3 Tips To Optimize Your Sleep Tonight      

New Podcast Ep:

On This Walk: An Upfront Look at Men's Mental Health
 
I joined Luke Iorio on his podcast where we delved into men's challenges when seeking support and the importance of morning routines for productivity & mental health. 

And so much more. Give it a listen 👆 

Thought of the week:

“Happiness is waking up, looking at the clock, and finding that you still have two hours left to sleep.” — Charles Schulz

In this week's Dose, I share 3 strategies to help optimize your sleep for improved performance in every area of your life.

Today, we focus on simple ways to improve your energy, recovery, cognitive function, and immune system.

And I'm going to give you simple tips you can do TONIGHT to improve your sleep immediately.

So grab your coffee, kick your feet up, and read along.

Lately, I've been seeing a recurring issue with the guys I work with...

The feeling of mental exhaustion, being on the verge of burnout, lack of motivation, and having zero clarity on how to fix it.

Their stress & irritability are up. Their sleep quality is down.

Some days they're in a good mood and some days they'd rather lay on the couch to binge Ted Lasso (Can't blame 'em to be fair, great show).

They're snacking a bit more, their energy is crashing midday, they've put on a few pounds, and seem to be getting sick more than they used to.

Work becomes tough, projects become daunting, and the idea of waking up at 5am to do a workout feels impossible.

All these things suck to experience.

They make us feel stuck and like something is WRONG with us.

I'm here to set the record straight - nothing is wrong with you.

But you might be doing some things that are killing your sleep, which makes everything else in life harder.

You ARE capable of amazing sleep.

Of sleeping through the night AND feeling energized + well-rested every single morning.

But ultimately, until you nail your sleep habits, you'll never be able to perform at your best.

And I want each one of you to BECOME the best you.

Here's my "I Sleep Like Shit But Don't Know Why" starter pack:

• drinks alcohol
• inconsistent bedtimes
• falls asleep with TV on
• eats dessert every night
• too much light exposure in the evening
• too much stimulation (sound, light, video, etc)
• scrolls social media until it's time to fall asleep

And I get it. Life's busy. It's easy to go through the motions.

You work, you hang out with friends, you have kids, you travel, you play in rec leagues...

But so does everyone else.

So let's stop right here, put an end to the excuses, and instead, look for solutions.

I'm sure you've read somewhere WHAT you need to do for good sleep but still don't do it.

Maybe you don't think you CAN, or "Those things won't actually work for me."

But lucky for you, you have a human body (assuming you're not a robot scanning my emails).

And our bodies need 2 things to get great sleep:

1. A calm body
2. A calm mind

So we'll just focus on that today.

And just because you do something that feels like it helps, doesn't mean it's the best way.

ex. Maybe you feel like you need whiskey, weed, or a TV show on in the background to go to sleep.

I want you to understand that your body WANTS to sleep.

It hasn't been fighting you, you've been fighting IT.

Unconsciously of course. 

Phones, computers, TV, social media, light, inconsistency, chronic stress, processed food & sugar, sedentary lifestyle...

We wouldn't have made it millions of years as a species if we always woke up feeling lethargic & unmotivated every day.

Or if we always needed to take a pill or have the TV on to fall asleep.

I want each of you to be FIRED UP to wake up each morning...

It's within your power to feel ENERGIZED & ready to take on the day.

To have a great immune system, be more present with your loved ones, and feel creative, sharp, & focused.

To feel like you have the energy to do anything you want.

I know how frustrating it is to get shitty sleep.

I went ~9 straight years without sleeping through the night.

I thought I was just a 'middle-of-the-night insomniac' and would never be able to get great sleep.

But there were things that I had no idea were killing my sleep: 

• Alcohol
• Being on my phone late
• An inconsistent bedtime
• Eating dessert before bed
• Falling asleep with the TV on
• Hard workouts too close to bed

If I had to do this all over again, these are the 3 things I'd do immediately: 

1. Keep a consistent bedtime 7 days a week
2. Give myself the OPPORTUNITY to sleep 7-9 hours
3. No phones/screens/stimulation 60 mins before bed

(And of course stop drinking alcohol)

Let's expand a little...

#1 BEDTIME:

When I ask guys to keep a consistent bedtime, I often get "Even on weekends?"

"Yeah, dude. Even on weekends."

Your body doesn't know if it's a Wednesday or Saturday.

It's not going to take a day off from its biological needs because you want to stay up until midnight.

And look, there's nothing wrong with that. If that's what you WANT to do in your life, then do it.

But I know many of you who do that stuff, but DON'T actually want to be doing it.

You'd rather be stress-free, passionate about work, fulfilled, happy, healthy, and full of energy.

It's not to say you can't bang out a night on the town with friends, but I want you to be in a position of FULL agency over your body.

Meaning you take OWNERSHIP of your outcomes because you are in control of your inputs.

So that way you know exactly what impact your decisions will have on your well-being.


#2 OPPORTUNITY:

In his book Why We Sleep, Dr. Walker shares that giving ourselves the opportunity to sleep is actually more important than the amount of sleep we get.

This was an easier target for me to follow than 'get 8 hours of sleep' anyway.


#3 NO STIMULI:

9/10 guys I speak with feel like their sleep could be drastically improved.

They talk about having racing thoughts, stress, or restlessness as they get into bed (or middle of the night).

This comes from never giving ourselves time to just be with ourselves, undistracted.

To turn off the inputs that are constantly robbing us of our attention.

It's uncomfortable at first, but once you get past the initial urge to reach for your phone/TV/favorite distraction, you'll find a sense of calm & clarity come over you.

And here are the 3 simple Qs that helped me:

👉 When do I want to wake up each day? 5am
👉 Okay, then what does that mean for when I have to go to bed? 830pm
👉 And what time do I need to turn off all external stimuli? 730pm

Boom. Now I have a simple plan to follow every day.

Try this for a full WEEK and let me know how it goes.

Tim 🖤

PS I also used to have to get up 4-5 times EACH night to go pee.

2 things that helped me cut down to 0 or 1 trip to the bathroom were stopping drinking liquids 2 hours before bed and taping my mouth to encourage nasal breathing.

In his book Breath, Nestor shares that nasal breathing activates a hormone that inhibits our urge to go to the bathroom (animals don't get up to pee in the middle of the night as we do).