that folks who are sleep deprived tend to stick with the old ways and don’t tend to adjust as quick as some of their better slept counterparts because they they don’t have the ability to see above the situation because their brain just isn’t operating at the function that it could be.

Speaker A [00:03:55]:

So it’s trying to stick with a habit that it knows. Right. Because that takes less energy than

Speaker B [00:04:00]:

Absolutely. It’s totally an energy savings thing.

Speaker A [00:04:02]:

Interesting. Mhmm. Wow. Yeah. I can tell if I ever get low on sleep, I’ll make stupid decisions or stupid just stupid moves. Like, gets you put the peanut butter in the refrigerator and the jelly

Speaker B [00:04:15]:

in the

Speaker A [00:04:15]:

pantry. And sometimes I’ll catch myself and being like, oh, man.

Speaker B [00:04:19]:

Right.

Speaker A [00:04:19]:

And then I think, well, what’s the rest of the day gonna be like? Mhmm. So then I’ll have to consciously say, like, you can’t make any decisions today. It’s Right. Are you not making any important decisions today? Because you’re just not in the right mindset.

Speaker B [00:04:31]:

Well and, actually, studies have proven too that the more we are sleep deprived, the more we think our decision making is amazing. When you’re on it? Right. Because your your judgment is impaired. Again, just like being legally drunk. So it’s that idea that I’m gonna make this decision, I think it’s gonna be great, and I’m doing an awesome job. When when you actually catch up on sleep, you can realize, oh, that wasn’t a good idea. Ah. And It’s also interesting because if you work in a in an environment where you have team members or maybe, you know, a boss, they can usually tell when your performance is had is slipping by not sleeping even though you think

Speaker A [00:05:07]:

you’re doing great. I had have had some employees that were gamers Mhmm. That would game until 3, be 4 in the morning, something like that, and you could tell something ain’t right. Yeah. Something you’re a smart person in the interview. You did well. You pass these assessments, all that jazz, but you are just the way that your schedule is set up with gaming and all that.

Speaker B [00:05:28]:

Mhmm.

Speaker A [00:05:29]:

You’re ruining your life is what it comes down to. Well

Speaker B [00:05:31]:

yeah. And had We’ve talked many times that how you spend your time is should align with how you have your values. And if not, then there’s a misalignment that needs to adjust there, and it’s really hard to Even see where you’re misaligned if you’re not getting this sleep. So as someone who’s trying to grow a business, this is, I think, the most underrated a productivity hack that anyone could go after. It’s just try to aim for 7 to 8 hours of sleep. And so We can talk today about how to help you improve your sleep.

Speaker A [00:06:00]:

So I’m excited for this because I probably need to know.

Speaker B [00:06:03]:

Well, the goal is to get 7 to 8 it’s Hours. That’s what the National Sleep Foundation tells us that we need.

Speaker A [00:06:09]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:06:09]:

1, to let our body physically repair at night, and then 2, to let our brain psychologically had repair. And if you’ve ever woken up and felt, like, foggy or unclear, like you’re not ready to tackle the day, it’s probably because your brain didn’t have enough cycles of kind of cleaning everything had out and getting you ready to start the day with a clear head.

Speaker A [00:06:25]:

Alright. Yeah. Interesting. Well, tell me more.

Speaker B [00:06:28]:

Alright. So Tell us more. That that’s essentially the importance of sleep. Wanna be able to tackle our business with a clear head and make good decisions. So what should that look like? Well, first, let’s talk about a schedule like we all do. Mhmm. If we think about our our day and everything we need to get done in the morning, we should start with the night before had sleep. So we’ve talked about before that whether you get up at 5 o’clock, 7 o’clock, 6 o’clock, whatever it is, you set that wake up time and then had you back up 8 hours.

