Eight Hours.

We all read article after article of how the proper amount of sleep for our bodies is important, improving overall health along with increased energy levels and positive moods. There has been argument after argument about not being able to cheat sleep. Meaning that we can’t just skimp Monday through Friday and plan to “catch up” on the weekend.

After living with a mother that has struggled with narcolepsy and feelings of always being worn out or tired for twenty plus years and living twenty nine years of my own life I’ve finally figured it out and have found a way to keep my sleep balanced throughout the week which has resulted in less “crashing” and a better overall health. It use to be that I would get 6 or so hours, if that, some nights during the week and then on the rainy Saturday afternoons in my studio apartment I would sleep and sleep and sleep some more. I could sleep till noon if the shades were drawn and the ringer was off.

I’d wake up feeling worse than I did before I went to bed. Tired, fatigued and I lacked the energy to do basic things such as my Saturday morning workout and chores. I didn’t understand how I could still feel tired after getting twelve hour of sleep. After living like this for several years I finally experimented with all of the articles and advice I had read over the years and decided to incorporate a new lifestyle into my routine. I started by realizing one very important thing. I was no longer twenty-two. I needed sleep. Period. Eight solid hours is what I know my body needs to feel as close to chipper as humanly possible in the mornings and to stay that way throughout a long workday filled with meetings, workouts, dinners and various events.

If I could find a way to get my eight hours I could turn things around. And I did just that. I started focusing on a set bedtime which is now around 11:30pm and a set wake-up time around 7:30am, even on the weekends as painful as that sounds. Now I’ll be the first to admit, every rule is made to be broken and at times this doesn’t apply. I’d be lying to you and myself if I claimed that it did but the bottom line is that I try.

With that, I also know that my brain likes to pick up its activity levels in the wee hours of the evening so I have to force myself to shut down. Also, being that I live in a studio apartment I don’t have the luxury of having my bed in a quiet place away from the area in which I work and watch television. So I’m forced to get creative and I do this by lighting candles, dimming the lights, drinking herbal tea, putting my blackberry in the kitchen away from where I can easily grab it and check it, and I always shower, wash my hair and use lavender lotion on my skin at night. All of these things bring a sense of calm and help me relax. I also try to read every night instead of watching TV.

Some might say this routine is semi-high maintenance but it’s just that, a routine. Something that takes time to become a pattern but once you do it enough it eventually becomes a natural part of the way you do things and won’t feel like it takes any special effort to achieve.

It’s not easy but it’s worth it and has helped create a sense of balance I’m not sure that would have ever existed in any other way but through proper rest. Eight hours. It may seem a like a lot and although I’m the first to agree that we will have plenty of time to sleep when we’re dead I can guarantee that eight hours will take you a lot further along to your ending point than you’ll go if you skip it.

Signing off Well Rested,
Renee Brennan