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SLEPT (my method)

15:48 Video (76 MB) HD Video (298 MB) Audio (14 MB)
Let's talk about the all important topic of sleep. Yes. It is probably the physical foundation for joyful productivity. Right? And what we're gonna do so this first segment, I'm going to share with you kind of some original content about sleep, a process that I use as I go to bed, that might be helpful for you.
You take any of it that helps And then in the next segment, we'll talk about some more general, you know, best best in class tips for sleep, and, also, you can share what works well for you. You could share even in this segment below if you like. But so first, I I I hope all of you watching this are are motivated by an understanding of how important sleep is. I might be weird that I've been kind of a geek in terms of about productivity stuff since a long time, and sleep is one of those areas where it's very very emphasized and rightly so in the productivity genre. Actually, I would say it's not emphasized enough I recently was watching the interview with I think his name is Matthew Walker, Doctor Matthew Walker.
At the current time in this recording, he's like, the world leader of sleep influencers, you might say. You know, he's like on, you know, making on podcast rounds, and he has his own podcast. And he sent and and he was talking about how well, even one night of poor sleep. This is this is surprising to me. Even one night of poor sleep, studies have shown increases beta amyloid and tau proteins in in in our system, in our brain, in our system, what are those beta amyloid and tau proteins are the markers of Alzheimer's and dementia.
So even one night. So this is this is maybe hope hopefully motivational for you to once again revisit how you can sleep better tonight and every night, even one night a poor sleep increases your chance of Alzheimer's increases the the the the stuff in your system that actually leads to it. And I don't know if Good Sleep removes those things. Someone who knows the science can please comment below. but I know good sleep obviously makes us feel better.
And one more thing, good sleep. a good night of sleep improves your impulse control, which of course has cascading effects. through all of life, especially for joyful productivity. So without good sleep, I don't know how someone can be joyfully productive. I don't know if it's physically possible because impulse control and self regulation is just not there, which is why, you know, I I am very appreciative and I honor the people who have a lot of sleep disruption, you know, caretakers of the young, of the elderly of anybody, and one's own, you know, chronic illness or things like that.
That's tough. And I myself have been a chronically light sleeper all of my life. I wake up at least a dozen times a night, at least. Like, I find myself eyes awake. I mean, what time it is.
I used to wake up dozens. of times a night. I mean, really, up up until maybe 3, 5 years ago, dozens of times a night, I counted So my sleep is probably worse than most people watching this because like I said, I have some weird when I was a kid, I had a syndrome where I was so scared of the dark or, you know, that I had to roll my head back and forth quickly on the pillow. I would just go like this until I fell asleep now. If I do this now, I get dizzy as an adult.
But I looked it up later and there was an actual syndrome. I have some disease. As a kid, I did anyway. And my that might have carried over because I I don't thankfully, I have made friends with the dark now as an adult. I believe in Guardian angels and and all that Mulu stuff.
So I I do believe that they're, like, literally standing next to my bed or be you know, at the foot of my bed or whatever. I've I've seen I've seen I've seen too many near tabs. I've listen to too many near death experiences to no longer believe that stuff. But anyway, so I made friends of the dark, and that was really helpful. And yet, and yet, just like all of us.
I also I still have the temptation to look at my phone in bed, to think about the day, worry about this or that, to plan for tomorrow, to try to figure out some issue, while I'm in bed trying to fall asleep. So I'm going to share with you now a system that I've developed and have been practicing now Now I have to say the system is is relatively new. I I've I've tried multiple systems. I've developed multiple systems for the years. Right now, This is the one that works well for me.
And what that shows me is, ultimately, I think Well, to me, it's fun to develop your own system. So I hope you will create your own system that's meaningful for you to get to sleep. In the next segment, we'll talk about more of the sort of mainstream, best in class tips, you know. But right now, I just wanna share with you some original content here. So the system I call, it it you know me, I have I have I have a problem with I have acronomitis.
It actually stands for something. You could've I'd put post this on on YouTube sometime ago. I love acronyms. I I turned I turned everything into an acronym. And so but in this case, acronym helps me to remember what the system is.
and the acronym is slept. And by the way, I'm I apologize. My energy in this and this video is a little bit fast, so it's not not helpful for sleeping. You can watch all my other videos to help you sleep, but this one is a little bit fast. So the the the formula is slept, s l e s l e p t, and it's and it goes like this.
s stands for stand. Stand next to the bed to finish my final phone things. because what I used to do was get in bed and then pick up the phone and then do final phone things. Like, oh, I mean, final email here. or a final social media notification there or or look at tomorrow's do list, whatever, the final film stuff.
You know? And, of course, What happens when we have the phone in bed is it tends to stay stay in our hands or, you know, what we're doing is we're essentially shining the the blue light of the phone, even if it's on dark mode, even if it's if it's on dark mode or night mode, it's still blue light. There's invisible blue light, not invisible. It's it's a different infrared or whatever spectrum. Blue light shining in our face think making our brain think it's daytime.
And so melatonin is delayed. So anyway, when I get to bed, when I when I when I when I got to get into bed, I s for stand next to the bed. Finish just a few minutes of final phone things. And, of course, I don't wanna stand too long next to the bed. I wanna get into the bed.
Right? So but that's my rule for myself. I think it's a very healthy rule, and this is one actually one of the tips that I got from the from that sleep doctor. You do not use the phone in bed. You just stand next to the bed until you're done.
