Episode 7: The #1 Tip for Improved Quality of Life

On the latest edition of the Joyful Attorney podcast, we learn how investing in sleep can pay immediate dividends for our health, happiness, and career. 

Transcript

Hello colleagues, wherever and whenever you are. Welcome to the Joyful Attorney Podcast. I’m your host, Laura Kelley. Today, I am going to give you the single most important tip to improve your quality of life. 

This one tip will not only help you feel better, but  be more focused, regulate your hormones, and reduce aging. My friends...that tip is getting a full night’s sleep of at least 7 hours per night. That’s it.  

If you are someone who struggles with getting enough sleep, you are probably rolling your eyes at my suggestion - eyes with very heavy bags under them that you are struggling to keep open. But keep listening. I have some very effective ideas for you to get more sleep and improve your quality of sleep. 

If, however, you are someone who needs very little sleep and is thriving with 4 hours of sleep per night, well, you aren’t listening to this podcast. Or, if you are working full time and have young children, then sleep probably isn’t a problem either! 

So for the rest of us. 

Here’s the deal. Sleep is the single most important thing for our brains to perform at it’s best. Sleep allows our brains to recharge, process information, and stabilize stress hormones like cortisol. It is absolutely essential and yet so many of us do not get enough sleep. 

You may be thinking that you don’t have enough time to get more sleep. I assure you that is not the case. When you are getting enough sleep, you are much more productive and efficient. That extra hour of sleep could save you two or more that next day due to being refreshed and ready.  Writing that brief when you are sleep-deprived could take three times as long. 

What’s really the case is that you don’t have enough time to not get a good night’s sleep. 

You may be thinking that you can’t sleep. That’s where I would like to focus today. “I can’t get enough sleep” is a limiting belief. If it is past-focused and self-defeating. Absolutely there are conditions that make attaining quality sleep challenging - I once lived in Madrid, above an Irish bar - but why choose to believe “I can’t get enough sleep” when there are much more empowering alternatives? What about “I am capable of making changes that will improve my quality of sleep.” That feels so much better, right?

First and foremost, quality sleep requires a quality schedule. I urge you to put your wake up time and bedtime in your calendar. If you can, you can use your devices to set up a schedule based on how much sleep you would like to get per night. I urge you to make that amount at least 7 hours. 

My iPhone has a feature that lets me set my bedtime and wake up time every weekday and weekend. Additionally, it automatically puts my phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode 30 minutes before my set bedtime. This takes the guesswork out of it. If you don’t have a device with this feature, you can easily set up alarms on your device and you can manually set your devices to “do not disturb.”

Your brain may be offering you reasons why you cannot do this. What if you get an important call in the middle of the night. “Do not disturb” features allow you to program it so that your device will ring if the call is initiated by a certain number or by a certain number of rings in short succession. Let your family and friends know about this feature so emergencies can get through. Do not let your brain make excuses so you can keep the status quo. 

Another important thing to add to your calendar is wind-down time. This is a period of at least 30 minutes where you wind down. I suggest you put it on your calendar. If that seems like overkill, let me tell you that the act of putting something in your calendar makes it concrete. It’s an appointment for yourself. It is essential to your care and maintenance. It merits being in your calendar. 

What is wind-down time? Wind down time is when you put away all of your devices, including turning off your television, no matter how much of a cliff-hanger your favorite show is on - remember they do this deliberately to make you watch more and more 

This allows your body to initiate it’s normal sleep procedures. When we look at screens, our body’s natural process for sleep is hindered. If you are used to falling asleep with the tv on, it’s a great time to make some new, life-enhancing habits. It may be helpful to use melatonin (with a doctor’s  supervision) to help you establish a new schedule. Wind down time can be used to meditate or read. Think about it as setting the mood for sleep. 

Some other things to consider. Caffeine consumed during the day can absolutely have a negative impact on our ability to fall asleep. In Michael Pollen’s audiobook, Caffeine, he describes the benefits and costs of consuming caffeine. The most pronounced effect he experienced from eliminating caffeine was greatly improved sleep. 

It’s really interesting that the substance many of us take to wake up actually keeps us groggy in the first place. Now, full disclosure, I drink a lot of coffee, but I am able to sleep quite well. If you find yourself having trouble sleeping and drinking a lot of caffeinated beverages, perhaps it may be worthwhile to experiment with slowly reducing the amount of caffeine you drink per day. I highly suggest you do this slowly by reducing your caffeine intake by a half a cup per day. The headaches from caffeine withdrawal are no joke and may sabotage your efforts. 

Another substance to consider is alcohol. While alcohol can act as a sedative allowing us to initially feel relaxed and sleepy, it actually interferes with our sleep cycles. Drinking alcohol before bed, especially in excess, leads to poor quality sleep including shorter sleep duration and increased sleep disruptions. 

It’s worth noting that researchers have noted a link between long-term alcohol abuse and chronic sleep problems. By all means, enjoy your happy hour or wine with dinner, but be sure to drink plenty of water and give yourself time between drinking and falling asleep to ensure you get the best possible sleep. 

Finally, physical exercise can have an immediate positive impact on your sleep. Just 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise can be extremely beneficial to improving your quality of sleep...just make sure you finish your exercise an hour or more before bedtime so you are not pumped full of endorphins when it’s time to go to bed. 

If you have tried these tips, but you are still having difficulty sleeping, it may be worth your while to seek medical help. For example, a sleep study can help you determine if you have sleep apnea -  a serious medical condition that can increase your risk for a number of ailments including high blood pressure and heart conditions. A medical professional could also prescribe you a mild sedative like trazadone to help you adapt to a new schedule. 

I know this sounds like a really simplistic tip, but the truth is that it is foundational. Sleep is the first and single most important factor in improving your health and well-being. Please do not underestimate it. It’s easy for us to put ourselves last and cutting into our sleep is one way we do that. However, I’d like to offer to you that sleep is so much more important than all the spa days in the world. It is real, nourishing self-care. 

I heard this quote and it really resonated with me. “Don’t stay up late for something you wouldn’t wake up early for.” 

I hope you find this useful. 

As always, you can reach out to me at Laura@thejoyfulattorney.com. I’d love to hear your tips, questions and comments. And if you’d like to work with me, please check me out at thejoyfulattorney.com. Until next time.