19: 10 Strategies for Improving Sleep

Episode Overview:
In this episode of the Women’s Success Coach Podcast, I am talking to you about sleep. So many of my clients over the years have struggled with getting good sleep on a regular basis and what I have found over and over, is that everything is so much harder when a solid sleep foundation is not there. In this episode about sleep, I offer 10 strategies that will help you fall asleep faster, sleep more soundly, and help you sneak in just a little more time for sleep. After listening, you can decide to implement one, or implement them all depending on your lifestyle and how problematic you consider your sleep to be. So let’s dive right in.

What I Cover:

• The negative impact of not getting enough sleep on the following areas:
• Cognitive impairment
• Mood and emotional well-being
• Physical health
• Risk for accidents
• Weight
• Skin health

Ten strategies for improving sleep:

• Mindset: change your narrative of being a "bad sleeper".
• Make it a priority: give it the focus and energy it deserves until you create new habits around sleep.
• Go slow: make changes slowly and in a gradual way.
• Schedule your day: prioritize what needs to get done and schedule in when you will start to unwind and get ready for bed.
• Ask for help: you don't have to do it all. Ask for help, delegate, eliminate, and postpone things are you are able to.
• Decrease stress: exercise, meditate, take warm baths, etc. Also manage your thinking patterns that "dial up" stress.
• Set the right conditions: create habits that are conducive to sleep (cool, no screens, reduce alcohol and caffeine).
• Limit napping: slowly cut out naps so that you are tired when it is time to go to bed.
• Breathe: slow down your nervous system. Grab my guide with 5 breathing techniques for managing stress and anxiety at www.karenvincentsolutions.com/breathing.
• Use visualization: visualize being somewhere calm, peaceful, and relaxing. Pull in all of your senses and let your brain know this is what you want to be thinking about as you drift off to sleep.

Let's Take Some Action:
Go back through the ten strategies above and pick one. Start with a small change and once it sticks, you can increase it, or add in another change. Keep going until you get your sleep to where you want it to be. Feel free to reach out if wanting additional support or to let me know how it is going.

Useful Resources:

Do you worry too much, overthink, assume the worst-case scenarios, spend a lot of time focusing on negative things that have happened, or discredit positive things happening? If so, you are dealing with the human brain we have all been given and you are not alone.

The good news is, you can change this and it may not take as long as you may think! If you want a free resource that will help you examine your thinking patterns, and change those that are not serving you, grab my 5 Common Thought Distortions Guide HERE.

Let’s stay in touch:

Website: www.KarenVincentSolutions.com

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenVincentSolutions

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarenVCoach