A Harvard Sleep Expert Blames These Six Cardinal Sleep Mistakes That Ruin Your Sleep Every Night

Undo these habits to improve your sleep cycle right now.

Productivity is the only metric that matters nowadays and your productivity is dependent on your sleep habits.

A good night's sleep is essential when you want to perform at your optimal productivity levels.

Nothing affects productivity levels more than badly poor sleep quality. You flush your productivity down the drain if you don’t practice good sleep etiquette.

Dr. Rebecca Robbins, Associate scientist in the division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders believes these six habits to the worst mistakes that wreck our sleep schedule every day.

1. You’re missing out on this crucial vitamin

Sedentary work will kill your sleep schedule slowly but surely. You stay locked up in your house to stare at a screen for most of the day.

You miss the prime sunny hours to fill out Excel sheets that no one’s gonna read. It’s the price we all pay to live a comfy cushy life.

Being a house mouse is wrecking your sleep schedule. Getting morning sunlight is the simplest thing you can do to improve your sleep.

Sunlight exposure is essential for better sleep quality as it helps in maintaining circadian rhythm.

Dr. Robbins is a specialist in circadian disorders and she believes that exposure to natural light is the best way to shift to a morning person’s routine.

You’ll improve sleep latency and push your bedtime a few hours earlier simply by spending some time in the sun.

2. The biggest productivity lie that wrecks sleep

Coffee is the writer’s fuel. I believe that it’s the magical cure for procrastination, laziness, and ordinary thinking. It makes you want to do better work.

Hence the reason why Starbucks all over the world are littered with wannabe writers. You can’t stop us from hijacking the nearest plug point.

But it can wreck your sleep schedule in the long run. Caffeine has a detrimental effect on sleep and even if you lose merely an hour of sleep every night then too the accumulative effect would be catastrophic.

It will wreck your productivity which will make you drink more coffee to get your edge back, it’s a vicious cycle that’ll plague your days and nights.

I went caffeine-free for three months last year, it was hell but now I have learned to ride this dragon with the safety on. I only drink coffee four days a week and that too only one cup before two pm.

This might sound restrictive but these changes have led to safe caffeine consumption that doesn’t hinder my sleep.

3. You don’t do the only morning habit you need

The morning routine is hyped up as productivity’s secret sauce. Everyone is copying billionaire's morning routines in hopes of becoming ultra-successful.

But it’s only a small part of productivity. Good morning habits help you start your day on the right note, but they don’t promise ultimate productivity.

The one morning habit that can help you ensure better sleep every night is exercise. It boosts focus as well improving your chances of productivity.

Dr. Robbins believes outdoor morning exercise is the best way to increase energy after a long night of rest.

So, if you want to make a morning routine for better productivity then add exercise to the mix.

4. You destroy sleep by not listening to your body

Your work habits are killing your sleep schedule. It’s the main reason why you’re either up after midnight or up at the crack of dawn.

It wrecks your everyday routine which in turn leads to sleep problems. You can’t control your workload but you can set boundaries for optimal schedule.

Set a deadline to shut down your laptop. Create physical boundaries from your work by getting out of your office. And work during your most productive hours.

It’s easier for me to get in flow in the evening as I am a night owl, so I save my high-priority tasks for later during the day.

Build a schedule that helps you do better work according to your most productive hours.

5. Beat the winter blues easily with this equipment

All you want to do in winter is hibernate in your cozy bed and give up on everything but eating.

The winter blues can wreck your schedule as most of us prefer to sleep in till the last minute.

This behavior can be blamed on the lack of sunshine as the cloudy sky can cast a dark shadow on our mood, you can combat this weather with one simple equipment.

Dr. Robbins recommends a blue light lamp that can help you get some much needed natural light when the sun is hidden behind the clouds.

It will optimize your circadian rhythm for better sleep and faster metabolism. But beware of artificial blue light exposure from screens as it can destabilize your circadian rhythm in the long run.

So, get a blue light lamp to fight off the winter blues but make sure to close the screens on time to protect your sleep schedule.

6. You forgo the most important sleep etiquette

Stories are a great sleep hack, they used to put you to sleep when you were a kid but now they’re the reason why you stay up all night long.

As we spend our nights surfing Netflix and Amazon to find stories that will make us forget our everyday troubles.

Binge-watching is the number one sleep killer it increases your exposure to blue light which keeps you up till later. Also, content consumption right before sleep makes it difficult to shut off the brain quickly.

One simple habit that can improve your sleep schedule is sleeping every day at the same time, it’s so easy that you can do it daily but you won’t because of the unlimited content that you have on your watching list.

It’s a sacrifice you need to make to boost productivity. It regulates your circadian rhythm and makes you wake up daily at the same time without an alarm clock.

Conclusion

Sleep is essential for productivity. You need to undo these six habits to get better sleep every night.

• Bask in sunlight every day.
• Get a blue light lamp to get sunlight on gloomy days.
• The only morning habit you need is exercise.
• Make physical boundaries that help you shut off work.
• Don’t waste your precious late-night hours on Netflix.
• Limit your coffee intake to improve your sleep cycle.

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