Today’s Monday Morning Motivation video is about something I think many of us struggle with. I pray that it blesses you and gives you some new insight.
If you’re reading this in your email, you may need to click HERE to see the video.
And for week 2 of our healthy habit challenge. Remember we’re working on our third habit: SLEEP.
For the past 7 weeks, we have been working on building in life-long sustainable
healthy habits. For the first three weeks we worked on drinking water (find
those posts here, here, and here), and then we spent three weeks working
on moving our bodies (find those posts here, here, and here). Last week we began working on Sleep. Read that post here.
practices that may help you get more rest? This is NOT an easy habit to master,
so keep persevering and trying to gain ground when you can.
I did NOT make much progress in this area, but I’ll keep working on it. It’s worth pursuing!
Monday:
Sleep helps your brain to work properly and to function at its best. When
you’re sleeping, your brain is preparing for the next day. It’s forming new
neural pathways that will help you remember important information and to learn
new skills. Your task for today: Continue the practices from last week of
limiting caffeine after 2 p.m., relaxation/stretching before bed, no electronic
devices in 20 minutes before sleep, setting a ‘go to bed’ alarm, and covering
any lights in the room. Today, add in a new practice: Brain Dumping. Keep a
notepad by your bed. Before lying down to go to sleep for the evening, make a
list of what all you have that needs to be accomplished tomorrow. Not a list of
every single task you have looming over you for the next several days, but just
the critical things that must be done when you wake.
Tuesday:
Did writing down your Brain Dump list help?
Today, continue focusing on each of the tasks you have been given up to
this point. You are not suddenly going to be able to go from sleeping 5-6 hours
a night to sleeping 8+ hours a night, but keep working your way towards this.
Wednesday:
We will spend roughly one third of our life sleeping, so the right environment
for sleeping should be a priority. We have discussed the importance of limiting
lights in your bedroom, but here are some other helpful tips:
-The use of a sound machine device has been shown to improve quality of sleep
and decrease the number of times you wake through the night.
-The ideal sleeping temperature is 68 degrees or below.
-Blackout curtains are a great way to keep the room dark.
-By having a set bedtime that is consistently followed each day, and a set wake
time (even on the weekends) sleep quality is improved drastically as it can
improve your hormone cycle.
Today’s task: Write down what your ideal sleep time and wake time should be.
Each week, take steps to get closer to these times.
Thursday:
Studies have shown that several nights of losing sleep of even just 1-2 hours
per night can affect your ability to function as much as if you haven’t slept
at all for a day or two. Lack of sleep can also cause microsleep which are
brief moments when you are awake and then briefly sleep. The scary part of
microsleep is that you cannot control it and you may not even be aware of it.
This can be increasingly dangerous for those of us that drive often or work in
the medical or industrial field.
Keep practicing the habits we have been working on!
Friday:
Because it’s the weekend you will be tempted to stay up extra late tonight and
to sleep late tomorrow. Remember, keeping a standard sleep time and wake time
is best for regulating your system and your hormones. Try to keep to your
schedule if at all possible. If you want to sleep in a bit tomorrow, try not to
vary from your standard wake time by more than an hour or so.
Saturday:
Realistically, there are just seasons in life where getting 7-8 hours of sleep
each night is not possible. If you find yourself in this situation due to work
or family commitments, (hello Moms of young children), just do the best you
can. I know it’s tempting to want to stay up and enjoy some time to yourself
once the kids are finally asleep, but by going to bed, you’re going to be more
patient and in control during your day with them. If you can, sneak in a short
nap when the kids are napping, or at some point during the day. Since you may
not be able to meet your sleep needs fully, be sure you are stretching and
doing restorative activities such as walking or yoga when you can to lower
cortisol levels.
Sunday:
Continue working on these habits. Finds what works for you. Look back over your
motivation journal and see how much progress you’ve made. It is hard, but it’s
also worth it. Press on today, friends. Go check in on the Facebook page and let
us know how you have done with this habit.
Proud of you!
Here’s your checklist. You can also download and print it from HERE.
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Date
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Task
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Complete?
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Water?
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Activity?
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2/23
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Work on your first
Brain Dump. Continue all previous tasks. |
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2/24
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Brain dump plus all
previous tasks. |
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2/25
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Read through the
suggested ideas for making your bedroom a better space for sleeping. Implement any you can. |
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2/26
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Keep practicing all
that we have talked about over the last week and a half! |
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2/27
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Keep your regular
sleep and wake schedule even though it’s Friday night! |
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2/28
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Keep practicing!
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3/1
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Keep practicing! Go
check in on the Wellness Witness Facebook page. |
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