You know what helps when making coffee? Water? hehe! I do that a lot. Morning brain fog. And I actually grind my own beans. I do all this prep. Why do I do that to myself? Because it's good coffee damnit! I can't help myself. But yes, water is helpful. :D But the morning grogginess is a toughie. Ironic that it takes coffee to get out of that. But making the coffee is a hurdle in this groggy fog.
How do you sleep? Do you make it a priority? If you don't then you should. I know there are many that say they are fine with 4-5 hours per night. You might be awake and going about your day but it doesn't mean you are functioning as you should or that you are doing any good to your heath.
On average, people sleep 20% less than we did 100 years ago. Obviously this is a result of electricity and TV and computers and cell phones. Back in the day they hit the hay early and usually got up earlier. Most anyway. On top of the fact that our quality of life, productivity and work quality suffers when we are tired there are a lot of other things to think about. 1 in 20 first-year medical residents makes a fatigue related mistake. A fatal mistake. Some major disasters such as Chernobyl, Exxon-Valdez and Three Mile Island were attributed to sleep-deprived workers. And 1 in 5 car accidents are caused by sleepy drivers. Scary isn't it? We are so focused on drunk drivers, texting, speeding and seat belts. But driving while tired is just as dangerous. I'm sure we've all been there. Driving and our eyes are so tired and we need to sleep but keep pushing ourselves.
So make sleep a priority. It will not only help you and your health (emotional and physical) it will help those around you. Start by getting as much natural light as possible. Luckily daylight savings time and longer daylight allows for that. But even if you can go for a walk or sit outside during your lunch break, that is something. Turn the TV and computer off well before it's time for bed if you can. The light from these things keeps the body from producing melatonin. If you take a nap during the day keep it to 15-20 minutes. Anything more will make it go from increasing productivity to harming your cycle and doing more damage in the long run. And the key for many is to cut the caffeine later in the day. Some say it doesn't affect them in their ability to fall asleep and while that may be true, it doesn't mean your body is getting the healing and your cells are repairing as they should for optimal health. If I worked out in the afternoon or evening, I'd often drink a cup of coffee first to give me a bit more energy. And then I ended up having a hard time going to sleep! So I cut that out. And while the first few minutes of my cardio workout are tough, if I push myself..in about 10 minutes the endorphins kick in and that will give me all the energy I need to keep going.
Try to create a bedtime routine and stick to it. Warm baths, herbal tea, lavender essential oils dropped on your pillow, keeping the room cool and of course the meditation I talked about yesterday are all things that can help you sleep. Sometimes after a long day I want to stay up and do a few things but if I'm tired I try to listen to my body and just go to sleep early. I don't tend to get more than 7-8 hours which is perfect. They say getting more than that is actually bad too. I'm sure a lot of us have experienced that "Drugged" feeling after too much sleep.
Ahh, doesn't this look relaxing and peaceful?
"I shut my eyes in order to see" - Paul Gaugin
Have a blessed day!
Tam
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