Speaker B [00:06:58]:

Right. Now we so if you’re getting up at 5, then you should be in bed by 9. What’s interesting about that though is that, say, you’re dedicating 8 hours of sleep, I wear something called an Oura ring that will tell me how long I was actually asleep in 8 hours I was in bed, and it’s not 8 hours. Oh. I’m typically averaging 7:20 if I’m in bed for 8 hours. Granted again, I have little kids, and sometimes your body just wakes up. Maybe you have to get up and go to the bathroom, whatever the thing is. Right? But for 8 hours I’m in bed, I average about 7:20 Of sleep.

Speaker A [00:07:29]:

How does it know?

Speaker B [00:07:31]:

Well, it looks by your heart rate. And so if you’re actually awake, your heart rate goes up, whereas if you’re in

Speaker A [00:07:35]:

a sleeping had your heart rate is typically low.

Speaker B [00:07:38]:

Alright. Interesting. So technology can give you some really interesting data Yeah. When you’re looking at something like that. So if you want actually 8 hours of sleep. You should probably plan for more like 8 and a half hours in bed. Or if you say

Speaker A [00:07:51]:

Oh, wow.

Speaker B [00:07:52]:

Yeah. Or you should say on. Well, had I you know, I’m gonna be in bed for 8 hours and know that 7a half is gonna be okay and see how that goes. If you’re someone who gets 6 now, 7a half’s gonna be a huge improvement.

Speaker A [00:08:02]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:08:03]:

So, again, if you’re if you’re waking up at 5, set the schedule to go to bed at 9 o’clock. And for so many people, that’s so hard because If you have kids or you have a busy, you know, a busy networking schedule because you’re trying to grow a business, that might be the only time of the day you get to yourself, to do the thing that’s not growing a business or doing something for somebody else. I don’t know. I talked to so many mom friends who say, Preparing lunches for the next day or folding or scrolling because I just need to, like, numb my brain for a minute. Right? It’s my time. And I get I mean, every one of us needs to do that sort of thing, but then you’re gonna take a toll on the next day. Yeah. You know? So and what are they? What’s the saying? You rob rob Peter to pay Paul over here? So if you stay up and do those things at night, you know you’re just gonna have a sacrifice in the morning.

Speaker A [00:09:02]:

Had yeah. This reminds me of when I used to deal with blackjack.

Speaker B [00:09:05]:

Okay. So

Speaker A [00:09:05]:

I deal blackjack around Christmas time Mhmm. And you’d be all fired up because it’s a show. Mhmm. And then send you drive home. You’re all fired up. You get home, and you should go to bed based on the clock.

Speaker B [00:09:16]:

Right.

Speaker A [00:09:17]:

But where your mind is, there’s no way that you’re going to bed. Mhmm. So I had to find I think I end up watching reruns of Friends.

Speaker B [00:09:24]:

Oh, yeah?

Speaker A [00:09:25]:

Just dumb down my brain.

Speaker B [00:09:28]:

Yeah. Slow yourself down.

Speaker A [00:09:30]:

Yeah. And it was one of those like, I knew that I had to get up later the next day. Usually, it’s on a weekend, so it wasn’t the end of the world. But I knew that if I would just to lay in bed. I was gonna be staring at the ceiling. Mhmm. I had to get myself into that go away from show mode and go to quiet time.

Speaker B [00:09:46]:

Yeah. To prepare. Right. Bring yourself down so you can get ready. And I think that that’s another step that people don’t prepare for is you really do have to prepare yourself a 1st sleep. Right? So you can’t go from being on on all cylinders to just passed out. I I think my kids can do this sometimes. I’m so jealous.

Speaker A [00:10:02]:

Only if you drive.

Speaker B [00:10:03]:

Right? I’m so jealous of that, but we really do need this opportunity to kinda slow our bodies down. So whatever you’re doing during the day, had Whether you think it’s stressful or not, you’re still putting stress on your body. Mhmm. So, you know, if you are working until 10 o’clock and then had And then you’re trying to go to bed. Yeah. You need a little bit of a buffer time. Or even if you’re so my schedule is, you know, usually, I’m up in the morning with the kids. I’m working during the day.

