Please Note: Our June 4th Weekly Challenge: Better Sleep has morphed into a summer long effort to get more sleep. If you’ve joined us late or you know you need to make sleep a priority, please join us. We’ll be regularly tracking our progress and lessons learned.


Theme: Healthy Practices
Challenge: ZZzzzzzzzz

For as long as I can remember, I have minimized sleep. I gave sleep the day’s leftovers. Whatever time was left after I finished doing what I needed and wanted to do, that time went to sleep. Sleep was never a priority and I prided myself on being one of those people that didn’t need that much sleep.

But getting by on as little sleep as possible Isn’t the same thing as thriving. I know how much better I feel when I get enough sleep – – I am happier, more alert, better at solving problems and handling life’s curveballs, and I make better food choices then when I’m short changing my sleep. And I know that sleep is as much a pillar of good health as eating well or exercise. While I know that sleep is vital, until now I haven’t shifted my sleep focus from knowing to doing.

Good sleep is fundamental to good health. Sleep helps our bodies recover, it’s essential to regulating hormones (such as the hunger hormone ghrelin) and it helps the brain function optimally. In fact, depression and anxiety have been correlated with sleep deprivation. Sufficient sleep is also vital for memory consolidation, learning, and reducing inflammatory markers than can lead to diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and premature aging.

If you also have been giving sleep the short stick, if your sleep is hit or miss, if you KNOW you should get more sleep but it’s never really happened, let’s change that. Let’s make sleep our priority over the next two weeks. Our weekly challenges are rooted in helping us move from the knowing to the doing, by carving out time and space in our lives to focus on one healthy habit at a time. Habits take time and practice and sleep is no different. Let’s make it our focus.

This Week’s Challenge: Watch the TED talk below by neuroscientist and noted sleep expert Russell Foster. Then decide on a reasonable sleep goal for yourself, based on your current sleeping patterns. What barriers do you need to address in order to get better sleep? What changes can you make to your evening routine to make it more conducive to a good night’s sleep?

If you have a Fitbit or another activity tracker, the sleep tracking feature is a great asset. I’m going to post daily either my sleep duration from the night before or how far above or below (in minutes) I am from my sleep goal. Please feel free to do the same. I like the accountability that a daily post provides. What gets measured can be improved. Let’s make our sleep hours as much of a priority as our daily step count.

Make it a great week!

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Suggested Resources:

Russell Foster TED Talk: Why Do We Sleep? (link below)

11 Surprising Benefits of Sleep
http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20459221,00.htm

The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time by Arianna Huffington (I just finished reading this book and it’s excellent)

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