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June 3, 2024 13 mins

Do you ever feel like every minute of your day is packed with meetings and things to do? You might try to shut down to spend time with your family or partner at night, but find yourself picking your laptop back up in the evening hours to try to “catch up”? 

This evening catch up time starts as, I’ll just get through a few emails, and before you know it, it’s hours later and you find yourself exhausted and needing to get up in just a few short hours to do it all over again.

But what if reclaiming your nights could supercharge your days? 

In today’s conversation, I’m going to share how rest is the most underrated productivity hack you’re not getting enough of. We’ll talk about how prioritizing sleep can transform your productivity, creativity and leadership. By the end, you’ll have a list of things you can do to maximize your sleep so you can show up well-rested and focused in both work and in life.

Stop pushing through the fatigue that’s actually holding you back from doing your best work and keeping you stuck in a cycle of exhaustion and underperformance, something none of us can afford.

00:00 Introduction to Reclaiming Your Nights

01:15 Why Rest is Your Productivity Supercharger

02:22 The Fallacy of Hustle Culture

05:07 How to Maximize Your Sleep

08:15 Creating Your Sleep Sanctuary

10:16 Practical Tips for Better Sleep

11:58 A Simple Hack for Consistent Bedtime

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Do you ever feel like everyminute of your day is packed

(00:02):
with meetings and things to do.
You might try to shut down andspend time with your family or
your partner at night, but youfind yourself picking up your
laptop again in the eveninghours, just to try to catch up.
This evening catch-up timestarts as just, oh.
Maybe through a few emails,maybe with some Netflix in the
background and before you know,it it's hours later.

(00:24):
You find yourself exhausted andneeding to get up and just a few
short hours to do it all overagain.
But what if reclaiming yournights where the key to
supercharging your days?
In today's conversation, I'mgoing to share with you how rest
is the most underratedproductivity hack you're not
getting enough of.

(00:44):
We'll talk about howprioritizing your sleep can help
you show up better at work.
And in your life and get thingsdone faster.
By the end, you'll have a listof things you can do to maximize
your sleep so you can show upwell, rested and focused in both
work.
And life.
Stop pushing through thatfatigue.
That's actually holding you backfrom doing your best work in

(01:06):
keeping you stuck in a cycle ofexhaustion and underperformance.
Something none of us can afford.
it's easy to feel over-scheduledover tired and some days just
over it.
It's time to ditch the guilt.
Still get things done and havetime left for ourselves.

(01:26):
And the most important people inour lives.
How do we do that?
You're about to find out.
Hey there.
My name's Jennifer Shay, andhere you'll get the latest
bio-hacks mindset shifts andcalendar control strategies to
help you get to the other sideof busy.
I'll bring you insights on howto get more done during work
hours, so you can shut it offand prioritize what truly

(01:48):
matters.
In today's conversation, I'mgoing to help you understand why
sacrificing sleep in the name ofgetting more done.
It's actually hurting you morethan helping you.
And how you can get betterquality sleep than you have in
years.
Because who wants to show up?
Feeling exhausted and unfocused,not you.

(02:10):
And now you don't have to makesure you stick around to the
end, the, where I'm going toshare with you.
A ridiculously simple trick tomake sure you get to bed exactly
when you want to.
So let's dive in.
Our culture has a way of makingus feel like the hustle and
grind is the only way to getahead.
But this is really a fallacy.
And it leaves us feeling stuckbecause it sells us the lie that

(02:34):
if we're continually busy andbeing productive, we have to be
getting more done.
That's not the case.
And the reason for this isbecause it doesn't account for
this time, energy paradox.
You see while our time is fixed.
We all get the same 168 hours ina week, our energy flexes.
So the work that you do and howyou show up at 8:00 AM might be

(02:56):
different from 2:00 PM, 6:00 PMor midnight.
And you've experienced this.
If you've ever say tried to stayup late and get something done
and just hit a wall where youcan't move forward.
The more we push the moreexhausted that we get.
And if we don't create space torest, we're just running an
empty.
The CDC says that the averageAmerican adult only gets six

(03:19):
hours of sleep every night, butwe really need seven to nine.
Do you know what operating onsix hours of sleep gives you the
cognitive abilities of?
Someone who is legallyintoxicated.
But I don't know about you, butI don't want to be making
important business decisions,life decisions, career
decisions, and that kind of fog.

