Let’s talk about the science and practice of good sleep (or sleep well, as we call it at Compete to Create). To get started, how many hours of sleep did you get last night? If you had to rate the quality of your sleep on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best, how would you rate it? Now how are you feeling today? Building your awareness, of how your sleep is connected to your perceived level of stress throughout the day, can be a game changer.
The science is clear on this. Most people need 7-9 hours of sleep per night, independent of age, profession, geographic location, etc. One of the most important pillars of recovery is sleep. Studies have shown that if you do not get enough sleep on a consistent basis–oftentimes evident after only one night–there will be a suboptimal output in performance. And this goes for both mental and physical performance. Your body actually takes the time that you spend sleeping and resting to restore and recover. Physically your body heals, your immune system strengthens, and your muscles and organs repair themselves. Mentally, your brain clears out unnecessary information, your memory improves, and the hormones and chemicals present in your brain balance out–regulating mental processes and behaviors.
More than likely, you’ve heard the phrase: “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” or “There’s no time to sleep.” It used to be cool and admirable to be the person in the room bragging about how they can function off of only a couple hours of sleep. It used to be a characteristic of someone dedicated to their hustle and their journey. That’s no longer the case. Now, more than ever, more and more individuals are realizing that missing out on sleep is actually detrimental to your grind, rather than beneficial, and is proven to set you back.
If you’re giving your body less than your optimal hours of sleep, it’s almost impossible to show up, perform, and move through your day at your best. Your brain actually adjusts–because you’re giving it no choice– and says “okay, this is the new normal”. And you don’t want that. Sleep is important for a number of things such as cognitive processing, reaction time, and emotional regulation. This is why the science and art of getting the right sleep is fundamental to our program here at Compete to Create. We spend time teaching you how to understand the meaning and importance of sleep as well as how to prioritize and optimize sleep for the best. For example, tracking your sleep is a helpful and strategic recovery tactic–and building awareness of your sleep patterns is the first step. After you begin to notice and track patterns, you might want to make some changes and adjustments to them. Our online course, Finding Your Best, contains digital sleep tracking tools that you can use daily to get started on your journey.
Learn more about Finding Your Best below:
