Win Your Evenings: Defend Your Last Hour
KEY POINTS:
1. Once your day is over and you’ve mastered your day, it’s time to prepare ourselves to recharge. This is achieved with a deliberate evening routine.
2. Prepare yourself for rest and recovery so you can be at your best the next day.
“The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep.”
The evening routine is just as important as the morning routine. This is when you regenerate and set yourself up for an amazing sleep. Your quality of sleep depends greatly on what you do in the evening.
If you are the kind of person whose mind races before sleep, thinking about the next day, take time well before your evening routine to plan and prepare for anything on your agenda. Look at your next day and prepare for any important calls, review any notes, plan your Power Work time, or do any other thing you need to do so you can put all that thinking aside until the next day. You might do this at the end of your workday, or perhaps after dinner. Do not let it interfere with the time you will devote to relaxing and recharging in the evening.
Defend Your Last Hour
The most important step to take when you begin your evening routine is avoiding devices and screens for at least an hour before you go to sleep, 90 minutes preferably. Difficult as it may be, it is highly recommended to avoid any TV news before bed. The stimulation we get from the constant news cycle today is like nothing humans have experienced in the past. News programs tend to keep us awake and set our mind off racing again. Avoiding your devices gives your brain time to get quiet and calm in preparation for rest. Bombarding it with images and noise so close to its period of recovery keeps it from fully shutting down when you need it to. Use this time to instead relax with your partner, take a walk, simply sit and talk, play a sport, read a book, or learn a new skill. Do whatever best helps you unwind from the day.
For some, this routine may take upwards of an hour, but it is well worth it as it helps ensure that we sleep deeply and well. Oftentimes if we jump right into bed, we get restless and have trouble falling asleep (or staying asleep). It’s important to create a barrier between the day and sleep, so the mind can calm and we can fall asleep easier.
When need be, adjust your schedule to account for proper sleep needs. For instance, if you are going to an event and won’t be home until 11:00 p.m., switch your routine to start a little later the next day. if possible, do not schedule anything the next morning that disrupts your goal of 7 to 8 hours of sleep. Do not deprive your body and mind of its recovery and regeneration time.
The key here, as it is in so many things pertaining to focus, is to do this all deliberately. Plan for it, and remove all guesswork. This is what leads to success for many high-achieving people, whether they be entrepreneurs or athletes. They plan, plan, plan their days and routines. Nothing is haphazard. This allows them to both be at their best and be prepared mentally and physically to take on any unforeseen challenges the day might bring.
Start, Stop, Continue
Now that you’ve completed the Personal Mastery module, is there a habit or routine that you would like to start? Is there a habit that you would like to stop? Is there a habit that you would like to continue?
Use page 13 of The Focus Effect Workbook to record your answers to these questions.
You may have been following along the last several weeks and thinking “This all sounds great, but who has the time?” The most common excuse for not changing behavior is, “I’m too busy.” If this is you, I challenge you to really think about how you are spending your time.
If you were to track your time for an entire week, writing down everything you do in fifteen-minute increments, you would discover the other ways you are giving more time to the things that don’t really matter. If you can reallocate that time for something important, you will be amazed how much quicker you reach your goals. If you want to be great, whether at business, fitness, as a parent, or as a spouse, you must give your time, effort, and energy. Once you do, you will reach your potential.
Ask yourself, “Do my actions map to my ambitions?” It’s important you contemplate what you want out of life—what you want, not what others want. If you want to achieve these ambitions, you probably don’t have time to be binge-watching a show or wasting endless hours scrolling through social media. You must do the work. Make sure what you are actually doing reflects your goals and dreams. If they are not one and the same, look within yourself and figure out a way to bring them into alignment.
Next week we begin the Work Mastery module, where we’ll dive into the many ways in which you can focus better at work - whether it’s work related to a job, a passion, a sport, homework, or simply being able to focus on whatever is important to you.
Bonus Material
Watch this TED talk by world-renowned sleep expert Dr. Matthew Walker
Click here to watch Greg and Bruce discuss Defending your Last Hour.
The information and advice provided in this program is intended to assist you with improving your performance, as well as your general health. It is not intended and should not be used in place of advice from your own physician or for treatment or diagnosis of any specific health issue. By participating in this program you acknowledge that undertaking any new health, diet and/or exercise regime involves certain inherent risks, that you assume such risks, and that you release Wells Performance Inc. from any responsibility or claim relating to such participation.