Speaker B [00:10:27]:

I’m with the kids at night. We put them to bed, and then I that’s when I get an opportunity to slow myself down and prepare. So, One of the biggest takeaways, if you only get 1 today, is to set an alarm for when to start a bedtime routine.

Speaker A [00:10:43]:

A I love that. I remember you saying that before.

Speaker B [00:10:45]:

Yeah. So if I if I wanna be asleep by 9 o’clock, I have an alarm set on my phone for 8 thirty.

Speaker A [00:10:50]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:10:51]:

And it tells it’s just a reminder that alright, Jenna. You gotta start slowing yourself down. That might look like putting on pj’s, brushing teeth washing my face. Go going to read a book. Or it might just be, like, just do some quiet activity Alright. That is not chasing kids or watching TV.

Speaker A [00:11:06]:

Yeah.

Speaker B [00:11:08]:

So

Speaker A [00:11:08]:

Just stop running.

Speaker B [00:11:09]:

Right? Can we just all slow down a minute? But it really does give opportunity to slow down your body and prepare yourself for bed. Because if I start thinking about bed at 9 o’clock, and then it’s gonna you know, I’m not gonna be asleep until 9 had thirty. It’s a process even if you are an adult. So, again, planning for bed, something else we can do is follow the 3, 2, 1 rule. So it’s the idea that 3 hours before bed, you stop eating.

Speaker A [00:11:36]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:11:37]:

2 hours before bed, you stop any alcohol intake. And had intake. And 1 hour before bed, some people argue this is also too, no screens.

Speaker A [00:11:44]:

Right.

Speaker B [00:11:45]:

And this is again to prepare ourselves for So breaking these down a little bit. Why 3 hours to stop eating? It’s because we want our body to be able to digest our food enough so that when we go to sleep, it’s not digesting food still.

Speaker A [00:11:57]:

Okay.

Speaker B [00:11:58]:

And 1, because it digest food better when we’re upright. Alright. And 2, it can’t do the physical parrot needs to the rest of your body while your digestion is still in high mode.

Speaker A [00:12:07]:

Oh.

Speaker B [00:12:08]:

So if it’s done digesting, by the time you go to sleep, you’re gonna get better sleep.

Speaker A [00:12:11]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:12:12]:

Yeah. So it’s

Speaker A [00:12:13]:

So digestion takes a lot of energy.

Speaker B [00:12:15]:

It takes a lot of energy from your body. Absolutely. So number 2 is no alcohol 2 hours before had bed.

Speaker A [00:12:21]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:12:22]:

Again, I’ve tracked this on an on my Oura ring. It gives you a lot of good data, but it will tell me on the nights that I have a glass of wine before bed versus I the nights I don’t, where my heart rate goes, and I sleep better on the nights that I’m not consuming alcohol. Wow. Because alcohol will mess with your system. Your a Liver actually sees alcohol as a poison, and so it has to move it out of your body. Mhmm. And so if your liver is really busy processing that, again, it needs to process it and it out before you go to sleep so it can do its job when you’re asleep.

Speaker A [00:12:52]:

Interesting. Alright.

Speaker B [00:12:53]:

Yeah. And then, the last 1 is no screens 1 hour before bed, And that’s because there’s blue light emitted from our screens, our TVs, our cell phones, you know, any other screen you might have in the house. And that blue light suppresses your melatonin production. Okay. So melatonin is the hormone that your body needs to put itself to sleep to get us to to actually fall asleep. So those who suppress their melatonin by looking at screens right before bed or worse, like you’re rolling in bed and then you set your phone down and try to go to sleep, they find it hard to go to sleep because they’re not producing enough melatonin for a body to know that it’s time to slow down.

Speaker A [00:13:33]:

Interesting. So how do you trigger melatonin?

Speaker B [00:13:36]:

So by shutting off those screens.

