{"id":540,"date":"2023-09-15T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freelancingintotheunknown.com\/?p=540"},"modified":"2023-09-20T15:41:12","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T14:41:12","slug":"can-a-podcast-change-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freelancingintotheunknown.com\/?p=540","title":{"rendered":"Sleep: An Undervalued Superpower"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My consumption of podcasts rose exponentially this year \u2013 partly from trying to distract myself from the painfully long runs of marathon training and partly trying to make the long car trips to a friend in the midlands a bit more productive.  I found \u201cDiary of a CEO<\/a>\u201d for the first time and have really enjoyed some of the topics its covered. But there was one that had a really big effect on me \u2013 and it was about sleep. It was so good, I made life changes that day and three months in, they\u2019re still (mostly) sticking. Matthew Walker, a neuroscientist, talks about sleep being an undervalued superpower and that we\u2019re in the middle of a global sleep deprivation crisis brought on through modern life. So here\u2019s a few of the nuggets of gold I took from his work:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caffeine\u2019s Half-Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now as a hardened parent of two small people who\u2019ve both gone through long stages of not going to bed\/waking in the night\/deciding the day starts at 5.30am, this one was huge. I only started having caffeine when I became a parent because I was so sleep deprived. But now we\u2019re out of the worst of the sleeplessness, lots of caffeine is likely to be doing me more harm than good. I hadn\u2019t realised how long caffeine remains in your system \u2013 it has a half life of about 6 hours.  Also that while you benefit from boosts of alertness, you\u2019re paying for then in potentially equally big crashes. I\u2019ve switched to decaf in an attempt to make it through the day in gentler waves of alert and tired, and I think it\u2019s made a difference. If only I had the strength of mind to do the same with sugar\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alcohol<\/strong>‘s Impact<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d always thought alcohol was good for sleep \u2013 I\u2019d certainly always fallen asleep quicker if I\u2019ve had a glass. And this was supported by Matthew\u2019s research \u2013 that alcohol helps us get to sleep but he also found that it reduces the quality of your sleep.  So even if you manage to sleep longer after a few drinks, you\u2019re still not likely to have felt like you had a great night\u2019s sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consumption Overload<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A really interesting insight was around how technology is designed to trap our minds into consuming \u2013 content, adverts and information, and that it\u2019s not just exhausting but it\u2019s stifling communication and creativity. It was another nudge the podcast gave me was trying to set really firm boundaries about screens. It\u2019s so easy to default to bad habits and I hate the hold my phone has over me sometimes. So new me is attempting no screens after 9pm, and bed at 10pm. It\u2019s definitely improved my sleep \u2013 the lack of blue light and giving my brain more time to unwind. And an added bonus is that my book count has shot up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attempt to Worry Less<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I loved his suggestions for how to combat sleeplessness and one thing I\u2019ve definitely taken on board is to not check the clock when you can\u2019t sleep or the kids wake in the night. It does zero good to confirm how tired you are, how frustrating it is and how few hours there are left until morning. It\u2019s been weirdly liberating to let that stress go, sort the kids out and stumble back into bed without worrying how much time you\u2019ve lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The biggest and most shocking headline from the podcast was how vital sleep is to your health. I remember driving home listening to it with a realisation that my kids were literally taking years off my life. While I couldn\u2019t do much to resolve their occasional sleeplessness, I realised it was too important not to control the bits I could. Give it a listen yourself here<\/a> and see if it changes your relationship with sleep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo by Kate Stone Matheson<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My consumption of podcasts rose exponentially this year \u2013 partly from trying to distract myself from the painfully long runs of marathon training and partly trying to make the long car trips to a friend in the midlands a bit more productive.  I found \u201cDiary of a CEO\u201d for the first time and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28],"tags":[13,11,15,12,25,10],"class_list":["post-540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-productivity","tag-charity","tag-consultant","tag-founder","tag-freelance","tag-self-employment","tag-start-up-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t