5 Bedtime Habits of Successful People

Have you tried to get a good night’s sleep after a long day’s work, and all you do for an hour is roll from side to side? When you finally fall asleep, you are still very conscious of your environment. When you wake up, you might even feel worse than you did before going to bed.

Well, there are a couple of things that could be responsible for that. Stress is often the most common reason for insomnia. Others include poor sleep habits, eating late at night, or caffeine consumption. This results in low productivity, mental health conditions and increases the risk of heart disease, obesity, or stroke.

Using gadgets close to bedtime can mess up the circadian rhythm. Blue lights from screens mimic sunlight and cause the body not to produce melatonin, the hormone that helps the body know when to shut down. Supplements can correct this immediately. Melatonin gummies help the body get back its sleep-wake cycle.

However, there are many other bedtime habits you can incorporate that can improve your sleep quality, productivity, and, by extension, your overall success.

1. Meditate

After a long and stressful day, it could be difficult for the brain to stop racing and actually rest. Stress increases the amount of cortisol, a stress hormone in the body. This increases blood pressure, disrupts sleep, and increases fatigue. Meditation helps individuals control and quiet their thoughts.

There are various kinds of meditation, including mindfulness, guided meditation, progressive relaxation, and concentrated meditation. The beauty of meditation is it helps the wandering mind focus on a subject. Research shows that meditation also increases the level of melatonin in the body. This makes it possible to get a more restful sleep, irrespective of how stressful the day has been. 

It is important to note that relaxing is vital to a good night’s rest. Excellent ways to clear your mind include a walk in the park, listening to music, taking a hot bath, and lighting candles. These techniques help to improve sleep quality.  

2. Read

Reading around bedtime is another valuable habit to pick up. It is also a good substitute for screen time around bedtime. This way, there will be no inhibition of melatonin. Reading helps the mind focus on the task at hand and wander less.

Reading involves different neurons and signals in the brain. The more you read, the stronger this network and signal become. A 2013 study revealed that consistent reading improved brain connectivity in the somatosensory cortex. It also helps reduce age-related cognitive decline.

You can decide to read an inspirational or self-improvement piece, a novel, or learn about a new topic. Successful people like Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett are all voracious readers. Bill Gates reads 50 books per year, while Warren Buffett reads about 600 pages daily. Successful people are often intentional about reading.

3. Make a To-Do List

Journaling helps you relax your mind and organize and analyze your thoughts. The same thing goes for writing a to-do list. Often, the reason people struggle to sleep at night is that they have so many unattended issues. Research reveals that expressive writing helps eliminate intrusive thoughts, free up cognitive resources, and helps manage stress.

Making a to-do list is a reassurance to the mind that unfinished tasks will be sorted. When you plan for the next day’s activities, you effectively put things into perspective. A to-do list also helps you identify priorities, saves time and effort, and helps you channel your energy.

4. Stay Consistent

Consistency is key to getting results in any sphere of life, and a bedtime routine isn’t any different. It is important to keep the same sleep schedule through weekdays and weekends. Resist the urge to stay up after bedtime. Staying consistent with going to bed for long periods makes this routine become a habit.

It would also come in handy to set up an electronic curfew—a time after which you put away all devices. This ideally should be an hour before bedtime. Also, dimming your room towards this time is advisable as less light is a good trigger for melatonin.

5. Disconnect

Information overload can be a real problem in this present age of social media, blogs, and gadgets. Many people struggle to sleep at night largely because of excessive use of devices that also encroach into bedtime. Taking a break from these devices an hour before bedtime can make a world of difference.

Aside from inhibiting melatonin, excessive use of devices can cause eye strain and lead to vision impairment in the long run. Allow your brain and eyes to rest from excessive screen time, and you will wake up feeling better.

Healthy Habits, Successful Living

These bedtime habits are pivotal in having a productive morning the next day. Try going to bed even just 30 minutes earlier each night to get a full night’s sleep. Practice these habits consistently and reap the rewards of a more productive lifestyle.