Speaker A [00:13:38]:

Okay.

Speaker B [00:13:38]:

So the the blue light suppresses it. So if you’re not seeing those blue lights, that’s one way. Some people use actually red lights in their houses at night, so they don’t have any blue light.

Speaker A [00:13:48]:

Oh, wow.

Speaker B [00:13:49]:

You can shut off all overhead lights 2 to 3 hours before bed because there’s, there’s something about the angle of how the light hits your retina that programs some melatonin to be suppressed until a certain time at night.

Speaker A [00:14:01]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:14:01]:

You can also set your circadian rhythm by watching the sunset and rise. So if you see the sunset, there’s something again about how that color of the light, it’s reds and oranges hits your retina that programs you to start producing melatonin to go to sleep.

Speaker A [00:14:17]:

Alright. Easier in the winter than this

Speaker B [00:14:19]:

So much easy. Well or to our detriment, when the sun goes down 4:30 or 5 o’clock. Yeah. You’re more tired in the winter. That’s exactly why.

Speaker A [00:14:26]:

Time to go to bed.

Speaker B [00:14:26]:

Yeah. Right?

Speaker A [00:14:27]:

You’re still at work.

Speaker B [00:14:29]:

So there’s been so many times where I’ve gotten wrong. And now that I have kids, I can see how it works and doesn’t work. Right? Like, if I let them watch a screen all the way up until bed, we are not going to bed on time. Oh, interesting. Or it’s so much harder for them to actually slow down and go to sleep.

Speaker A [00:14:43]:

Okay. How do you explain people falling asleep like me Watching a baseball game.

Speaker B [00:14:50]:

Yeah. Fair. Sometimes it’s because we our bodies are just so tired

Speaker A [00:14:54]:

They just

Speaker B [00:14:54]:

get out. That we’re we’re just exhausted, and we just pass had Ouch.

Speaker A [00:14:57]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:14:58]:

And, you know, you might, like, zonk out for 6 to 7 hours because your body absolutely needs that, but it may not be the most restful sleep think you could have gotten Alright. Had you followed some of the 3, 2, 1 rules.

Speaker A [00:15:09]:

Fair. Yeah. So what if someone is having a hard time getting sleep, and they followed these the 3, 2, 1 rule. Yeah. No screens.

Speaker B [00:15:16]:

Right. So the 1st step is prepping before bed.

Speaker A [00:15:18]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:15:19]:

The next step is really Creating, doing some more calming things before you go to sleep. So if you’re having trouble falling asleep in that, you know, half hour, doing things like taking a warm bath at night to slow yourself down. Using something like Epsom salts actually, Has magnesium in it. And magnesium is an element that helps relax our muscles and lets us release tension through the day?

Speaker A [00:15:44]:

Interesting.

Speaker B [00:15:44]:

Okay. Taking an Epsom salt bath at night is something that’s really good to help slow down your body. Putting a, a lavender spray on your diffusing lavender in your bedroom is another one. Lavender slows down the body’s autonomic nervous system, so we’re slower as we go about things.

Speaker A [00:16:02]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:16:03]:

And then just doing other calming activities. So, again, shutting off the screens. Maybe if if you don’t talk to your partner the day, this is a perfect opportunity to have a conversation with your partner without a screen, play a game with your kids, read a book, something that’s not So, just so enthralling, so, you know, pushing yourself that You can’t slow down.

Speaker A [00:16:26]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:16:26]:

So that’s the prepping, you know, creating a calming bedtime routine Mhmm. Of different things that you can do before. There’s also certain things You can do, like there are people who struggle with melatonin production. Some people take melatonin to help them fall asleep.

Speaker A [00:16:40]:

Oh, interesting.

Speaker B [00:16:41]:

Otherwise, You you may have seen studies and articles that talk about a lot of us are magnesium deficient.

Speaker A [00:16:47]:

Mhmm.

