Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that it is possible to get eight hours
Speaker 1: of sleep a night, but doing so requires prioritizing it,
Speaker 1: which means getting into bed on time. About a year ago,
Speaker 1: I published a book called Tranquility by Tuesday, which was
Speaker 1: about nine rules for calming the chaos and making time
Speaker 1: for what matters. I think these rules can help anyone
Speaker 1: live a more productive and tranquil life. The very first
Speaker 1: rule Tranquility by Tuesday, rule number one it was to
Speaker 1: give yourself a bedtime. I have noticed over the years
Speaker 1: that many people get enough sleep averaged over the course
Speaker 1: of a week, but there are a lot of short
Speaker 1: nights followed by crashing nights. It is better to sleep
Speaker 1: seven point five hours each day than six hours some
Speaker 1: days and nine hours other days. In any case, most
Speaker 1: adults need to wake up at set times for work
Speaker 1: or family responsibilities. That's why you have an alarm clock
Speaker 1: and have probably said it most mornings since you were twelve.
Speaker 1: Fewer of us have bedtime alarms. But it's not a
Speaker 1: bad idea, and that is because unfortunately we are about
Speaker 1: as trustworthy on that side of sleep as we would
Speaker 1: be in the morning without an alarm clock. I saw
Speaker 1: a meme a while ago that had someone asserting dramatically
Speaker 1: that she would do absolutely anything to get eight hours
Speaker 1: of sleep except go to bed eight hours before she
Speaker 1: needed to wake up. And isn't that true for most
Speaker 1: of us. Some people have babies who wake up in
Speaker 1: the middle of the night, and some people do shift work.
Speaker 1: But for those of us who have the ability to
Speaker 1: choose when we go to sleep and know that we
Speaker 1: will probably be able to stay in bed until we
Speaker 1: need to get up in the morning, getting enough sleep
Speaker 1: requires this. You decide that the day is over and
Speaker 1: act accordingly. You go to bed enough time before you
Speaker 1: need to wake up so that you can get the
Speaker 1: amount of sleep you truly need. During the school year,
Speaker 1: I generally have to wake up at six thirty am.
Speaker 1: I need seven and a half hours of sleep more
Speaker 1: or less, so I go to bed at eleven pm.
Speaker 1: This is not rocket science. It is simple math. If
Speaker 1: I needed eight hours of sleep, my bedtime would need
Speaker 1: to be ten thirty. If you want eight hours of sleep,
Speaker 1: you just have to do the same thing. Figure out
Speaker 1: what time you need to set your alarm and be
Speaker 1: reasonable here. Don't say you're going to wake up at
Speaker 1: five am to exercise and then hit snooze eight times.
Speaker 1: Just decide when the day should rationally start and then
Speaker 1: count back eight hours. Commit to turning off the light
Speaker 1: by this time. Of course, most of us don't dive
Speaker 1: straight from life and to sleep, so you probably need
Speaker 1: a little wine down time. It is worth constructing your
Speaker 1: evenings with this in mind. Can you create some sort
Speaker 1: of indulgent bedtime routine so going to bed feels fun.
Speaker 1: Maybe you spend a little time reading or doing a hobby,
Speaker 1: taking a relaxing shower, joining some couple time. I don't know,
Speaker 1: but build this slowing down into your life and then
Speaker 1: just get in bed eight hours before you need to
Speaker 1: wake up. If you do need eight hours of sleep,
Speaker 1: you will find this practice life changing. You will have
Speaker 1: more orderly days and be able to enjoy your weekends
Speaker 1: when you are not constantly crashing. As one person in
Speaker 1: the Tranquility by Tuesday book told me, this first rule
Speaker 1: was the least sexy but the most impactful thing they tried.
Speaker 1: Build in eight hours of sleep, and you are more
Speaker 1: likely to get eight hours of sleep. Then if you
Speaker 1: figure hey, time is magic and you'll sleep enough despite
Speaker 1: being in bed for six hours, it just doesn't work.
Speaker 1: Math and reality are tough that way, but accept the
Speaker 1: limitations of time and work with them, and you will
Speaker 1: ultimately be happier in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
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