There is one habit that will help you with all of your other habits that you want to establish.
If you do this habit well, everything else becomes easier.
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What habit am I talking about?
Sleep.
Specifically, getting enough sleep and getting good-quality sleep.
I’ve noticed that the sleep habit is often ignored.
Many people stay up too late and wake up too early. They push through the lack of sleep.
Sometimes the continual responsibilities of work, kids and just taking care of daily errands and chores make it seem like we have no choice but to stay up late and sacrifice sleep.
How much sleep should you get?
The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 hours of sleep for people aged 18-64 and 7-8 hours for ages 65 and up.
The clients I’ve helped to establish a better sleep routine have told me that this is their keystone habit and that everything else in their life becomes easier and/or better when they’re consistently getting lots of good-quality sleep.
Why is sleep the keystone habit?
When you’ve got your sleep habit dialed in, you’ll have more energy and clarity for any other habit or goal you might want to work on such as:
- exercising
- eating healthier
- growing your business
- making important decisions
- feeling happier/more content
When you’re sleep-deprived, you can pretty much guarantee that will negatively affect the results of anything you’re working on.
Three essential sleep tips
- Track your sleep. Use an app, health tracker, spreadsheet or a notebook. Record the time you fall asleep, when you wake up, any sleep-disturbed periods and the total hours of sleep.
- Set a consistent bedtime and wake time. Stick to this schedule 90% of the time or higher.
- Create a simple “evening sleep routine”, designed to help you get better-quality sleep and faster.
There are many other tips that can help you sleep better but those three will get you started.
My current evening sleep routine
- My sleep routine starts around 8pm.
- I keep the lights dim.
- I take care of any chores and do some preparation for the next day.
- I then usually do some slow, static stretching or slow foam-rolling, both of which are relaxing.
- Sometime between 9pm and 9:30pm, I’ll start to read a physical book until I feel sleepy. I’m usually asleep within 15-30 minutes.
It’s a simple evening routine. The habit that really puts me to sleep is reading a book.
I used to be online right up until I felt sleepy and this bad habit would push my bed time way too late.
Plus, being online was keeping my mind too active which made it harder to fall asleep.
The one habit to rule them all
Getting enough good-quality sleep can radically improve both how you feel throughout the day and your ability to do well with any other habits or goals you’re working on.
I hope these quick ideas help you to cultivate a healthy sleep habit so you can wake up feeling well-rested and ready to take on the day.
Got a question or comment? Just reply in the comments section below.
Keep going for your goals,
Nigel
PS: Want to reach your goals faster? Check out one of the online accountability coaching programs and book a free Coaching Call.
