When we were very young, our parents and caretakers invariably had these bedtime routines in place for us night after night. You would take a bath, get into your jammies, brush your teeth, read a book, gave your mom or dad a hug, and went to sleep.
In adolescence, if you were anything like me, you stayed up too late and crawled out of bed to turn off the blaring alarm. In the sixth grade, my mom would have my sister wake me up because I’d sleep in until noon or later on the weekends!
Sleep is so important. Sleep impacts your mood, your productivity, and memory, just to name a few things. When we’re sleep-deprived, you’re simply behind the eight ball when you’re trying to show up for your business, or clients, or patients, your friends and family, and yourself as your highest self. If you’re on your phone or a screen watching tv or checking email until you get into bed or while you’re in bed, then you’re not necessarily setting yourself up for the best possible morning or day ahead.
Ideally, your sleep routine would be that of a toddler, rather than a teenager. You can set an alarm to remind you to commence with the sleep routine. A good guideline is to turn off screens two hours before you go to bed. You can read or do a brain dump into a journal. You can listen to guided meditations or practice breathing exercises so that you can easily and gently fall asleep. As busy executives, entrepreneurs, attorneys, or physicians, we have so much to contend with and though we’re adults, we still have to parent ourselves and put ourselves to sleep.
Consider what you want your sleep routine to look like to set yourself up for success. Is your sleep routine that of a toddler, or that of a teenager?