4 ways our evening routine is messing with our sleep & productivity
We’re not getting enough sleep because we’re working too much. We’re not working productively and efficient enough because we are not getting enough sleep. It’s a vicious cycle we can find ourselves in.
Here are some not surprisingly insightful facts according to the National Sleep Foundation:
Man is the only mammal that willingly delays sleep
Divorced, widowed and separated people report more insomnia
The body never adjusts to shift work
Sleeping less than 6 hours a night is a strong predictor of on-the-job burnout
When sleep deprived, you have a 50% slower response time and lower accuracy on simple tasks than someone who is under the influence of alcohol
If the one-third of our day we spend sleeping can influence our productivity, energy and success we achieve in the other two-thirds of the day, it’s time to shed some light on the habits we’ve created to ensure optimal sleep and productivity (or not).
“The big things that come our way are the fruit of seeds planted in the daily routine of our work”
- William Feather, author
The root issue to poor sleep and productivity lies in the haphazard evening routines we create.
Here are 4 ways our evening routine is messing with our sleep and productivity:
1. Blurry start time.
“If you leave your time to randomness, you will always live in the land of mediocrity”
- Brendon Burchard, high performance coach
When we work on improving our morning routines, we can easily rely on time as a trigger. We start our morning routine when we wake up … go to the bathroom, brush our teeth, take a shower, make coffee, etc. But when do you start your evening routine? After work? After school? Dinner time? If you are a parent, student and entrepreneur, this can change by the day or hour!
When I started paying attention to my evening routine (and being that I am writing this during the social distancing and stay home period), I recognized that bath time for baby boy could be as early as 6pm to as late as 10pm; winding down was barely existent and I was falling asleep on the couch at 1am or beside my son at 9pm.
To identify a time when a solid evening routine begins can certainly be a challenge. By the time the evening rolls around, if we haven’t created a success ritual that targets quality sleep and productivity, we will make unhealthy decisions, procrastinate on tasks, eat more junk and delay the time we go to bed in favour of the next episode on Netflix.
2. No bedroom boundaries.
“Location (i.e. environment) is the most powerful driver of mindless habits and also the least recognized. In many cases, our habits and behaviours are simply a response to the environment that surrounds us”
- James Clear, author of Atomic Habits
Our bedroom environment plays a significant trigger role on the quality of our sleep. What do you do when you walk into the bedroom? How is your bedroom space set up? Is it another area where you take work with you or a spot where you catch up on the day’s news?
For the entrepreneurs, busy parents and shift workers I work with, the bedroom is often dubbed a “place of retreat from the day”. It is the time to sit back, let loose, have a glass of wine, put on a show and let the night unfold on its own.
For me, I recognized that I procrastinated even going to the bedroom because walking in the bedroom, seeing clothes and unmatched socks all over the floor and a bed unmade was enough for me to just sleep in another room. To overcome the cues that your brain has already assigned to the bedroom is not an easy task. The bedroom should be a place for sleep and intimacy. Everything else is a distraction.
3. Bluelight devices.
“Repeated use of a bright screen in the evening over five nights can delay the body clock by 1.5 hours.” - Sleep Health Foundation
This means that we end up going to bed later, sleeping in longer and prone to pressing snooze multiple times before actually getting up. Used in factories to help night workers stay awake, blue light signals the brain to suppress the production of melatonin, a chemical needed to stay asleep.
With information about the most recent events of the global pandemic crisis coming at us through television screens, phone devices and Bluetooth radio, we are doing more wiring up and less winding down which makes preparing for the next day mentally exhausting and time zoning out easy to succumb to.
4. Not bookending the day.
“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” - Gilbert K. Chesterton
Most often the body is ready to sleep but not the mind. Restorative sleep is disrupted when our thoughts stay active and usually it is because we feel insecure and/or that life is out of control.
In a study on new employees, researchers found those who spent 15 minutes at the end of the day writing and reflecting performed 22.8% better than those who didn’t. Unlike having a blurry start time to the evening routine, not creating a bridge time between day and night can leave us feeling incomplete and like there is more “work” to do before going to bed.
Especially at a time where many of us are putting on different hats at home (working parent, home school teacher, primary caregiver, social media creator, admin and home manager), it can get overwhelming building better evening habits. There are dishes to wash, work tasks to check off and children to get to bed.
A productive evening routine helps us relax, unwind, sleep well and prepare ourselves mentally and physically for a productive tomorrow. To elevate productivity and optimize sleep, begin to monitor the way you structure and carry out your evening routine: set a time to start, create a restful bedroom environment, reduce the use of blue light devices at night and develop a closing ritual to mentally shut off the day.
For a restful night and productive day tomorrow, don’t skip these important steps!
You got this.