Feeling tired and low in energy? How long did you sleep last night? How long the nights before?

There was a time when we bragged about how little sleep we need and how little time we can afford for it because we are so busy.

We are past that. Science has proven that good and consistent sleep is critical for physical and mental health. Not having time to sleep is more a sign of bad prioritization than anything else (ok, if you have a newborn you get a pass on this rule).

Find a routine to go to bed the same time every single day. Get up in the morning the same time every day. Find out how many hours of sleep you need per night and then plan your day around that. Make it a habit.

Go to bed early. Get up early the next morning. Establish a routine around the times when you go to bed and wake up and then stick to it.

Energized days are better days. You will get more done which will give you more opportunity to establish free times.

On the flip side, if you don’t sleep enough, you will have low energy throughout the day. Coffee cannot truly fix that. Your mind will be slow. You will be cranky and have short fuses. In one word, your day will not be effective and you will need more time to get things done. That will cut in your remaining regeneration and sleep time – you see the vicious cycle.

You should also avoid things that get you too excited: blue lights trigger awakeness, TV gets you excited and aroused, computer games are designed to trigger your excitement and attention, checking your email one last time will almost certainly make you think about work the whole night.

Get a good (maybe slightly boring) book to read and put it away the same time every night.

For most people 8 hours sleep a night is the right duration. It seems to work for me. Find out how much sleep makes you most effective.

Lets us know how it works for you in the comments.