Quality Sleep | Health | Productivity
Why Am I Dedicated to Improving My Sleep Quality?
A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything. — Irish proverb.
Let me recall the title in a question-and-answer style for better understanding.
Question: Why am I dedicated to improving my sleep quality?
Answer: To live a better life
Sleep is the most underrated thing when we start to fix our lives.
I love a quality sleep.
Howver, I am not perfect. I also believe humans are not perfect. All of us have some flaws.
If someone in your social circle says they are perfect, they never make a mistake, always go to bed at the right time, and have the best sleep each night.
Just ignore them and make sure to run in the opposite direction when you see that person next time.
I have completed many 30-day challenges to live a better life. In fact, I have been successful in many challenges, but I am not ashamed to share that I have failed multiple times.
I failed my no-sugar challenge at least three times. I have a sweet tooth, so what I will try again.
Failure is a part of life. It reminds me of Sarah Morgan’s following quote.
Failures are a part of life. If you don’t fail, you will never learn. If you never learn, you will never change. — Sarah Morgan
If you don’t fail means, you are not trying new things.
In the same quest, I tried and am still trying different strategies to improve my sleep quality.
Why do I give sleep so much importance?
In 2017, I was working almost all the time without any sleep.
I did not prioritize my sleep due to my workload.
I read a weird post on Reddit that sleep is an old tradition. Yeah, it's true.
The author said — and if it's an old tradition, we can try our best to get rid of it.
I could not find the source, but the post was really boring, with too many comments that sleep is our ancestors' bad habit or something. ahh
Anyway, let’s discuss why we sleep.
It's not just humans; every species, including plants, is purely physiological.
We love to sleep to conserve energy, make repairs, and/or consolidate learning.
Our ancestors divided sleep into two patterns.
They used to sleep roughly 6.5 hours in summer and increased an hour in winter.
i) They would sleep 4.5 hours during the night.
ii) They would sleep 1–2 hours during the day.
I grew up in a small village in an Asian country. Later, I moved to Canada for higher education.
When I was growing up, I remember my mother making sure we had a nap (probably 1–3 hours) after lunch in the summer.
We had 90 days of school holidays in summer due to the heat wave.
Then we used to go to bed around 8/9 pm until 5/6 am in the morning.
I grew up in a Muslim family, and my mother sent us to the mosque before sunrise to pray and learn to recite the Quran.
I slept roughly 5–6 hours at night and 2–3 hours during the day, for a total of 7–8 hours in 24 hours.
However, I do not remember if I ever had a nap or slept during the day in winter.
There could be two reasons.
Maybe we never slept during the day, or my long-term memory could be better.
Let me know in the comments if you had a nap in winter.
Why do I prioritize quality sleep?
Now, I live in Canada, a colder country.
Indeed, I prefer to go to bed at 11 pm for a maximum of 7 — 8 hours of quality sleep.
To boost my sleep, I do not take my cell phone to bed.
I do not expose myself to the blue light.
I do not consume any liquid at least 3 hours before bedtime.
I have blackout curtains to boost the darkness in the room.
Our temperature is set for less than 15.5 Celsius. You need to play around a bit to find your optimal temperature, which experts say is in the normal range.
Note:
I am a human, which means I am not perfect. I do make mistakes: sometimes I consume liquid before bed, sometimes I watch TV before bed (which is pretty rare, though), and sometimes I go to bed late at night.
It’s completely normal.
However, do not make it a habit. Once in a while, it is okay.
Take it easy on you.
The bottom line
Prioritize your sleep quality.
Do not consume any sleep medication until it’s necessary and prescribed by your physician.
Maintain a healthy weight.
Do long walks.
Sleeping is the fundamental pillar of health.
It can also help boost your well-being (mental health).
It's a sedentary lifestyle.
Make sure to move your body and expose yourself to the sunlight, which will help you sleep better at night.
Spend as much time as you can in the nature.
That project, assignment, or exam is not going anywhere; prioritize your sleep; quality sleep will boost all aspects of your life.
Never underestimate the power of good sleep. period.
Note — 2
Take it easy on yourself. It does not matter who you are; if you have sleeping issues, they are not going to resolve in a night or week. Consult your physician.
Book recommendation:
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
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