Sleep Well, Work Well: Improving Well-being & Productivity

Do you ever find yourself waking up feeling groggy and unproductive, setting the tone for your entire day? You're not alone. Many individuals struggle with this phenomenon, which can be attributed to various factors such as poor sleep quality, sleep disorders, anxiety, and irregular sleep patterns.

Author

Wilson Obeneme
May 17, 2024

Some people wake up on the 'wrong side of the bed,' and usually, it takes hold of their whole day, leading to a lack of productivity.

Days like that can be frustrating because you know what you have to do for the day (3 MITs & General to-do list), you know the productivity technique you want to use, but you tend to not have enough energy to get things started.

You are not alone as it is reported that many people also feel the brain fog or exhaustion even after sleeping more than 7 hours [1].

There are different things that can lead to this. Here are some causes [2]:

  • Poor quality sleep

  • Sleep inertia

  • Sleep disorders

  • Anxiety

  • Irregular sleep patterns

We need to find ways to sleep well and also start the day positively.

Personally, after I overcame the irregular sleep pattern, my mood and energy improved drastically, helping me to thrive and be productive.

A regular sleep pattern is a scheduled sleeping cycle that is in sync with your body or biological clock to enable you to sleep well. While it might be difficult to always follow this, we should aim to do so regularly.

Just like we schedule our work, we should also schedule our night's sleep to allow us to get the recommended 7 and above hours of sleep.

Most people want to do this but often struggle because they have not found a pattern or other things that affect it.

Here is how to develop a regular sleep pattern and start the day productively:

  1. Schedule a realistic sleep time.

  2. Have a sleep wind-down sequence - activities and sleep rituals that disconnect you from other things and keep you in the mood to sleep.

  3. Remove distractions from technology and electronics: Turn off the internet, notifications, TV, and pings.

  4. Condition your environment. Set the right temperature, reduce the light and eliminate noise.

  5. Manage your stakeholders - family and friends you typically interact with that might tend to encroach on this time.

  6. Leave work at work. Do not bring work back home.

  7. Start the day with activities that boost your energy - prayer, meditation, interaction with loved ones, exercise, etc.

This will require consistent practice before it becomes a habit and your body gets used to the routine. But once it does, you'll wake up most days feeling energized and start the day positively.