The last thing you do before bed tends to have a significant impact on your mood and energy level the next day, as it often determines how well and how much you sleep.
But it can be difficult to fall asleep if you’re stressed. This is especially true now, as many Americans struggle to cope with nationwide unrest.
There are some strategies you can adopt to help yourself relax before bed. Good bedtime routines are key for successful people, who depend on getting enough sleep to help them through their busy days.
Business Insider gathered pre-sleep rituals from business leaders like Sheryl Sandberg and Bill Gates. Here are 15 of the most effective.
They read.
Experts agree that reading is the very last thing most successful people do before going to sleep — President Barack Obama and Bill Gates are known to read for at least a half hour before bed.
Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of “You Can’t Be Serious! Putting Humor to Work,” says he knows numerous business leaders who block off time just before bed for reading, going so far as to schedule it as a “non-negotiable item” on their calendar.
“This isn’t necessarily reserved just for business reading or inspirational reading. Many successful people find value in being browsers of information from a variety of sources, believing it helps fuel greater creativity and passion in their lives,” he says.
They unplug completely.
The blue light from your phone mimics the brightness of the sun, which tells your brain to stop producing melatonin, an essential hormone that regulates your circadian rhythm and tells your body when it’s time to wake and when it’s time to sleep. This could lead not only to poor sleep, but also to vision problems, cancer, and depression.
Michael Woodward, Ph.D., organizational psychologist and author of “The YOU Plan,” agrees, saying, “The last thing you need is to be lying in bed thinking about an email you just read from that overzealous boss who spends all their waking hours coming up with random requests driven by little more than a momentary impulse.”
Give yourself a buffer period of at least a half-hour between the time you read your last email and the time you go to bed.
They disconnect from work.
Truly successful people do anything but work right before bed, Kerr says. They don’t obsessively check their email, and they try not to dwell on work-related issues.
Studies have found if you associate your bed with work, it’ll be much harder to relax there, so it’s essential you reserve your bed for sleep and sex only.
Disconnecting from work is important once you get home, and especially right before bed. It’s good to let your mind recharge, spend time doing something you enjoy, and feel ready to tackle the next day.
Work burnout may actually hinder your productivity by causing you to become easily irritated or stressed out. Taking time after work to fully disconnect from your job may actually increase your productivity the next day. You’ll be feeling fresh and ready to take on the day’s tasks.