You put the phone down. or what the sleep what a lot of sleep experts do is they put the phone outside the bedroom, but I don't need to do that. I just put the phone next to my bed. That's fine. sending cement, finish the foam stuff, and then put the foam down, face down, put the charger in or whatever.
And then okay. So that's that's that's that's what that stands for. Stand next to that. Do the final phone stuff. l stands for once I've Finish my phone stuff.
Put the phone down. l stands for let go of today's thoughts. Let go of thinking about tomorrow or the future. Let go of anything than trying to sort out and figure out and only enjoy the now. Select l means let go let go of all thoughts.
I am now entering a sacred process, and that's what e stands for. e stands for enter the bed as a sacred practice of gratitude. e for enter. Enter the bed with a as a sacred practice of gratitude. You know, a lot of us just kind of like, ah, I'm just getting to bed.
You know, it it's such a no big deal. Like, you just get in bed, and that might work for you. You you get great sleep in bed, and that's wonderful. That doesn't work for me. Like I said, I I am light sleeper, extraordinary.
I I will win most awards for being a light sleeper. And so I can't If I'm in bed and I don't make it a sacred practice, I toss and turn. I move a lot for half an hour or 45 minutes an hour or whatever. It's just not a fun process. I hate going to sleep.
And so I I have turned it into a sacred practice now, and I'm just framing that for myself. I oh, okay. I'm entering a sacred practice right now of gratitude. I'm entering the bed. Pulling the blankets up, getting in, putting it back.
It's a practice. It's a sacred spiritual practice. And that for me changes it. because there's no longer some casual. I just get in the bed and fall asleep.
No. because it doesn't work for me. I get in the bed as a sacred practice. Okay. That's what e stands for.
and then p stands for prey, for support, for getting deep rest. So once as I get into bed, take a practice, gratitude, pray thanks also. And I pray, you know, dear God, dear spiritual team. Thank you for your help in Allow me to have good deep rest tonight as your will allows. Right?
I will be done. I can't command God to do this and do that for me, but I will be done. I I I hope for a deep rest, and I pray for that, and I thank you for supporting me as much as you're allowed to support me for this. So I pray. I don't pray about tomorrow.
I don't pray about today's stuff. I just pray for support in getting deep rest. That's the key. because if I start praying about tomorrow, about this, about that issue, I pray for this person, that person. Then I start, you know, then I start thinking and and and lots of things to think about.
So that's what peace. Just to pray for support for deep breath. That's it. and then t, the last letter, t, stands for trust. Okay?
Trusted God and my spirit team in the process. Trust in the process. By not moving. okay, by not moving physically. Because I am so good at, like, oh, my shoulder is kinda cold.
Let me just adjust this. oh, there's a little itch here right there. Now it's itches, I get it. I mean, I I could just ignore the itch, but it takes me, like, 15 minutes to, like, let the itch go. So I do try to scratch an itch here or there.
but I am so good at moving, shifting a little bit here, shifting look for, like, half an hour. You know? Like, it's just not fun for me. So I learned that if I stop moving, I basically say, if I'm not in pain, like, literally, if I'm not in pain right now, I'm not gonna move until I feel sleepy. And the magic of it is I notice if I do not move, and I'm doing the process of gratitude and trust, I feel sleepy within minutes.
It's a it's a magic. I don't feel I don't believe it. I really don't. Before I get into bed, I don't believe I can fall asleep because I'm so bad at it. I just I I I cannot see.
It's kinda like content. When I'm staring at a blank screen, I don't know how I'm gonna write something because I have, you know, I'm recovering writer's block person. I don't understand how it's gonna it's a miracle. until what happens. The same thing with every single night of sleep.
It's a battle. You know? It's a miracle until it happens. And so I just have to trust if I do not move and be it still, like, it's almost like there's like an an auditor walking around my room going, alright. Is he moving?
Oh, he just moved. It's like I kinda play a game myself. Like, okay. Some someone is giving me a test. How how still can I be?
physically, not move. Now I can breathe gently, deep, clear, right, but, like okay. Shoulders arm is slightly cold. That's okay. It's not painful yet, so it's not gonna move.
And so that's my process of trusting and not moving and within minutes I'm sleepy. And then once I'm sleepy, I allow myself to move a little bit if needed because I'm sleepy already. I could just okay. Put, like, cover more over the the arm or something like that. But then I'm pretty much gonna drift off soon.
So it is Like I said, this is a a a unique process. I customize it to work for me. I hope that it inspires you to come up with your own process. You can borrow mine. If it take mine and if it works for you, great.
Take any part of it. But you've got like, the the point is to have a process that's going to sleep is a practice. Because if you do not get good deep sleep, impulse controls go out the window the next day. Your Alzheimer's is coming sooner rather than later. It's all bad stuff.
And your heart, health, it's not as good. Your all it affects so many things. Thanks. And, of course, if your impulse control is bad, then you're gonna eat worse, you're gonna make bad decisions the next day, even slightly worse decisions, which you know, shortens your life a little bit or shortens your your quality of life and a little bit. Right?
So it is the all important sacred practice of sleep that I hope you will renew your motivation for and your system for. today. So I look forward to seeing if this does anything for you in the comments below, and and thank you for for being here. So I'm I'm joining you in the in the worldwide community of sleep practitioners. So thank you.
  1. Stand and do any final phone things
  2. Let go of any thoughts and worries from today or plans for tomorrow, just be in gratitude for right now
  3. Enter the bed as a sacred exercise of gratitude
  4. Pray for help to fall asleep
  5. Trust by not moving physically
Last updated 28 Jul 2023.