Being productive is about being able to work efficiently on a certain task(s) and produce results. However, without the right preparation, being productive can be quite difficult. This preparation begins in bed, where you prepare your body for each and every day. Here are some tips on getting better sleep and maximizing your productivity.

Get some exercise

When you sleep, you replenish your energy. Sleep becomes more satisfying if you actually use more energy while you are awake. Exercising can put you in a deeper state of sleep and helps you fall asleep more quickly. Additionally, you become healthier overall, which just makes life better for you anyways. Just be careful not to work out right before bedtime, which can cause you to feel more energetic and unable to fall asleep.

Create a regular sleep and wake pattern

Try to get into bed at around the same time every night, and wake up at a consistent time every morning. This will become so ingrained into your daily routine that your body becomes used to sleeping/waking at certain times and you may find yourself waking up at your usual time without an alarm. In fact, have a pre-sleep routine as well, doing some kind of relaxing activity (read a book, have a shower, etc.) to smoothly transition between being awake and falling asleep.

Nap strategically and sparingly

Try keeping naps to a minimum, especially those longer than 20-30 minutes. Longer naps can leave you feeling even more tired during the day, but can end up keeping you awake late at night. Also, keep naps towards the middle of the day, so that they do not fall right before your bedtime.

Don’t eat or work in bed

Leave your bed for the functions it is made for. By working and eating in bed, your mind and body associate being in bed with, for example, staying awake to do work on your laptop. Let your bed solely be a place of comfort and rest. In addition, separating the place where you work and where you relax will help you be more productive when at work. On a side note, keep your laptop off when about to go to bed. Electronics have been shown to decrease how readily you fall asleep.

Be comfortable

Create for yourself a comfortable sleeping environment. Make it as easy for yourself to fall asleep as possible, whatever those conditions might be. This may vary from one person to the next, but typically, ensure that you have a quiet, dark room, with a comfortable bed large enough for you. Find out what position helps you get comfortable for sleeping. If necessary, you may consider wearing earplugs and/or a sleep mask to really shut out the rest of the world. Alternatively, you may prefer hearing calm, soothing music instead.

Relieve stress

Everyone has stayed up late worrying about something, but it is obviously not conducive to falling asleep. Try watching something funny on YouTube before you begin your pre-sleep routine, or do anything that allows you to just turn off your mind for the day. Clear your head. Unfortunately, you can’t always simply stop worrying, but you can do your best to plan ahead for all the things you have to do, so that you don’t have to get in a state of stress and worry at nighttime. Figure out your priorities so you can accomplish the most important things and have a clear head as you get into bed. Perhaps the Priority Matrix can help with that…

Get good sleep, and stay productive!

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