22
May

Does More Sleep Help You Get Organized?

Does more sleep help you get organized? I believe that it does! And, I’ve adapted my morning schedule to prove this point.

I used to get up at least 90 minutes before everyone else to “start my day”.  While I always got a lot done,

More Sleep
Get More Sleep

I was finding that I was tired in the middle of the day – because I had only gotten up too early…duh!

So, I decided to do an experiment and find out of more sleep would help me be more organized. And, I believe that it works. For the last 10 days I have been “sleeping in”. For me this means that I get up no later than 5:30.

I am still a morning person. I get up and will unload the dishwasher, I send my husband out for the day with a cooked breakfast and a cup of coffee and I get our little girl up and ready for school. This gives me an hour to get everything done without being rushed.

What I found is that my mind is clearer and my thoughts are more organized because I have not deprived myself of sleep. Just a few of the benefits have been:

  1. I’m actually sleeping all night because I’m not worried about oversleeping anymore
  2. Everyone is in a better mood because I am in a better mood
  3. I’m feeling better with just an extra hour of sleep

The extra hour of sleep is making such an impact on my day. Running a business from a home office it is easy to become distracted and just this little bit of a change is allowing me to clearly identify my schedule and how I use my time.

I’m still at “work” no later than 7:30 am either working on marketing materials, paperwork or something (my To Do List definitely is long) but I am no longer feeling that decline of energy between the hours of 2:00 and 3:00 pm.

Schedules, routines and habits are important for our life (without becoming OCD about it all). They help us clearly define what needs to be done and keep us on target to reach our goals. The habit of getting an extra hour of sleep every day is huge!

Now…I do have to admit that I do not stay up until midnight! Sleeping in until 5:30 will give me 7 hours of sleep a night. And, while this may still not be as much as “tv” says that I should get, it is definitely better than the 5 hours I was surviving on before.

Feeling better, accomplishing more and staying on track is also allowing me to include more in my day. At the beginning of the year I committed to making a life change by working out 3 days a week. Well, like most “resolutions” (even though this is not what I called it), I started off great, then fell off of the wagon. However, I will celebrate because for the last 3 weeks I have consistently gone to the gym 3 days a week! There is time…I just had to find it.

I love sharing my stories of simple changes that I make to stay organized and I hope that they help you as well. You can do it!!!

Linda Clevenger

www.organizationdirect.com