How did you feel when you woke up today?

 

Did you bounce out of bed ready to take on the world and smash your work to-do list?

 

No, thought not. And like so many of us, it probably took that first sip of coffee to feel anything close to alive.

 

That snooze button is too tempting and, as nice as it is to get those extra 5 minutes, we then set ourselves up for a day of feeling groggy and pretty lethargic.

 

All this after making sure we get those mythical 8 hours of sleep that are meant to turn us into some sort of superhero the next day.

 

Sleep/rest is massively important when it comes to productivity and I hope the below info will give you some tips on how to maximise your sleep time so you can get more out of work day.

 

The Sleep Coach

 

Nick Littlehales is a name for you to Google.

 

He is a ‘Sleep Coach’ who has worked with everyone from The GB Cycling Team to Cristiano Ronaldo, with the intention of giving them extra gains through better sleep.

 

I read his book recently and it opened my eyes massively (pun intended!).

 

The main points

 

We’re told we need 8 hours sleep to function normally but Nick argues to the contrary.

 

He says we sleep in cycles of 1.5 hours where our bodies pass through certain stages of sleep.

 

If we wake up BETWEEN a cycle we feel more alert and awake. Waking up IN a cycle makes us have that feeling of ‘how can I feel this tired when I was bed for 8pm last night’.

 

The trick is to get through 5-6 of these cycles per night and wake up after the last cycle.

 

Real-life example

 

Say you wake up at 6am every day – here’s what you’d need to.

 

Use a sleep calculator https://sleep-calculator.com to work out when you should be falling asleep.

 

Here is would be best to fall asleep at 10:30pm to get your 5 cycles or 9pm to get the 6 cycles.

 

Bear in mind it can take 10-15 mins to fall asleep so you’ll need to factor that in. You may take longer so simply tailor it to how long it takes you to nod off.

 

Why this method is so good

 

Let’s face it – as much as we’d love to say we will get to sleep at 10:30pm all the time it simply won’t happen EVERY night. Life gets in the way.

 

The great thing about this method is that we can put our minds at ease by simply falling asleep when your next cycle starts.

 

Following the example above – you get in at 11pm after having a night out with friends.

 

You’ve missed your 10:30pm slot. Does this mean you’re now destined for a day of feeling tried tomorrow? No, absolutely not.

 

All you do is fall asleep at the start of the next cycle. In this case you would aim to stay awake until 12pm. You’d then get a full 4 cycles of sleep before your 6am wake up.

 

That is the beauty of this method, it is flexible. Although it is recommended you get the 5-6 cycles most nights, you can still wake up feeling more alert by simply going to sleep when the next cycle starts.

 

The key is sticking to the 1.5-hour cycle and waking up when your alarm goes off.

 

Nick says to look at things over a whole week instead of day by day. If you know you’re going to have a late night on a Thursday, just plan it in and aim to get an extra cycle of sleep on another day.

 

Cheat-sheet sleep tips

 

I recommend you read the book (details below) but here are some of the main tips:

 

• Stick to the same wake up time
• Get 5-6 sleep cycles of 1.5 hours in per night
• Don’t use devices (including TV) in the bedroom for at least 1 hour before sleep
• Blackout your bedroom
• Keep the temperature relatively cool
• Don’t invest loads in fancy mattresses (more info in the book on this)

 

For more info on where to buy the book just scroll down.

 

For where to buy please see here

Veritas is not in anyway connected with the author and receives nothing for recommending the book.