Missed the first posts in this series? Check them out here.
#8 Sleep Restfully
Burning the candle at both ends might seem like it’s allowing you to be more productive, but usually it’s a very ineffective way to live. When you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re not able to be at the top of your game. As a result, you’re often not as inspired or creative — especially when it comes to blogging.
Case in point, not too long ago, I went for almost a week with zero inspiration to blog. I'd sit down to write and I felt like I had nothing to say. I had a lot of things I wanted to write and many different post ideas, but no desire to actually write the posts.
This is very out of character and I began to wonder what was wrong with me. Was I depressed? Was I just plain out of inspiration? Did I need to get my levels checked at doctor? I ran through just about every possible issue in my brain for a few days trying to figure out what could be wrong with me — and I kept coming up dry.
Finally, one night I got a really good night’s rest. And guess what? The next morning I was all inspired to write again!
I wasn’t depressed nor was there anything medically wrong with me; I was just tired. Without really even realizing it, I’d fallen behind on sleep — and it had caught up with me and sucked all the inspiration from me.
Yes, sleep really does make a difference when it comes to blogging (and many other areas in life, too!)
Go to Bed Earlier
The best way to guarantee that you get more sleep is to get to bed earlier. I know that night owls often despise this sort of advice, but whether you are a night owl or a morning person, you need to consider whether or not you’re getting enough sleep.
Are you:
- Feeling exhausted when you wake up in the morning?
- Struggling to keep your eyes open after lunch?
- Hitting a productivity wall in the middle of the afternoon because you are feeling tired?
If any of these things are routinely happening to you, there’s a very good chance that you’re not getting enough sleep at night.
Training yourself to get to bed earlier so you can get a better night’s sleep can be hard. Find an accountability partner who will commit to earlier bedtimes with you (if you’re married, it’s fantastic if that accountability partner can be your spouse!) and then challenge yourself to stick with a realistic earlier bedtime for at least three weeks.
Gradually Teach Your Body to Adapt
Notice I said “realistic”? That’s really important.
If you usually go to bed at 1 a.m., don’t try to all of a sudden change to a 9 p.m. bedtime. Try slowly moving your bedtime by 30 minutes (or even 15 minutes) every few weeks until you hit on a time that works best for your body and your family’s routine.
Plan Ahead for Great Sleep
Great sleep doesn’t always just happen naturally, so do your best to plan ahead and prepare your environment to get the best night’s sleep possible. Here are a few suggestions:
- Wind Down Early – Start getting ready for bed at least an hour before your bedtime. This way, you’re helping your body to start winding down well before you need to be dozing off.
- Drink Less Caffeine — If you have trouble getting to sleep or going to bed earlier, try reducing your caffeine intake. Also, don’t drink caffeine after 3 p.m. (unless you’re like my sister, who finds that she goes right to sleep after she drinks a cup of coffee!)
- Turn Off the Electronics — Seriously, stop checking your email or social media in bed. The world (and you!) will survive just fine. And I promise you won’t get sucked into 30 minutes or an hour of mindless internet-hopping.
- Follow an Evening Routine — Go to bed near the same time every night, if at all possible. The more you can get your body into a rhythm, the better you’ll likely sleep at night.
- Prep the Environment — You might find that drinking a cup of Sleepytime tea, using essential oils, listening to relaxing music, reading, and/or Sleep Balm can help to enhance your sleep. Also, be sure to have a dark room, a comfortable temperature, and maybe even white noise.
If you’re having trouble actually getting to sleep, force yourself to focus on something simple like counting all the blessings you can think of. Or going through the steps of some certain task. Don’t let your mind wander to things that will excite you or camp on things that might worry you.
For more ideas and suggestions, check out the book, Sleep: It Does a Family Good.
Give Yourself Grace
You aren't going to be able to get a good night's rest every night. If you have a lot on your plate right now and there's not much you can delete or delegate, sometimes you just have to power through and do the best you can do.
If you have insomnia, a newborn, a child with sickness or special needs, or other circumstances that are preventing you from regularly getting at least 7 hours of sleep at night, don't let yourself feel frustrated. Sometimes the best lessons in life are learned from those really stretching, hard, difficult seasons.
