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How to Have Better Sleep, so You Can Make More Money!
Most people don’t think about their quality of sleep as having anything to do with their income potential. But it is absolutely a factor that has way more to do with our money situation than we would think.
When you haven’t got enough sleep or enough quality sleep, our bodies and in turn our lives, are greatly affected by this chain reaction of events.
When we haven’t slept well, we don’t have as much energy which makes it so our days are less productive than what they could be.
Our hormones are all out of whack including our hormones that regulate our feeling of fullness, hunger signals and our cravings, when we have had less sleep than we need. Which means we often make less than nutritious choices when haven’t had enough sleep, we choose more high carb & sugary foods to try and give us that “boost” of energy that we don’t have and then we have lower energy levels after we have eaten these foods due to our blood sugar levels being thrown out of whack. If you’ve ever experienced the afternoon slump where you feel like you could take a nap from about 2-4pm, then this is what you are more than likely experiencing!
When we hit that afternoon slump, instead of being productive, we slow way down and get fewer tasks done that are going to drive the bottom line forward!
My insomnia was so bad that I had to take sleeping pills for it. I found that the sleeping pills were affecting my health (giving me headaches were one of the symptoms that I was experiencing), so I focused on what I could do to truly improve my sleep. I am sharing this with you because I personally have had to work really, really hard at improving my sleep habits to be able to go from an insomniac to being able to sleep an entire night without waking up or only waking up a couple of times! When I worked on my sleep habits, I was able to go off my sleeping pills completely and my entire life changed because I finally had energy again and it definitely had an impact on my money!
So now that I have briefly shared HOW poor sleep is actually affecting your earning potential, here are some ways to get better quality sleep!
Magnesium Helps to Relax Your Body
Often people are so stressed that by the time they want to go to bed, they are too “on” to just fall asleep. The falling asleep aspect is something I hear so often that is really difficult, so making the falling asleep part quicker and less stressful, is very important.
Magnesium is a mineral that is needed by our bodies to perform so many functions but is often lacking in our diets due to the foods that we eat and don’t eat enough of. Magnesium helps our minds and bodies to relax and it is really great to supplement with this at night before you go to bed, to help relax your body and prepare it for sleep.
There are many different combinations of Magnesium you can use, but the one that I like to take is Magnesium in powder form and you can find it here.
If you use Magnesium Citrate, you can experience a little bit of a laxative effect sometimes, so just be aware of it. Personally, when I use the Magnesium powder (I just mix it with water and drink it), I haven’t experienced it, but when taken in tablet/pill form I have in the past. When I say laxative effect, I don’t mean E-Lax type of situation, I just mean a little more than usual.
I also use Magnesium Oil for restless leg or muscle soreness and I spray it on and then wipe it off. The first few times I used it had a small burning/tingling sensation, but as soon as you wipe it off, it goes away (the directions do tell you to spray it on and then let it sit and then wipe it off). I love using this before bed on my calves and legs especially as it helps when I am having restless legs and want to make sure that they don’t wake me up in the middle of the night.
Are you ready to feel free and not have so much anxiety about your credit card debt anymore? Check out my Pay Off Your Credit Cards course here for helping to get your credit cards paid off so much sooner and to save you money on them.
Click here to download my Realistic Budget template!
I Can’t Live Without My Eye Mask
I am a huge fan of my eye mask. So much so, that I have two of them, one for at home and one that stays in my travel bag so there is no chance of me forgetting it when I travel because that would be devastating, yes I love it that much!
The reason my eye mask is so important for my sleep is because it makes the room so it is completely blacked out and no light is coming in. Our bodies circadian rhythms (which control our sleep and wake cycles), respond to light thinking that it needs to wake up. So if there is any light in our rooms, our bodies naturally may start to feel like it is time to wake up, even if it isn’t just yet.
Even with blackout blinds in my room, there is still light that does get through and my eye mask takes care of it. Another reason I love my eye mask is because I found that when I could briefly wake up throughout the night, because I had my mask on and wouldn’t see anything, I felt back to sleep so much faster, I didn’t check my phone, I didn’t look around the room and therefore I went right back to sleep.
Yes it did take time to get used to wearing an eye mask and yes I did knock it off in my sleep for the first few weeks, but I have been wearing it for 4+ years now and I wake up each morning with it on because my body has got used to it. I now crave wearing it and find it extremely calming to put it on and I fall asleep so much faster now.
Ear Plugs Eliminate Background Sounds
I am not just light sensitive but I am also very noise sensitive. Therefore, I wear earplugs as well when I sleep.
Yes wearing earplugs to sleep takes an adjustment period like wearing an eye mask as well, but once you get used to it, man is it worth it. I do have a few different ear piercings so sometimes it can feel a little awkward, but I notice a big difference in my sleep and the number of times that I wake up when I am not wearing them versus when I am wearing them.
Wearing earplugs just cancels any background noise that used to wake me up in the middle of the night. I have no problem hearing my alarm go off in the morning even with my earplugs on.
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Using Mushroom Powders to Help Support Your Body & Relax Before Bed
Now first off I want to make it known, that when I say use mushrooms to help relax before bed, I don’t mean the “special” kind of mushrooms. I am talking about mushroom powders that have incredible effects on our physical and mental bodies.
I love using mushroom powders in so many ways to increase my energy, my mental clarity, my mental & brain health, my moods, my adrenal function, my hormones, and so many other aspects of my health.
