We all know what it feels like to feel cranky, tired and short tempered, or what it feels like to ‘get up on the wrong side of the bed’… and to a degree, know why we can be those things….yet like exercise and nutrition, the association to knowing sleep is good for us, that ‘knowing’ still isn’t enough of a force to improve the patterns that help us lead more healthy, energetic and meaningful lives.

We’ve all been in that place of ‘catching up on sleep’ in an attempt to balance the lack of sleep we’ve had prior to that for whatever reason that may be (long day, late, night out etc…)

Only, it doesn’t quite work like that, just like missing a week’s full of exercise sessions out, only to add those 4 sessions into next weeks plans to make 8 sessions ‘to make up for it’, will only burn you out and re-introduce you to complete fatigue…it doesn’t work that way. Sleep is the same.

Here’s why that approach will keep you in a vicious cycle of feeling tired, lethargic, grouchy and more un-enthused.

  1. Your sleep drive is altered to unnatural/natural parts of the day in which we are supposed to be awake and asleep (this goes back to when we were club-swinging cave people). A cellular bi-product known as ‘adenosine’ is created as the day goes on, this is as normal as breathing, the more we create, the higher our ‘sleep hunger’ becomes, it’s a healthy and crucial process. When we sleep, our brains metabolize adenosine and remove it from our system so that we wake up feeling more energized and refreshed. This is is the same for how your phone battery charges overnight and is active in the day, the better the charge, the better the performance. The timing of your sleep, of course, is subject to you and your unique differences, however, the principles are the same and your circadian rhythm is something that can’t be short-circuited or ‘out motivated’.
  2. Circadian Rhythm is our 24-hour biological clock that controls our levels of alertness, naturally, it fluctuates throughout the day, this will explain the ‘mid-day slump’ (it has nothing to do with food), this happens around 8-9 hours after the rise time, even if you slept well and long enough this can still happen. It’s important to recognize this so so we don’t ‘smash a load of high energy products’ in an attempt to ‘power’ through, you will do that naturally and something to take into account, in an attempt to ‘power’ through these ‘energy boosting’ drinks or foods will actually throw you off-kilter for when you are actually supposed to rest with un-natural stimulants. Be careful with caffeine at this point.
  3. The Fight-or-Flight Response is still working in overdrive. This is our natural survival response to ancient dangers to keep us alert and, well…alive. This biological response is still the same today, even though we don’t live in caves that can be randomly threatened with an invasion of a predator, but we can have stressors such as kids at school, work deadlines, financial worries, all sorts, and this un-attended will simply keep you awake because the body is in a biological place of SURVIVAL with overstimulation. With this heightened, resistance to sleep occurs, then actions like watching TV or scrolling on the socials is used to ‘tire you out’, further contributing to the cycle of keeping you awake with the artificial light and overstimulation of the brain…Vicious cycle. HEEEELLLLLOOOOOO FATIGUE…

Just like we can’t sit on our butt’s and expect to be fit, or eat junk food and expect to manage a healthy weight, we just simply can’t shortcut the notion of sleep and its appropriate principles in retrospect and expected yo skip around like a kangaroo with all of the energy in the world..

Everybody knows ‘to get more sleep’. Much like exercise and nutrition, the whys and the sustainable approach’s can be overlooked and looked at one-dimensionally and key points are often missed, resulting in an obligatory narrative towards sleep. Then emotional ‘enjoyments’, like looking at things that don’t matter on the internet, TV shows that don’t benefit your life, or stewing on thoughts/events that unsettle us perpetuate and affect the next sequence of actions…

Your sleep drive, circadian rhythm your stress management processes are to be respected, understood, and acknowledged to undertake a decent sleep pattern in order to effectively:

  1. Energize yourself to perform as well as you can in all of life’s interactions.
  2. To better manage emotions through a balanced set of hormones.
  3. Burn body fat and build muscle.
  4. Maintain healthy cognition in order to concentrate (reduce forgetfulness, better decision making, memory, and problem solving)
  5. To feel happier in yourself and how that can impact the world around you.
  6. To regulate your appetite.
  7. To lower stress levels and to be naturally calmer and perceptually aware.
  8. Lower the risk of diseases such as cardiovascular disease.
  9. Increased immunity to protect us from viruses.

Wowza, who would have thought sleep could be so beneficial?

Yes, it’s a life-changer, you spend a third of your life asleep, so make it count.

It is, as important as everything else, you could say if anything, the appropriate use of it, is the most important as it will help with mental clarity to make more informed, healthier, logical decisions in the day time, in every aspect of life.

Think of it as part of the day, day and night are one continuous loop, and the way you apply the principles will have a profound impact on your life. The day compliments the night and the night compliments the day, for better or for worse, that’s up to you.

Just like exercise and nutrition require systems and effective management, planning, and preparation, sleep is EXACTLY the same, without creating a disconnect from busy brain activity to calm and relaxing, decent sleep just isn;t going to happen.

How can you make a routine work for you?

Lastly, remember, there’s a difference in appropriate rest and recovery compared to overindulgence of something, it’s not always about sleeping more, it’s about creating an environment for a decent strategy to ensure you charge your batteries right in order to successfully navigate through your waking hours. And yes, in some cases, it is about making time to sleep more, especially if you are watching Netflix till late and only sleeping 5-6 hours.

Above all else, be kind to your efforts, this takes time, practice, and feedback through failure, but, when you get it and you are consistent with it, it will make everything else so much more congruent and simple.

Plan and execute.

– Coach Paul

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Paul Cleaver