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In today& #39;s edition of "things I wish I& #39;d have paid more attention to before my late thirties": SLEEP! Sleep is the most oft overlooked pillar of performance but has arguably some of the most significant impacts. How many of us grew up idolizing the leader who never slept? 1/
https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/1501144324/ref=sr_1_3?crid=263PYX6PCDDKR&dchild=1&keywords=why+we+sleep+book+matthew+walker&qid=1598271164&sprefix=why+we+sleep%2Caps%2C218&sr=8-3">https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sl... I submit that is wrong. Quality sleep is so important to performance, happiness, and overall well being. Start with this book! I re-read it periodically and its always just as fascinating as the first time. Why do we sleep? What is good sleep? Nerd out!.
Now that you& #39;re smart, sleep tracking is next! Sure, your phone or Fitbit does this- but I& #39;ve used a dedicated sleep tracker for a couple of years and love it. I use the Oura ring ( https://ouraring.com/ ).">https://ouraring.com/">... Tracking sleep helps you see trends and correlations.
For example, one thing sleep tracking did for me was to highlight the impacts of alcohol on recovery and performance. Here you& #39;ll see a "normal" night of sleep; no alcohol, heart rate drops early and dips into the 40s. This is good recovery time! Lots of deep&REM sleep as well.
This is sleep after a couple of bourbons and a cigar. Yikes! long time to lower, and stays in the mid 50& #39;s. This is a garbage night of sleep... and if you& #39;re doing this to yourself every night, you& #39;re never recovering or reaching for peak performance. Moderation!
Trends over time are helpful. See that dip in Jan/Feb/March? Was training for a marathon. Serious physical punishment! But look at the dip in April. I stopped training-Pandemic hit! STRESS took over. Point: Stress took more of a toll on me than running 30+ miles per week.
Tracking sleep will help you see these trends- and balance the other levers to get you back on track. Early in COVID I was eating garbage, sleeping like crap, etc. as we started to adjust. I quickly acknowledged and got back on track... as you see the slow climb out of April.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RWRJ4XW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1">https://www.amazon.com/gp/produc... Next- sleep hygiene. No screens in the bedroom! Charge your phone in another room so you aren& #39;t tempted to reach for it at 0300 when you can& #39;t sleep. Plenty of literature on sleep hygiene... DO IT. Bed is for sleep and sex only! Also, get one of these:
Lastly- if you think this is all chicken little junk science, I promise it& #39;s not. POOR SLEEP/ SLEEP DISORDERS HAVE BEEN LINKED TO OVER 50% OF VETERAN SUICIDES. If you& #39;re a leader, you have a duty to talk to your troops about their sleep- get out there and make sleep great again!
and I& #39;m betting that @ThCounselingVet can come off the top rope on that last one with some reinforcing fires.