Speaker B [00:16:47]:

And magnesium is needed for, like, 300 different processes in our body.

Speaker A [00:16:50]:

Oh, wow.

Speaker B [00:16:51]:

But, if we are taking it, a lot of us take it wrong, and we take it in the morning with all of our other vitamins. But because magnesium slows down our muscles. It should actually be taken at night before we go to bed.

Speaker A [00:17:01]:

Oh, interesting.

Speaker B [00:17:02]:

So magnesium is another thing that if you think you’re deficient, you can always go talk to someone and a test, but if you’re taking magnesium, it should be taken before bed.

Speaker A [00:17:09]:

What kind of food has magnesium? I’m looking to mine somewhere.

Speaker B [00:17:16]:

You You know, off the top of my head, I can’t really think of them. I know, bananas are a good one. You can also get electrolyte drinks

Speaker A [00:17:25]:

Okay.

Speaker B [00:17:25]:

And put, certain things in your water so you’re taking in electrolytes through the day. Okay. And that can help. And so the one I like is called Element or Element, and I just put it in a big water bottle, and it has sodium, magnesium, and what’s the third Yeah. Alright. A lot of us are deficient in especially those last 2.

Speaker A [00:17:44]:

Oh, interesting. Yeah. Alright. I like it. You know, I’m thinking as we’re talking about the sleeping thing, back when I first started my business. I would have a hard time sleeping because my brain was just on. Yeah. It would be the the problem the current problem of the day, whatever it was, whether that was client, employee, whatever, broke down car.

Speaker A [00:18:04]:

Who knows? Just Mhmm. There’s always a problem of some kind.

Speaker B [00:18:07]:

Welcome to life.

Speaker A [00:18:08]:

Say yeah. Right? Yeah. Right? Problems are a sign of life. And I had to essentially talk myself into or teach myself that you have this problem. It’s keeping you up because you’re thinking about this problem. So you have 2 options. Option 1 is do something to solve the problem or realized that you can’t or won’t still go to sleep.

Speaker B [00:18:30]:

Yeah.

Speaker A [00:18:30]:

And as soon as I realized that, problems for the most part, very rarely keep me up at night. Well, I

Speaker B [00:18:38]:

think you bring up a good point that mindset is kind of the undercurrent a lot of things and how we could help ourselves a lot better if we just took a better mindset. So I love that you had positive self talk. You flipped the script had on that so he knew what you could do differently. Mhmm. My recommendation to clients is to keep a notebook by your bedside table Yes. Totally. With a pencil. And just anything that had up, you write it down, and then you know you’ve captured it Mhmm.

Speaker B [00:19:01]:

So you don’t feel like you’re gonna lose it or drop it and forget it. And then the next morning, look.

Speaker A [00:19:05]:

It’s there. You didn’t

Speaker B [00:19:06]:

lose the thing. Right. Another other thing that I’ve heard is, you know, some kids have trouble going to sleep or staying asleep. Or if you have trouble falling asleep and you have insomnia, you You might lay there for a half hour and wonder, like, why can’t I fall asleep? But in and of your in and of itself, asking yourself that question, why can’t I fall asleep, sleep is reinforcing the fact that you think you can’t fall asleep.

Speaker A [00:19:28]:

The presupposition. Right.

Speaker B [00:19:29]:

Exactly. So this is a theme that we talk about, but ask yourself a better question

Speaker A [00:19:33]:

Mhmm.

Speaker B [00:19:34]:

Of what can I do to help myself fall asleep or, you know, what is what do I need to release so I can fall asleep?

Speaker A [00:19:41]:

Mhmm.

Speaker B [00:19:43]:

One of the things that I really like to do before bed is a a body scan meditation, and you can look these up on YouTube. But it’s the idea that you are Intentionally thinking about different areas of your body and relaxing them and releasing tension in that area. Oh, interesting. Usually, these are, like, 10 minute meditations. 5 minutes in, usually passed out.

