Life Hack

Ok so we are a couple of blogs in now and with any luck you are understanding that my whole out look on life revolves around taking 100% responsibility for yourself, that means all your successes and failures, your ups, downs, highs and lows… YOU are the only creator of your future and if things are not looking the way you want them to look then YOU are going to have to be the one to do something about it.. YOU are going to have to become the Super Hero of your own life.

Over the past twelve months after a massive life overhaul I have honed 4 key areas that seem to enable me to function at the top of my game, no matter what life throws at me.

Hang on, lets just take a minute here to say that again…

NO MATTER WHAT LIFE THROWS AT ME

Because that is key right? There is ALWAYS going to be stuff, LIFE will always happen, kids will get sick, business will be slow, our heath may take a hit, the dog may run away etc etc. There will always be life and just because you have decided that NOW IS YOUR TIME and you are going to take some massive action to move forwards it doesn’t mean that the STUFF will just stop… in fact probably the very opposite will happen, the STUFF may get even worse!

These 4 LIFE HACKS are what are going to keep you moving forward and feeling as though you can handle the tough stuff without wanting to disappear under your duvet and quit adulting forever.  If you can get a handle on these 4 areas of your life it will set a foundation that is solid enough for you to build the future you imagine yourself living

So today we tackle Number 1..

SLEEP

“By sleeping more, in fact, we become more competent and in control of our lives.  It gives new meaning to the old canard of women sleeping our way to the top. Women have already broken glass ceilings in congress, space travel, sports, business and media- imagine what we can do when we’re fully awake”  Arianna Huffington, Thrive.

I used to think that unless I was flat out exhausted at all times i wasn’t working hard enough, that some how the ‘success gods’ would look down at my tired broken body one day and say YOU.. YOU are truly exhausted enough so YOU should get to live the life you want… NOT TRUE… in-fact i believe the opposite happens I just become more grumpy, less able to concentrate, get very emotional, can’t understand why everything feels so hard etc etc… Its not a productive way of being.

The reality is though having two small children, a business and a commitment to high levels of training at cross fit plus all the other ‘life admin’ that must happen sleep is often the first thing that goes, i just found i didn’t really have ‘time’ to sleep much..

So in a tearful pile of exhaustion one day in March I decided something had to change and it was bedtime!

I just decided to get involved with a bit of a routine around how my evening ends and committed to being in bed ready to sleep by 9.30pm on three nights of the week.  The important thing for me with the sleep thing is that the hours BEFORE midnight are the ones that really count.

One of the reasons I end up so exhausted is because I go 100 miles an hour all day, get the kids to bed and then get a second wind and get all caught up in working, doing coaching calls, catching up on admin, social media, occasionally getting far too carried away with prison break etc etc  whatever it may be it would take me ages to ‘calm down’ an be able to sleep and even then I would lie in bed with my head buzzing with all the things I still ‘have’ to do… sound familiar?

Life Hack number one is  PLAN YOUR SLEEP…

I now look at how my week is going to go on a Sunday night and I schedule in the 4 nights that will be ‘early’ nights.. on those nights the rules are

No caffeine after 6pm

Turn devices of an hour before I want to be asleep

Take a bath and put on P’js – My mum says wearing PJ’s is very important because it tells your brain its bedtime- not sure how true this is but I am going with it!

Listen to a guided meditation

Take two calcium and magnesium tablets with a pint of water.. this helps your muscles to recover whilst you sleep an the magnesium helps with sleep!

Spend 10 minutes ’emptying my brain’ of all the ‘to do’s’ on to a piece of paper and saying aloud- ‘its all ok I can handle this tomorrow,  tonight I am sleeping!”

Read for 20/30 minutes or until my eyes close and I hit myself in the head with a book

THATS IT… sounds simple doesnt it… IT TOOK ME THREE MONTHS to make this a habit and even now I have to work at it every day!

Sleep is our body and minds way of recovering from each day, its where we regenerate and gain the ability to navigate all the tasks ahead.  In my coaching sessions with clients I refer to it as your WARM UP for the next day.

So if you are the person hitting snooze 6 times each morning, if you wake up feeling as though there must be a mistake and it can’t possibly be morning yet, if you find you are tired throughout the day but struggle to get to sleep when you finally get to bed, you need this LIFE HACK…  It is just one, and it seems really simple but it makes a huge difference!

Stop treating yourself as an after thought, your health and your happiness are worth much more than that. Plan your sleep this week and give it everything you have got.. Go out there and RX SLEEPING!

And remember… you have got this, I promise

Charlotte xx

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