As C.S. Lewis so aptly said, "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny." So if you're in one of those trying seasons, don't give up. Get as much sleep as you can and press on — knowing that this difficult time won’t last for forever!
What tips & tricks help you get a great night’s sleep? I’d love to hear!
Got student debt? Sign up for SmarterBucks (for free!) and earn rewards that help pay down your student loans. Click here to learn more. 
Related Stories
For those of you who haven’t heard, I have sad news for you: Dillons announced that they will no longer be doubling coupons beginning August 7, 2013.
Here’s what they wrote on their Facebook page:
In an effort to provide all of our customers with the most value for their dollar, we're implementing a New Lower Prices program. Effective August 7, we're reducing prices on thousands of everyday items that you and your family rely on. To make this possible, on August 20, we're discontinuing our practice of doubling (up to 50 cents and rounding to $1.00) manufacturer coupons in Dillons stores. We will continue to accept manufacturer coupons and other coupons at face value, including digital coupons, e-coupons, Catalina coupons and printable coupons.
We truly believe these changes reflect our efforts in providing the best shopping experience to all of our customers. We hope that you'll come in and see our new low prices as well as the many other ways to save.
• Downloadable, clip-free coupons daily on www.Dillons.com/digitalcoupons
• Weekly sales and special sales events, such as Mega Event and Cart Busters
• Fuel savings program that offers up to $1 off per gallon when you redeem up to 1,000 fuel points at Dillons Fuel Centers and Kwik Shops
• Loyal customer mailings containing customized coupons
• $4/$10 generic drug pricing (see pharmacy for details)
• Faster checkouts
If you’re feeling really discouraged by this news, I’d highly encourage you to head over to Deal Detecting Diva for a full in-depth analysis of what this means and why it’s not as bad as it seems.
Thanks, Motherhood on a Dime!
Got student debt? Sign up for SmarterBucks (for free!) and earn rewards that help pay down your student loans. Click here to learn more. 
Related Stories
A testimony from Lisa
In June 2013, my father passed away. It wasn't totally unexpected. He had diabetes, his health had been declining, and earlier in the year his doctor said his kidneys were failing.
However, I was still shocked when my brother called me to let me know my father passed away. That week was stressful as we hurried to make funeral arrangements and clean out my father's apartment. But the biggest stress was the financial burden of the funeral that fell upon me and my three siblings.
My father was not good at budgeting his money, and he didn't have a life plan. He had very little money in the bank. He had no life insurance. He rented an apartment, and the only assets he had were a washer, dryer, fridge, and an old car. Recouping enough money to cover the funeral costs was not going to happen.
As we began to research the cost of a funeral, we looked for ways to minimize the financial burden by choosing options that were less expensive. The funeral costs still totaled close to $7,000, which is inexpensive compared to most funerals.
We reached out to my father's three brothers and asked if they would help out with the funeral. Thankfully they each said that they would contribute. With seven people contributing money, that meant we each needed to pay $1,000. But before the funeral could happen, the total cost had to be paid in full up front.
One thousand dollars is a large sum of money for me and my family. Thankfully, my husband and I had an emergency fund, and we were able to pull from it to cover our portion of the funeral. If we didn't have an emergency fund, my siblings would have had a greater financial burden to carry.
You never think that something like this will happen to you until it does unexpectedly. What a blessing it was that we made the decision years ago to build up an emergency fund.
Now we are working on adding back that money to our emergency fund just in case the unexpected happens again. Some months, we only have an extra $20 to add to our emergency fund. Other months, we are able to put in more depending on the month's expenses that need to be paid.
What's important is that we are trying to set aside money each month, and we know that every little amount helps us get closer to our goal. We hope that an experience like this won't happen to us again in the near future, but if it does, we will at least be financially prepared.
Lisa is a stay-at-home mother of two girls, and a wife to an amazing husband. She loves cooking, organizing, playing the piano, ballroom dancing, and providing money-saving tips and deals for families on her blog, Saving Cent by Cent.
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
Got student debt? Sign up for SmarterBucks (for free!) and earn rewards that help pay down your student loans. Click here to learn more. 
Related Stories
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it 
No comments:
Post a Comment