Sleep

We live in a time where we mistake busyness as important and disguise stress as caring. In a world where those who get up at 4:00 AM are considered exceptional, we don't glorify those who fall asleep at 8:45 PM.

Your body repairs itself and organizes information in your brain when you sleep, and the best way for us to do this is to do nothing at all. We lay down for 6-8 hours, getting out of our way, so the body will do what's best for us; to repair the physical and prioritize the psychological.

Although 6-8 hours of sleep is recommended, there's no standard amount of sleep required for everyone. Different people need different amounts of sleep during different times of their lives.

There are two tactics I've found to improve my sleep: Natural exposure to sunlight in the morning and consistency.

According to Dr. Matthew Walker, 30 to 40 minutes of exposure to natural light in the morning kick-starts our circadian rhythm. This biological clock makes us more alert in the day and then sleepier at night.

Once the circadian rhythm is in motion, roughly 16 hours after waking, your body will start to wind itself down, preparing you for a quicker and deeper sleep. Now consistency. What does a consistent bedtime require? Discipline.

And for most of us, discipline is more complicated than getting a good night's sleep.

When you hear about the student pulling an all-nighter, the entrepreneur who works 18 hour days, or the artist who goes on a three-day binge to create the next Rocky series, the theme running through these ideals is that sleep is non-productive. It's as if sleep is like parking your body underneath the covers to sit and wait.

But sleep isn't wasted time. It's a chance for your body and mind to reconcile the impact and data you've collided with throughout the day.

It's essential to heart health and the learning process. It's essential to your emotional state and how you view the world the next day.

Some say sleep is the cousin of death, but when you put your health at risk by getting proper sleep, you may be cutting down your lifespan while diminishing your healthspan.

So instead of looking at sleep as time wasted, we must be honest with ourselves and ensure we're not wasting time while we're awake to get done what's needed for us to get proper sleep.

Give sleep the respect it deserves and recover like it's your job.

It's part of the process. As neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman has explained, rest and sleep are crucial to skill development as practicing a skill itself. So if you're training for a race, learning a new language, or studying for an exam, quality sleep impacts how fast and deep your progress will be.

Make it a priority. Find out what your body needs (I use the AutoSleep app that tracks and ranks my sleep) to recover correctly and make it a non-negotiable to get that amount of rest every night.

(This post initially was written for Paths to Peace: 9 Short Ways to a Life of Lower Anxiety but ended up not making the cut. If you liked this post, consider downloading the free eBook now.)