50 for 50 Ideas 10 & 11: Your Sleep

posted on: March 10, 2018
author: Brian Lomax, Ed.D.

When I was in college, I liked to sleep…A LOT! I napped between classes almost every day. And I was one of those rare college students who never pulled an all-nighter. That wasn’t because I didn’t need to, it was because my brain would shut down and tell me to sleep. Choosing sleep always seemed to work for me.

Sleep is one of the 3 fundamentals of physical energy along with nutrition and movement. To be a great performer, you need great physical energy. I have come to realize that sleep is a major component of how I feel everyday and how I perform. Anything less than 8 hours, and I’m likely to be off my game in some way.

Unfortunately, many people sacrifice sleep in favor of other activities that “need” to get done (homework, work, laundry). There is also a segment of the population that takes pride in sleeping less than everyone else. They claim that they don’t need as much sleep as others, or that they will sleep when they are dead. I’ve worked with people like this and the truth is, they are not at their best and they don’t look healthy. And since I know you want to be healthy, here are ideas 10 and 11: set consistent bedtimes and prioritize your sleep.

“For anyone who wants to be successful, sleep is a necessity, not a luxury.”
-Dr. James B. Maas, from Power Sleep

#11 – Prioritize your sleep

In order to prioritize sleep, it’s necessary to reframe how you think of it. If you don’t see it as a necessity for performing well, it becomes easy to sacrifice it in favor of other things. Change your viewpoint so that you consider sleep as one of the vital components of your daily performance. Without it, you will be less focused, less motivated and less able to regulate your emotions. That doesn’t add up to greatness, and I know you want to be great, so change this.

Now you might be saying that you have a lot to do and that you have to stay up late to get everything done. OK, that may be true, but let me ask you a question. How well are you managing your time earlier in the day? Or earlier in the week or month? Are you wasting swaths of time on social media? Do you have to sacrifice your sleep because you’ve procrastinated to the point that this is the night before something is due? If any of that is true, then you have a great reason to address those issues because sacrificing your sleep is the wrong answer.

There will be times when you need to stay up late to get something done or get up extra early to go somewhere, but make those the exceptions, not the rule. The rule should be that sleep is a primary factor in your daily performance and you will prioritize it.

#10 – Consistent bedtimes

If you are able to reframe your perspective on sleep as a critical factor in your performance, then it becomes easier to set consistent bedtimes. Treat the time you go to bed and the time you wake up as non-negotiable appointments you keep with yourself. These should not be changed unless something critical requires it like an early morning flight. In those cases, plan for a nap later in the day.

Recently, I gave a talk at a college in Western Massachusetts, and had to get up at 4 am to be there for 6:30 am. My usual wake up time is 7:15 am, so this was a huge change. When I returned home later that morning, I immediately went to bed for an hour. That may not have made up for all of my sleep debt due to the early morning wake up call, but I felt much better for the rest of the day. Naps are a great strategy for recovering energy in your day. Try it out. Even if all you do is close your eyes for 15 minutes, you’ll feel better.

So what are your sleep habits? Do you think you could improve in this area? Let me know in the comments or send me an email.