(03:40):
So.
What if we could reclaim ournights so we could show up
better during the day?
First, let me tell you why thishustle fallacy is lying to you.
So there was a study done wherethey took two groups of workers
and they told the first.
Work 80 hours a week.
And they told the second, justpretend like you're working 80

(04:01):
hours a week.
The managers of the two groupscould not tell the difference
between those who actuallyworked 80 hours and those who
just pretended to do so.
Even in a 50 hour workweek.
We're really only getting about37 productive hours.
So every extra hour we put in isreally only worth about 30

(04:22):
minutes if we're lucky ofproductive time.
So there's no noticeable benefitof working beyond 50 hours.
So these people that say, if Iwork 80 and you work 40, I'm
going to get there twice asfast.
Aren't telling the truth.
They're not taking intoconsideration the energy they
need to show up and do the workand be focused during those work

(04:43):
hours.
Here's the honest truth.
When we're sleep deprived, thework takes longer.
And the quality.
Suffers.
So the biggest takeaway for youhere is that rest is not your
reward for hard work.
It's your prerequisite forgreatness.
If you want to show up well inwork and in life, the answer all

(05:04):
lies in getting a good night'ssleep.
So now that we've establishedwhy your sleep is so important
and why that hustle fallacyisn't serving you.
Let's talk about how you canmaximize your sleep.
Here are some tips, so you canget the most restful sleep
you've gotten in years.
Let's start with the ten three,two rule.
10 hours before bed.

(05:24):
Cut The caffeine.
All right.
So that means that if you'retrying to go to bed at 10, you
need to be finished up with thatcoffee, tea, whatever you're
having by noon.
This helps your body move outthe caffeine from your system.
So you can actually fall andstay asleep.
Three hours before bed close thekitchen and the liquor cabinet.
So many of us will do late nightsnacking or have a nightcap.

(05:48):
And this is really sabotagingour sleep because our body needs
to start metabolizing thatbefore we fall asleep.
First it's easier to metabolizethose things as we are setting
up right.
And not laying down sleeping.
But secondly, if our body hasn'tstarted metabolizing that before
we go to sleep, it pushes offall the repair work it needs to

(06:08):
do while we're asleep.
Because it's digesting that foodand liquor.
All right.
So three hours before bed.
close the kitchen close theliquor cabinet.
And finally two hours beforebed.
I cut all the screens and theoverhead lighting.
Now this is one that I know alot of people struggle with.
We stay up late and watchNetflix.
We scroll our phones.

(06:29):
Hopefully we are escaping emailwith this episode, but here's
why that sabotages us.
The blue light from our devicesand some of our led overhead
lighting.
Hits our retina.
And confuses our brain intothinking that it's still
daylight, that we need moreenergy, more cortisol to pump

(06:50):
things and keep us moving.
But what it suppresses in thatis our melatonin and our body
needs to produce melatonin tofall asleep and stay asleep.
So the more blue light you getcloser to bed, the harder it is
to produce melatonin, which isthe hormone.
Your body needs to reallyencourage a restful night's
sleep.

(07:10):
So by cutting screens andoverhead lights, two hours
before bed.
You're allowing your body to gothrough its natural circadian
rhythm.
Producing melatonin and fallingasleep.= Now you might say
Jenna, there's no way I can backit up two hours.
I have my phone in bed.
Let's just make incrementalprogress.
If you are in bed with yourphone, can you move the charger

(07:31):
across the room or better yetinto the bathroom?
And put it there 15 minutesbefore bed.
Can you back up 15 minutes everyweek.
So that eventually you get to anhour.
And then two hours.
Can you turn it to gray scale sothat it's not so exciting to
scroll through.
And you ended up shutting it offanyway.

(07:53):
All right.
This blue light piece is reallyhelpful, but there's also just
the dopamine hit that we getfrom scrolling, social media or
watching Netflix before bed.
That isn't helping her body calmdown for a restful night's
sleep.
All right.
So in addition to that 10,three, two rule, I also have a
few other tips for you.

(08:15):
Maximize your sleep environment.
So what does this look like?
Well, ideally we sleep in apretty cool room.
The body sleeps best anddeepest.
If our room is kept between 60and 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
So if your room is at 70 to 75,your body isn't able to cool
down and really get the deepestrest that it can.