Speaker A [00:20:01]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:20:01]:

So it’s that idea of just thinking about something else and getting your brain off of something. Mhmm. Like the fact you can’t fall asleep can really help you release and let Go.

Speaker A [00:20:10]:

So it’s kinda like feel your toes kinda thing. Right.

Speaker B [00:20:12]:

Like, feel and release your toes. Right. There was a a yoga class I did once where the woman talked about, imagine that there’s a steamroller coming, and it’s not going to hurt you, but it’s flattening your body like in Roger Rabbit. You remember Roger Rabbit?

Speaker A [00:20:25]:

Thank you.

Speaker B [00:20:25]:

Where it’s, like, flattening your body and releasing all the tension. So it’s now it’s coming over your toes. Now it’s coming over your calves. Now it’s coming over your knees. And so you picture yourself releasing this And progressing through your body and just letting go of of tension and also focusing in on something other than I can’t fall asleep.

Speaker A [00:20:42]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:20:42]:

Yeah.

Speaker A [00:20:43]:

Yeah. Trying the pattern interrupt.

Speaker B [00:20:45]:

Yes.

Speaker A [00:20:45]:

Changing the pattern, concentrate on something else. Yeah.

Speaker B [00:20:48]:

I love it. Alright. So we have 1 more area here as a tip for you, had That’s creating the right nighttime environment. So this is huge, and I think these are just little hacks sometimes that people miss. There’s research that has said said that our body sleeps best between 62 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Mhmm. So one thing to check if you’re having trouble falling had sleep or staying asleep. It’s like if you wake up super hot, you might be keeping

Speaker A [00:21:13]:

your room

Speaker B [00:21:14]:

too hot. Alright. So when it’s hot out during the day, maybe you don’t like keep it super cold, but at night, you know, crank it down to something like, you know, 68 or 67 because our body tends to sleep better when it’s cold. And And if you have a partner that is cold, then throw an extra blanket on them and make sure that they’re okay, but this this can certainly help you sleep.

Speaker A [00:21:34]:

Sure. Fair. You know, it’s funny. I used to go to a car show with some buddies Yeah. And we’d stay in hotel rooms. And one of the guys end up staying with Heath would keep I think he said the air conditioner is 58 or 60.

Speaker B [00:21:47]:

Yeah.

Speaker A [00:21:47]:

I mean, the joke was always that there’s gonna frost on the wall. So if you’re ever staying with that guy, it’s freezing cold. But it’s interesting because even with 75 blankets, I still got a great night’s sleep.

Speaker B [00:21:57]:

Right.

Speaker A [00:21:57]:

Shai that some hotels that air conditioner sound like a I don’t

Speaker B [00:22:01]:

know. Freight train? Large freight train running through. Right. Well, that’s another piece of creating, you know, a good environment. So white noise machines. We do this for our kids to help them kind of black out all of that noise, yet we’re not good at doing ourselves. Mhmm. So I love my husband, but he snores.

Speaker B [00:22:19]:

And I just can’t I can’t get past it sometimes. So I put a white noise machine on in my bedroom, and I can sleep because then when he starts to snore, I can focus on the white noise and not had snoring, and it helps me get back to sleep.

Speaker A [00:22:32]:

Interesting.

Speaker B [00:22:33]:

Yeah.

Speaker A [00:22:34]:

Yeah. I don’t I don’t think I snore

Speaker B [00:22:35]:

at all. Of course. I’m let’s ask had Wife. Let’s see what she says.

Speaker A [00:22:40]:

She does too. It’s all good.

Speaker B [00:22:42]:

But there’s some of these things that we do for our kids that we should totally do for ourselves. I I think I was telling you, my my kiddo’s bedroom the basement next to the furnace, and that furnace kicks on. In the 1st couple weeks he slept in that basement, he couldn’t sleep a wink. Turned on a white noise machine, fell asleep, you know, like that.

