I do love a good catchy title, so hopefully this got your attention. Unfortunately (or fortunately), it wasn’t meant in the saucy sense of the words which is perhaps why the comparatively uninteresting routine of sleep doesn’t get as much airtime as it deserves. And yet, sleep is one of the most impactful and powerful tools in your wellbeing toolkit. While we tend to focus on what we eat/drink/do in our waking hours to keep healthy and well, it’s the way you sleep that can really shake things up for better or worse.
As a former mergers and acquisitions lawyer, I really did start my professional career trying to prove to myself how little sleep I could function on and wore it as a badge of honour. Moving into business a few years ago, the incentives to rest became even less convincing and the proverbial midnight oil was on full time burn mode. But as much as I used to believe that less sleep meant more productive waking hours (I mean, mathematically that makes sense right?), I (and too many others) are living proof that less is not more when it comes to sleep quantity and quality. It wasn’t until life threw a lesson at me in the form of total burnout that I had to rebuild my relationship with sleep and start to worship it as a priority.
There’s an increasing amount of alarming science out there to back me up showing that sleep is not only important for cognitive functioning and creativity, but can also be linked to your mental health, appetite hormones, weight, recovery, athletic performance, social interaction and so much more – there’s plenty out there, just Google it. So, if you thought you’d climb the corporate, business or any ladder that matters to you with all-nighters, you are sorely mistaken.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll need all the help you can get in encouraging good sleep routines, so I thought I’d share some of my newfound sleep tips:
- Impose a cut off time for your devices so you can start to signal to your brain that it’s wind down time.
- Create beautiful routines that make you excited to sleep and encourage you to get in the sack earlier i.e. a good book, lovely silk pyjamas or a skin routine – the Noni Glow Sleeping Mask is my go-to at the moment, sending me off to sleep in the knowledge that my little skin cells are getting extra love during my beauty sleep.
- Burn candles, use diffusers, or use other scents or environmental additions that assist you to relax like lavender or aromatherapy oils.
- Indulge in some lovely bedding so it’s a pleasure to jump in each night!
Much love,
Sarah xxx
Sarah and her partner started a creative side project in late 2014 capitalising on a gap they discovered in the health food market for matcha green tea powder. Four years on, this vibrant green superfood is one of the world’s premier health food trends and Matcha Maiden is leading the way with a growing community of over 1500 stockists including Anthropologie across the USA, Australian and US warehouses, and a very bright (green) future. In 2016, the matcha mission developed into a physical venue and cutting edge cafe, Matcha Mylkbar, which is taking the food world by storm. In 2018 Sarah launched her podcast ‘Seize the Yay’, interviewing some of the world’s most inspiring people and how they find their “yay”. Sarah now splits her time between the two businesses as well as her podcast and is thoroughly enjoying life as a full time funtrepreneur.
I’ve been delaying my bedtime due to time zone differences with my customers. But after reading your article Sarah, I’ve just been reminded how vital a good sleep routine is.