If there one thing I wished I learned earlier on in life, it would be the fact that small changes compounded over longer periods of time lead to greater net changes as compared to one-off adjustments.
Nowhere is this more exemplified in my life than in my sleeping habits.
At the risk of massively oversimplifying things, we generally spend a third of our lives sleeping, which is frankly an insane proportion if you think about it. That also means that if we were to somehow figure out how to make our sleep quality even 1% better, it would in theory lead to massive impact over the long run.
I used to subscribe to the perception that more sleep means less time for everything else, including socializing, work, own personal time, etc. While it is true technically, I found that the benefits of a good night’s sleep far outweigh the opportunity costs of the other activities, and might even enhance them at times.
I think it’s a non-controversial statement to say that a good night’s sleep does wonders for both the mind and body, which allows us to be in the optimal state to take on day when we wake up. I’ve started to prioritize getting optimal sleep about a year ago, and I’ve since felt more refreshed, energetic, and productive, which has in turn allowed me to be more effective in building up the other aspects of my life. I’ve also started to track some of the sleep related metrics via my Garmin watch, but to be honest its not necessary, as the directional is more important than numbers itself.
There is a ton of material out there on how to achieve great sleep, but if I were to distill them down to three key principles, it would be to:
1) Establish proper sleep hygiene - build habits that promote healthy sleep, including consistent sleep schedules, a wind-down routine, etc
2) Set up a conducive environment for sleep - dark, quiet, and cool room with a comfortable bed and bedding to promotes proper sleep posture
3) Sustainability is better than perfection - its better to aim for good sleep 70-80% of the time rather than perfect sleep every once in a blue moon
Having said all this, I do acknowledge that having good sleep may be a luxury not everyone can afford. Some of us, for a myriad of reasons (e.g. shift work, parents with young children), may not be able to construct a routine around great sleep. But if you do have the opportunity to do so, I think its a great way of setting ourselves up for success, and it doesn’t even take much effort (unlike say, exercise).
Most of us define the start of the day as the time we wake up, but I view my start of the day as the time I start to wind down after dinner. Given the increasing high levels of burnout and stress that we face in our daily lives, perhaps its time to rethink our relationship with sleep.
Sweet dreams.