Speaker A [00:22:56]:

Some interesting. Yeah. We my kid, even last night, he has a fan on him every night.

Speaker B [00:23:02]:

Okay.

Speaker A [00:23:03]:

There’s this little thing, and the thing sounds like it’s a V eight missing a couple cylinders. It’s just loud. Right? This thing. And and he was complaining about being hot last night. And I’m like, we can get a bigger fan. It’s a little quieter. Yeah. Nope.

Speaker A [00:23:17]:

Nope. I want this this a crooked diesel engine that

Speaker B [00:23:22]:

Yep. Soothed me to

Speaker A [00:23:23]:

sleep. Whatever.

Speaker B [00:23:24]:

Uh-huh.

Speaker A [00:23:25]:

Yeah. So it’s interesting because when you first started with a fan. It was so annoying to me, and I’m down the hallway kinda thinking, like Yeah. How can you sleep with that thing? But he loves it.

Speaker B [00:23:35]:

There’s yeah. Well, some people just sleep with the ceiling fan on too, which, again,

Speaker A [00:23:38]:

is pretty

Speaker B [00:23:39]:

good with the noise. Yeah.

Speaker A [00:23:40]:

But it doesn’t sound like that thing.

Speaker B [00:23:41]:

Yeah. Right. Maybe he needs a little Something in between.

Speaker A [00:23:44]:

Yeah. Nice less than 80 decibel.

Speaker B [00:23:46]:

Yeah. Right.

Speaker A [00:23:48]:

Constantly changing.

Speaker B [00:23:49]:

So one other tip for creating the right environment at night is to try to black out all of the lights. So, again, like I mentioned with the lights from our phone or even the, You know, when you charge your phone, there’s that little charging light.

Speaker A [00:24:03]:

Mhmm.

Speaker B [00:24:04]:

That can disrupt sleep because your body sees it as a light, had And then it thinks it needs to be awake. So blackout curtains are really great, making sure that there’s no light emitting from charging phones or better yet, had charge your phone outside of the bedroom. Mhmm. That can be really helpful. And that’s helpful for a lot of reasons. One, you use it to set an alarm. You actually have to get up and get out of bed to Yeah. Open the alarm, and then you’re not gonna go back to sleep.

Speaker B [00:24:30]:

But also it’s helpful because there’s people have opinions about this, but our phones, emit electromagnetic, frequencies. And so and even Wi Fi does this too. So if you do sleep with your phone next to your bed, put it in do not disturb or airplane mode at night, again, to help you sleep, or just move that phone out of bedroom, and then you don’t have to worry about the light or any of those things kinda disrupting sleep.

Speaker A [00:24:54]:

Yeah. That’s fair. That’s fair. I think a good altogether thing is to get into a habit.

Speaker B [00:24:59]:

Yes.

Speaker A [00:25:00]:

I have a habit, that I consciously put together where you do these things, make a smoothie, lift some weights, punch on a bag. Mhmm. You know, you brush your teeth, you take a shower, and I get this in order, and it’s preparing my body. Knowing that you know, it’s kinda like when you’re in an airplane, they tell you, get yourself ready. We’re gonna hit the runway here pretty some

Speaker B [00:25:23]:

Right. It’s your checklist.

Speaker A [00:25:24]:

Yeah. You’re getting ready.

Speaker B [00:25:25]:

Yeah.

Speaker A [00:25:25]:

And I was I’ve been trying to help my kid get into that so he knows when it’s dialing back mode.

Speaker B [00:25:31]:

Mhmm. So

Speaker A [00:25:32]:

had so to get in that habit to prepare your body, like, here

Speaker B [00:25:34]:

we are.

Speaker A [00:25:35]:

Well and

Speaker B [00:25:36]:

it’s it’s so interesting because so many of us have a morning routine, but fewer of us have a nighttime routine. And, again, we have a bedtime routine for our kids when they’re little, but we’re not so good at holding it and honoring it for ourselves. Totally. So I think, ultimately, it’s just identifying what are you doing now

Speaker A [00:25:51]:

Mhmm.

