A wicked way to get more work (and fun!) done every day

By Linda Formichelli

How many hours would you say you sleep each night?

We WAHWs are busy, well, working at home, being wives, taking care of families and even raising kids. Sleep – what is it?

Women’s media agrees: I’ve written for several major women’s magazines, so I’ve seen up close that the “sleepless mom” is a trope you can’t escape. Article after article, blog post after blog post, research citations say we’re a nation of chronic sleepers…and that goes double for busy working women like us.

except…

Studies other than time use show that we actually sleep more than we think. When researchers asked people to log how they spent their time instead of reporting numbers from memory, the results were surprising: The average American snoozed more than 8.5 hours per night.

When we brag to our friends that we’re running on fumes, or that we need an IV infusion of Starbucks Black Eye because we only get 4 hours of sleep per night. But being too busy to sleep is a badge of honor in our culture, so we tend to innocently, unconsciously, crunch the numbers. the way The time-use logs below tell the real story.

Amazing way to get more done

A Study in the journal sleep concluded that “short sleepers (<7.5 hours) spend more time on socializing, relaxing, and leisure activities than only average sleepers, while shorter (<5.5 ঘন্টা) এবং দীর্ঘ ঘুমান (> or = 8.5 hours) both watch more TV than average and sleep.”

Is it simply a function of being awake more when you sleep 5.5 hours than when you sleep 8.5 hours? I don’t think so. Note that those who sleep less Active and social less than 5.5 hours per night. Also the key fact is that both are short And Tall sleepers spend more time zoning out in front of the boob tube.

So: Want more work, more fun, more work? It can be solved Just sleep less.

I can hear it now: “What a dangerous suggestion! Haven’t you ever heard of sleepy drivers and workplace accidents caused by tired employees?”

Wait! I’m not suggesting that we exchange healthy sleep for higher productivity, and reduce our snooze time until we’re walking zombies. that is A dangerous suggestion.

which i am a.m That being said we get more sleep than we think, and we may not need as much as we get.

How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?

National Sleep Foundation reported that the average adult needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, but in 2014 in the article The Wall Street Journal suggests that the norm is closer to 7 hours.

Not only that, NSF said People who are “short sleepers” are those who “habitually sleep 5-6 hours or less per 24 hours, without any interference with daytime functioning. Their sleep is usually uninterrupted and short, but not the result of voluntarily restricted sleep.”

So imagine you’re getting 8.5 hours of sleep every night just because you’ve heard it’s healthy, and hey, who doesn’t like to stay in bed as long as humanly possible? If your ideal is actually closer to 7 and you can make it happen, you’ll get 1.5 hours of awake time per day. Imagine what you could do with an extra hour and a half each day!

And if you’re one of those lucky short sleepers who can get as little as 5 hours of sleep per night and still feel great, but you’re forcing yourself to sleep more because you’ve heard that the average adult needs 7-9 hours, you can add 4 hours to your day. ! That’s enough for a part-time work-at-home career.

We are all different. Some of us need less sleep, some need more. Instead of going with the status quo and potentially losing productive time in your day, experiment and find out where you land on the spectrum.

The The Wall Street Journal The article states that with a trial period of a few days to a week, people should be able to figure out their optimal amount of sleep. (Vacation time is ideal for this.) Don’t set your alarm clock, avoid electronics for a few hours before hitting the sack, and keep a sleep journal. After a few days, see how much sleep your body naturally craves. If you feel better during the day, you’ve figured out your ideal sleep time.

Other experts recommend setting your alarm for 15 minutes every few days until you feel tired during the day, and then back up your snooze time by 15 minutes permanently.

Sleep better so you can sleep less

Now that you know how much sleep you need to function at your best throughout the day, try experimenting with sleep hacks that will improve your sleep quality so you can cut back even more. You can get six hours of high-quality, solid sleep just as surprisingly as you would if you got 8 hours of light or broken sleep.

Here are some hacks that work for many people, and if you google “sleep hacks” you’ll find many, many more.

Practice good sleep hygiene.

Not really a hack, but sleep hygiene practices are key to good, healthy sleep, so start here: Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet; Avoid alcohol and caffeine; Log off all electronics a few hours before bedtime; And use your bed only for sleeping and hanging out with your partner, so your brain doesn’t associate bed with reading, work, or other non-sleep (and non-sex) activities.

supplement.

Some people swear by melatonin, doses of magnesium and calcium, chamomile tea, fish oil capsules, and calming herbs like valerian. ChristopherHobbs.com has a good one overviewBut research each supplement separately because some of them, like kava, carry warnings.

Go with the rhythm.

Ever had your alarm go off, and even though you technically got enough sleep, you still feel groggy and disoriented? This could be because we sleep in 90-minute cycles and your alarm woke you up in the middle of one.

Waking up at the end of one 90-minute cycle, before another one begins, can help put the kibosh on daytime discomfort. Like the app sleep cycle (Free) will wake you up when you’re in the lightest stage of sleep, which is closer to your wake-up time.

Say “Ommm”.

It’s hard to sleep when you’re upset about annoying clients, late payments, and everything you have to do the next day. Meditation helps control your monkey mind so you can fall asleep easily and sleep better. I love free guided meditations from TheMeditationPodcast.com – They even have one specifically to help you fall asleep and another to help you wake up.

I also discovered an app called Pzizz (Free) It’s a miracle in electronic form. Set your sleep time anywhere from 15 minutes to 12 hours and Pzizz creates a new custom soundtrack with soothing music, nature sounds and a soft British voice to lull you to sleep. Even better, the new version of Pzizz has a “power nap” mode to use during the day for a short nap and wake up feeling refreshed. You don’t need to be completely asleep for this to work. (I tried it, and it’s true!)

Make your sleep work for you

If you take anything away from this post, it’s that no two people are the same, no matter what the experts declare. The only way to figure out how much snooze time you All it takes is practicing good sleep hygiene, experimenting with time and trying sleep hacks to see what works for you.

Now that you’ve added an extra hour to your day, please take the time to comment below: Let us know if you’ve tried hacking your sleep, what’s worked for you, resources you recommend, and how much sleep you’ve discovered. you Really needed.

Related reading

Linda Formichelli is the author of the new book How to Do It All: The Revolutionary Plan to Create a Full, Meaningful Life – When You Only Want to Gouge Your Eyes Out with a Sharpie OccasionallySo there’s a whole chapter on why you should sleep less… as well as why you should shower less, get uncoordinated, and talk yourself into doing more.