Do you have big goals for your career but aren’t sure how to accomplish them? Perhaps you feel as though you never have the energy to tackle your to-do list, or your mind always drifts when you sit down to work. Whatever your work challenges, they’re often linked to one problem: not getting enough sleep.
When looking at those who are successful, it helps to look at their sleep routines—you may even be surprised to find that many leaders and innovators know the same sleep secrets, and following them is one fundamental step on their road to success.
Why Rest is Crucial for Success
If you’re looking to obtain career or personal success, think of sleep as your not-so-secret weapon. After all, the benefits of sleep are well-touted, yet sleep remains something commonly pushed aside. To surpass those around you and accomplish your goals, prioritize sleep.
As for how sleep is crucial for success, getting enough sleep can help with some key areas, including:
- Your brain. Sleep deprivation has been shown to cause both poor memory and low focus, and not getting enough sleep can also slow your reaction time, meaning it may take you longer to make decisions. When you get enough sleep, your brain is able to work at its highest capacity.
- Interpersonal Skills. Leaders rely on their teams to accomplish their tasks, and a team is only as strong as its leader. Sleep deprivation can significantly affect your mood, potentially leading to hostility, which can then impact all the members of your team. By getting enough sleep, your mood will remain more stable, which allows you to have better communication with everyone you come across during your work day.
- Creativity. It’s not just a long stretch of sleep at night that can help you be more successful, either; innovators may find that a power nap can increase their creativity, especially if you think about your problem as you fall asleep—you may just wake up with a solution!
- Your Health. When you’re sick, you have two options: take time off to focus on getting better or power through at only half capacity—neither scenario allows you to work with the productivity you would see on a normal day. Sleep is crucial for the regulation of your immune system, meaning if you don’t sleep enough, you may be more likely to get sick. In order to keep your productivity up, prioritizing sleep is crucial.
Those who are successful understand that sleep affects these areas and weighs into their success, which is why they prioritize their rest.
How Successful People Prioritize Sleep
Leaders and innovators who are looking to stay at the top of their game understand the importance of rest, and here’s how they make sure to prioritize it:
Commit To Sleep
If you’re looking to improve your relationship with sleep, the greatest sleep secret by those who are successful is simply that they commit to their sleep—they understand that it’s a non-negotiable.
If you’re not committed to getting enough sleep, you may find yourself pushing back the time you go to bed in order to stay up late working on a project or even socializing. However, sleep is not something that should be pushed aside for other tasks and activities. If this is your mindset, it’s time to readjust.
Sleep should be cemented in your schedule as something that can’t budge. Once you have this mindset, it becomes easier to plan your day around your sleep times instead of fitting in sleep when you have time. You’ll start to prioritize your work during the day, which can increase your productivity since you no longer have the nighttime hours to fall back on. Additionally, by rescheduling your socialization hours to different times of the day, you may even experience new activities.
Those who are successful understand the importance of committing to the things that improve their life, and that includes their sleep.
Create a Bedtime Routine
Successful individuals understand how influential a routine can be as it helps to put your mind and body on autopilot. This includes a bedtime routine, which not only prepares your body for bed but can also help to prepare your mind for sleep.
While having a routine is important, the habits that you fill it with can make or break your sleep. For example, listening to music before going to bed can help you obtain higher-quality sleep, as can ditching the electronics within two hours of going to bed.
Getting enough sleep is important in order to be at your A-game during the day, and your sleep can depend heavily on your habits before bed. Knowing this, be sure to incorporate good sleep hygiene habits in order to sleep better during the night and hit your sleep goals.
Set Boundaries
Leaders often have a hard time falling asleep because they cannot stop thinking about their work. Because of this, it is essential for you to set boundaries with your work to ensure it doesn’t infringe on your rest time.
These boundaries may include setting a start time for your nighttime routine or turning off the computer and putting your phone on Do Not Disturb after work hours. Take some time to find the methods that help you maintain these boundaries; not only will it improve your sleep, but it will also help you avoid burnout.
The Connection Between Rest and Success
The key to success lies in getting enough sleep each night—sleep allows your brain to function at its highest capacity, keeps you from getting sick, allows you to better control your emotions (a must for anyone with coworkers), and lets your creativity soar. To stay at the top, make wise decisions, and continually come up with new ideas, you need to dedicate enough time to sleeping each night.
Those who are successful follow some key sleep secrets: they prioritize their sleep, follow a nighttime routine to prepare for bed, and set boundaries, keeping their work during work hours. Once you follow these same strategies, you’ll find yourself capable of accomplishing more during the day, setting you up for success.