Speaker B [00:25:51]:

That’s working, that’s not working, and then being very intentional about creating a bedtime routine that does slow body down so you can fall and stay asleep.

Speaker A [00:25:59]:

Yeah. And what? Let’s just say you get awesome sleep. You’re not drunk anymore when you wake up. So tell us about the benefits of sleep beyond just being able to wake up normally without hating your alarm.

Speaker B [00:26:09]:

Right. Well, when you do get a full night’s sleep, your your judgment It’s so much cleaner. You have a clearer head. Our emotions are more even, so it’s easier to have a conversation with someone. Mhmm. It also keeps us healthier. Like I said, your body is able to repair. It will break down any of those cells that are damaged and move them out.

Speaker B [00:26:30]:

It can also store memories better. So anything that you did yesterday is better stored in, you know, short term, long term memory because your brain was able to file it accordingly. But you’re also better able to understand your hunger cues. You know, there’s this really interesting relationship between the amount of had sleep you have and how satiated you are after you eat and how hungry you are. Alright. So if you’ve ever noticed that after 5 hours of sleep, you’re super hungry, but no had matter what you eat, you don’t feel full. That’s because those hormones are thrown out of whack by the amount of sleep you get. Oh, interesting.

Speaker B [00:27:03]:

Get enough sleep, you’re not as hungry. You understand your hunger had cues, and then you can actually hear or listen to your body when you feel satiated, and you can shut that

Speaker A [00:27:12]:

hunger cue off. Wow. I had

Speaker B [00:27:14]:

no idea. Yeah. So sleep does amazing for us not just help us with productivity, but also help us stay healthy, help us eat the right things, and the right amount of things.

Speaker A [00:27:22]:

Alright. So if you wanna get in better shape, one of the potential helpful things is to just lay there and sleep more.

Speaker B [00:27:29]:

Just sleep more.

Speaker A [00:27:30]:

Alright. Yeah. You know? And Gonna go work out.

Speaker B [00:27:34]:

But, you know, one of the things I think that as I, was working more in health coaching that people thought was, I gotta get up at 5 o’clock. I gotta get in my workout and do all the things. And it’s like, well, the mistake that people make is your body might benefit more from getting another hour of sleep than from getting up at 5 o’clock to do that had workout. Mhmm. So it’s really important to listen to your body and understand what it needs because sometimes that hour of sleep is gonna build you up more Yeah. Than that had exercise routine is gonna break you down and and help you with the health goal.

Speaker A [00:28:04]:

Interesting. I wanna ask you 1 more question. I know we don’t have a ton of time, but tell me about naps.

Speaker B [00:28:10]:

Yeah. Oh, so interesting. So I’m a proponent of apps

Speaker A [00:28:14]:

Alright.

Speaker B [00:28:14]:

In the middle of the day and only because again, it gives you a reset button. It kinda provide some clarity. So, there’s a well known CEO, ran a publishing company for years, now his his own leadership coaching. Michael Hyatt is name. He takes a nap every day from 12 to 12:20, and it’s just a 20 minute nap. He doesn’t even need to set an alarm anymore, but he’s he claims that it gives him the reset button had needs to go after his afternoon with a clear head in a in a meaningful way. But Alright. If you take them, I don’t recommend you either do 20 minutes or you do an hour, but you can’t really do more than that because then your body gets into a deeper sleep cycle, and it’s harder to break out of it.

Speaker B [00:28:51]:

Yeah. But if you find yourself losing energy in the afternoons, like that 3 o’clock slump where you need sugar, maybe an after a a lunchtime nap reset is a good opportunity for you.

Speaker A [00:29:02]:

I love it. That’s cool. Yeah. Well, thank you all for watching. This is Diary of a Worthy Pursuit.

Speaker B [00:29:08]:

Where we talk about how to get what you truly want in life and in business.