Six Steps to Sleep– through better time management

Lucy Seifert Life Coach Stress Management Courses, Life Coaching Courses in London July 26, 2013

Hot, humid weather may make it hard to sleep yet for many people sleep is a year round battle. The demands of home, family and friends vie with the pressures of work and an unending deluge of papers, emails, calls and texts. Surprise, surprise! It’s hard to switch off and get a decent night’s sleep. So you start the new day feeling it’s the end of the old day.

Good time management is one key source to a better night’s sleep and here are six simple steps you can take to remove the clutter from your head for the night.

Step One: At the end of the working day, make a to-do-list for tomorrow. Decide what’s important and prioritise your tasks, so you know exactly what you will do first, second, third and so on in the morning. Take those decisions today for tomorrow.

Step Two: Make sure tomorrow’s to-do-list is realistic. How many working hours are there in your day? Does your list of tasks fit into that time? If not, revise your list, putting the extra tasks into your diary or planner for other days of the week.

Step Three: Place your to-do-list in a prominent place or somewhere you’ll automatically look in the morning. Finishing the day in an organised way and writing things down rather than holding them in your head, will help free your mind of clutter.

Step Four: Clear your work desk, leaving it neat and tidyso you know you’ll have a clearspace to return to in the morning. Put files and papers you don’t need immedaitely away where they belong so you can find them easily. Put files & papers related to your to-do-list in priority order & place them in a cabinet/drawer so they are ready to action.

Step Five:During the evening take time to relax in a way that suits you. Leave your work at work. Separate work & leisure. Make sure your home environment is clear and organised before you go to bed, with everything clean & tidy, so you can go to sleep in the knowledge you won’t have to start the new day tidying up after the old.

Step Six: Keep a pen & notebook by your bed. Just in case you remember things in the night you forgot to put on your to-do-list. You can then make a quick note so they don’t cause turmoil in your head & so keep you awake.

Implementing these six simple steps will help you to:

· stay organised,

· be clear-headed

· be more efficient & effective with your day

· avoid unnecessary searching for lists and files

In turn, you will become more time-efficient and will have much more chance of a really good night’s sleep.

Keeping organised & tidy will also save you time. You’ll spend less time searching for things, tidying accummulated disorder & wondering what to do next.

You’ll have more time to spend doing the actviites that you want to do. Enjoy!

In the words of Henry Ford: “It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste”.

Lucy Seifert Life Coach London

Lucy Seifert is a Life & Executive Coach & Author and a specialist in assertiveness, time & stress management, communication, public speaking & confident self-presentation.