Sleeping Well?

If you are like most people, the answer is "No." According to an annual sleep in America poll, 60% of respondents experience sleep problems every night or almost every night. That's alot of people! The study also highlighted how 90% of people use some type of tech device with a screen one hour or less before going to bed. They highlighted the effect that electronic screens have on alertness and how they actually inhibit sleepiness.

Getting a good night's sleep MUST be a major act for your self ring. Too many people try to deny it and end up limiting their success in one or more of their other rings. What's so frustrating is that next to "how to eat well" we know so much about how to get a good night's sleep. But, I'm as guilty as everyone else in not always following best sleep practices. So to remind myself (and maybe you too) of what I need to do to better insure a good night's sleep, here's my list of things to help increase the chances of getting better rest:

• Don't eat anything less than two hours before bedtime. If you must eat something, choose fresh fruit like bananas, grapes or an orange.
• Get things worked out. Don't go to bed with unresolved conflict with a child or spouse. If you can't get the issue to a level that will let you rest easy, get up and write out your thoughts. Then look back over them before actually talking with the person about the situation.
• Laugh. I must confess that one way I find to relax before turning in is to find an old episode of "America's Funniest Home Videos" and just laugh and chuckle for about 15 minutes. Even if the video is only moderately funny, the old hairstyles, etc. are enough to make you laugh. Yes, I know it's looking at a "technical device." But I limit myself to 15 minutes or less.
• Fresh linens. Hang your bedspread outside for the day or even drape it across a chair on your porch for a few hours. The fresh smell is extremely relaxing. You probably can't wash your sheets almost every day, but you can put on a clean pillow case more often-and let the fresh smell move you toward sleep.
• Get some fresh air. I find that going outside and removing myself from all the distractions in the house for a few moments helps me unplug. Make it a habit before going to bed. A few deep cleansing breaths are good as well.
• Read something positive or at least something you enjoy reading. Read with your child or even spouse. Listening to someone read-regardless of age-can make you sleepy.
• Get physical exercise earlier in the day. Too many people go to bed mentally exhausted but physically "wound up."
• Plan tomorrow before you go to bed. Make your list and plan your strategy. Don't let your mind try to do it while you sleep.
• Seek professional help. If you believe the problems to sleeping well run deeper, don't be afraid to seek assistance. Remember how you felt the last time you got a good night's sleep? Wouldn't it be good to feel that way more often?

And lastly, kiss your spouse! I can't put my hands on the research now, but I remember reading somewhere that people who consistently kissed their spouse goodnight before turning in actually slept better than those who didn't.

Choosing Another Ringmaster For Your Circus

Last week I had an interesting comment in a training program. An older participant talked about how she was not always the ringmaster of her circus, especially now. When I asked her to explain, she commented that her two children took care of her medical care and handled all appointments, etc. She said that she had given them the job of being the ringmaster of that part of her circus. When I asked her what that meant to her, she said, "I don't have to worry about it-they take care of everything."

That's a new twist on the idea of not being the ringmaster of your circus in some areas. You find someone you have a deep degree of trust in and you give them a responsibility related to your life. In her case she trusted that they could make better decisions than she could. I would imagine that if there was a huge life or death decision to be made that she would have input, but she has released the every day responsibilities to them to improve her own life.

As I thought about her comments, I reflected on a situation with my mother. I handle all her medical appointments, prescriptions and make decisions about her care. Since doing so her health has improved and she doesn't have to worry about calling to set up appointments, opening pill bottles or trying to remember if she took her medication. It has "improved her circus" and allowed her to focus on areas of greater importance to her.

What are some areas of your work or life that you might need to look at allowing someone else to be the ringmaster? If not ringmaster, how about co-ringmaster?

Slow Down

Sometimes to be more effective and productive you have to slow down. "Experts" recommend strategies like multitasking and systems that will allow you to do more stuff in a day. Yes, there are ideas that when implemented will make you more effective and efficient (we train on them all the time) but the notion of slowing down might be one that will help you the most.

Consider some of the benefits of slowing down:

• Your thoughts and ideas are more deliberate and you are less scattered


• You make fewer mistakes


• You are present in the moment rather than doing one thing and thinking about 5 other things that you need to do next (multi-tasking is bad)


• With your slower pace you are more strategic with what you are working on because you have to say "no" to the trivial and less important


• By slowing down you will be less apt to burnout and ruining your health

Sure you might not get as much done in the day. But by slowing down, the quality of what you do accomplish will increase, you will feel better physically and mentally and you might even find some time to stop and smell the roses.

Take Care of Yourself

I am not a big fan of sleep-especially when I am worried, have too much to do and can't get to sleep in the first place. It is one of those things that is necessary that I wish I didn't have to worry about. I find myself saying (and maybe you do too), "If I could get by on just one less hour of sleep, that will equate to an hour of extra productivity. I could get more stuff done!" Unfortunately, that isn't the case.

For most people, we need on average 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Don't cheat yourself. You will be less able to focus and have less energy during the day if you don't get your rest. Dr. Charles A. Czeisler, the Baldino Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School has been quoted as saying, "The general effect of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance is well-known: Stay awake longer than 18 consecutive hours, and your reaction speed, short-term and long-term memory, ability to focus, decision-making capacity, math processing, cognitive speed, and spatial orientation all start to suffer. Cut sleep back to five or six hours a night for several days in a row, and the accumulated sleep deficit magnifies these negative effects."

Short and long term memory, focus and decision-making capacity all seem like important things in our day-to-day lives. If you do any additional research on the subject you will also find that sleep deprivation can affect your physical well being-an increase in illness, high blood pressure, etc. You are the only you that you have got! Take care of yourself first and then go after the rest of the stuff in your life. You deserve it.

Good Book To Help With Intermissions

It’s rare to recommend a book before reading it, but the tip was given to us just a couple days ago. The book is Stopping-How to be still when you have to keep going, by Dr. David Kundtz.

We think you’ll understand our interest in the book when you see the three types of “stopping” Dr. Kundtz suggests:
-Stillpoints
-Stopovers
-Grinding Halts

Once we have a chance to actually read it (perhaps during an upcoming intermission), we’ll let you know more about what we found to help with our circus.