I am a huge fan of using Four Sigmatics as a daily staple in my life. I love their “hot cacao” drink mixes that aren’t filled with sugar like other hot chocolate mixes are. They taste great (honestly, they don’t taste like mushrooms, they take like chocolate, I wouldn’t drink them just because they are “healthy” if they tasted terrible!) and they are actually SO good for you! Before bed, I use the Chill With Reishi that helps me to relax and sleep better. If you want to try a mushroom powder hot cacao or coffee, use the code “mandyy” at checkout to save you 10% on your order!
Essential Oils Help to Calm You So You Can Relax Enough to Fall Asleep
I also love using high quality essential oils such as lavender and serenity to help my nervous system to get really calm and be able to wind down to stop thinking so much and just feel calm and peaceful and be able to fall asleep.
Be Open to “Unconventional” Methods
Another method that I used for many years and now I used when I feel like I want to or need it, is hypnosis. I started using sleep and stress hypnosis meditations years ago when I was struggling with my insomnia and working shift work. I actually tried hypnosis before I ever meditated, so hypnosis in my world at that time was still “out there,” but I can tell you I am SO glad I set any thoughts about it aside and just gave it a try.
Using hypnosis for sleep is the way that I have found works better than so many other approaches for getting super calm before bed and truly getting into a relaxed state.
My body feels totally different, all of my thoughts in my busy brain are able to quiet down and I get into such a relaxed state that I sleep literally like a baby when I use sleep hypnosis tracks.
What I do is use a track that is specifically for stress relief that I purchased and downloaded onto my phone, I push play when I am in bed and comfy and then I totally relax and just listen to the words as it slowly calms my mind and body until I completely fall asleep. Here is the stress relief hypnosis track that I personally have been using for the past couple of years that I love.
Click here to download my Realistic Budget template!
Read This Book to Dive More Into Optimizing Your Sleep
If you want a really awesome book to read even more ways to improve your quality of sleep, I suggest reading The Sleep Revolution! I read this book and absolutely loved the information that was shared in it and I used it when I was experiencing my insomnia a couple of years ago and a lot of what is in that book, I used in my own life to be able to now sleep soundly each night!
Your Digestion Affects Your Sleep
Another factor that most people don’t think about that is linked to their sleep, is their digestive system.
A few years back when I was training for a fitness competition and before I went to school to study Holistic Nutrition and didn’t know any better, I was told to have a meal before I went to bed each night. It wasn’t a huge meal but more of a snack. I didn’t realize it at first but later on, I noticed that it was really having an effect on my sleep because my body thought it was supposed to be digesting food, but I was sleeping. This caused two problems, it affected my digestive system because my digestion was poor because I was sleeping so it didn’t have the full amount of energy dedicated to it to digest my food. But also because my body was attempting to digest my food, it was still “working” when it should have been more in maintenance mode.
Having meals too close to bed can affect your digestive system and in turn your quality of sleep, so be careful how close your meals or big snacks are to your bedtime.
A book that will help you to understand your digestive system better and how to really improve it is, Eating Alive – Prevention Through Nutrition.
Technology is Disrupting Your Sleep
Lights from computers, phones, alarm clocks and other technology have an effect on your sleep as well. I suggest shutting off, unplugging or removing any technology from your room that truly doesn’t need to be there, so you can have better sleep and not be affected by these. In the evenings I will also wear blue light blocking glasses when I am looking at screens to help with my sleep. What I suggest is not cheaping out on them and getting ones that actually fit properly to your head and spending the money on them, otherwise, you won’t end up wearing them or they are more of a distraction because they are falling off or just don’t sit correctly.
Your Stress & Worries Are Causing You to Lie Awake
Often we can’t fall asleep even if we are so exhausted because we are so worried and stressed. And the most common thing we stress about is our finances. This is not a joke and when we are stressing about our finances before bed, it makes it so we get less sleep, less quality sleep and wake up exhausted yet again.
Suggestions for this are, writing down in a journal your thoughts before bed to get them out of your head, reading a money mindset book before bed to help change your thoughts and feelings around money to being positive instead of negative. Click here to read my Top 8 Best Money Mindset Books. Another thing I will get my clients to do is to tell themselves that you can’t fix everything with your finances and to leave those thoughts until tomorrow, tonight, just focus on getting an amazing sleep.
If your finances are a constant state of anxiety and stress for you, focus your energy on improving your finances so you are actually able to reduce this stress instead of living the rest of your life with it. If you are struggling with credit card debt, work with a financial coach who can walk you through the step by step actions of getting your credit cards paid off and keeping them paid off.
If you are in a job that is sucking the life out of you and doesn’t serve you or make you feel truly happy, filled with joy and like you are doing your life’s work and purpose, consider working with a financial coach that will help you to set yourself up financially to be able to leave your soul-sucking job, to do what you are most passionate about. The money that you will spend to work with a coach, will pay off 10x+ more because of the emotional, mental and physical stress that has been reduced in your life and your quality of life improving because you are doing what you are supposed to be doing. This means you will see you stress levels reduce and your relationships drastically change because deep down inside, you are truly happy and that makes you show up as the person that you want to in your life. If you want to know more about financial coaching, you can read the article I wrote here about Frequently Asked Questions about Financial Coaching.
If you are struggling with falling asleep because of your financial worries, download my free “4 Steps to Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt” E-book, this gives you more in detail, the step by step actions to take, to get your debt paid off much quicker than you currently are right now and for getting your finances organized and improving your money situation.
Click here to download my Realistic Budget template!
Frequently Asked Questions about Financial Coaching
I would love for you to share the ways that you have found successful for helping you to get better quality sleep! Comment below and I will reply back to you!
I am very active on Instagram, follow me here for more financial tips & tricks: @mandyythomas
Thank you for the compliment! I will keep writing!