(08:37):
So be mindful of the temperatureof your room.
The next thing you can do is getblackout shades, especially in
the summertime when it can belight out until 8 39.
It can be really hard to fallasleep, especially if you're
planning an early bedtime.
So blackout shades allow you toblack out any remnants of the
sunset so that you can go tobed.

(08:57):
When you say you want to.
It will also allow you to stayasleep longer because you're not
getting those remnants of thesunshine coming in.
As you're trying to get thoselast few moments of sleep,
they're also really helpful onnights where we have a full moon
and it's bright outside.
Again, the light coming fromother areas is a signal to our

(09:18):
brain that we need to be awake.
So the blackout shades reallyhelp us keep the room dark,
which is better and sustainablefor a good night's sleep.
Another key part of having asleep sanctuary is moving your
phone out of the bedroom.
We mentioned this earlier, butit goes worth repeating that
having your phone next to thebed encourages you to be on your

(09:42):
phone right before you go tosleep and be on it.
First thing, when you wake up.
There's also a light that comeswhen your phone is charging.
And so that light emits somebrightness in your room when you
want completely dark room tosleep.
So by putting your phone inanother room in the bathroom,
outside of the bedroom, you'renot only getting rid of the
light that might come from thephone.

(10:03):
You're banning that idea of Ican be on my phone right before
bed, or first thing when I wakeup.
And you're also eliminating anydistraction from settling into a
good night's sleep.
Another question you can askyourself to prepare for your
best sleep is how can I bestprepare my body and my mind for

(10:24):
bed.
Alright, this is typically notwatching some thriller on
Netflix right before you go tosleep.
That gets your heart rate going.
What we want to do is slow downour body, slow down our mind.
So some ideas of how you mightdo that.
Take a warm bath.
Do a meditation.
Have a conversation with yourpartner or a family member

(10:45):
rather than scrolling socialmedia on your phone.
Maybe some gentle yoga.
Anything that slows down yourmind from the day.
And slows down your heart ratein your body will really help
you settle in so that when youlay your head on the pillow,
you're more likely to fallasleep and stay asleep.

(11:05):
In a moment I'm going to sharewith you a silly, simple hack
you can use to guarantee you getto bed on time.
But first, if you're ready toput away the work and prioritize
sleep.
Awesome.
But I know some of us need alittle bit more help letting go
of how we can cut the work downat night.
Or on weekends and still keep upwith all the things and not get

(11:27):
overwhelmed or feel buried.
So I've put together somethingreally valuable for you.
It's called five strategies tocalm the calendar chaos.
In it, I'll share with you atemplate on how you can
eliminate automate or delegatesome of those things on your
list that are hogging all ofyour time.
So you can create more space todo the meaningful work.

(11:48):
And then you feel like you canshut it off and prioritize life
outside of work and sleep.
You can sign up forthat@theothersideofbusy.com
slash chaos, or just click thelink in the show notes.
All right.
Here's a ridiculously simplehack to help you honor a
consistent bedtime withoutsabotaging yourself with a
Netflix marathon or gettingcaught in email.

(12:09):
Set.
a reverse.
Alarm.
Like you set an alarm for whenyou wake up, you can set an
alarm for when you should startto get ready for bed.
Think about how long you need towrap things up and get your mind
and body ready for sleep.
Is that 10 minutes?
Is it 30 minutes?
Then take your bedtime andsubtract that prep time.

(12:29):
And set a bedtime routine alarmon your phone.
For example, I like to be up at5:00 AM, ideally.
So I'm asleep by nine.
I like 30 minutes to get readyfor bed.
I take about 20 of these toread.
Before turning off my lamp andclosing my eyes.
All right.
So my bedtime routine alarm goesoff at eight 30.
This practice might feel alittle weird at first, but I

(12:51):
promise you the more that youhonor this, the more you're
going to be able to show up eachday with renewed focus and
clarity.
I hope you found somethingtoday.
That's extremely valuable andyou move forward, prioritizing
your rest so you can show up asyour best self in work and in
life.
Please, let me know what's beenhelpful.
You can shoot me a DM onInstagram.

(13:12):
I'm at Jenna dot Pasha.
Or you can just click the linkin the show notes.
All right, until next time maythe work you do create the
meaning and the life that youdeserve.
I'm rooting for you.
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