My Personal Experiment on Improving Sleeping Habits - Essay Example

Abstract Individuals associated with this modern business world are often argued as too busy that they often neglect healthy sleeping habits. Insufficient amount of sleeping thus affects the health conditions of the people. Besides, it also hinders their overall productivity, as the individuals may not concentrate on their own works due to heavy deficiency in sleeping within the standard hours. With this concern, the essay will discuss my personal experiment in improving my sleeping habits to derive positive outcomes and reap benefits by gaining an in-sight to the issue. Through the failures as well as challenges that I faced, my experiences helped me to improve my sleeping habits substantially. My Personal Experiment on Improving Sleeping Habits Healthy sleeping habits can make a big difference in enhancing the quality of life of the people. Sleeping difficulties can often be observed in daily routines as well. Similarly, this sort of difficulties was also apparent in my daily life. There lay certain factors based on which it can be affirmed that healthy sleeping habits get affected to the maximum possible extent. In this regard, such factors include consumption pattern of food, intake of medications and work pressures among others (Harvard Medical School, 2007). Apart from these, the other factors comprise unfavorable sleeping environment, intensity of lights in bedroom and any sort of existing medical issue among others (UK Health Centre, n.d.). Thus, with the consideration of the above stated crucial factors, in order to improve my sleeping habits, my foremost task was to recognize those factors causing such issues. Apart from the discussed factors, one of the aspects including having tensions or worries over money or other aspects of life may also contribute into affecting the normal sleeping lifestyle of people. This could be better understood from one of the quotes mentioned in the Holy Bible (NASB) stating that “The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep” (Bible.org., 2015). This specific quote implies the fact that a working man may have a pleasant sleep, but sleeping habits of a rich man might get affected due to increased level of tensions or worries over money. Thus, with this notion, it is evident that having tensions or worries can be regarded as one of the primary reasons affecting normal sleeping habits of an individual (Bible.org., 2015). It has been earlier mentioned that my objective is to improve my sleeping habits, for which, there exists the requirement of following certain ethical practices that could have restrained factors affecting my healthy sleeping lifestyle. In this regard, one of such ethical practices can be reckoned as sleeping without having any sort of fear regarding the conduct of any action. This is closely related to another quote depicted in the Holy Bible (NASB) affirming that “You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly” (Bible Hub, 2013). Specially mentioning, an expression of trust generally gets developed with the improvements in sleeping habits. It is thus essential for me to consider this perception while conducting my personal experiment on the improvement of my sleeping habits (IHS, n.d.). Background Working with international clients and sufficing their respective requirements have become quite hectic in this present day context, as compared to the earlier years due to various crucial factors. These factors entail increasing level of business market competition and changing business market conditions along with the customers’ preferences. At certain times, I had to work at night to prepare management projects for the international clients, which in turn, affects my sleeping habits at large. In precise, it can be affirmed that the working lifestyle has become one of the critical factors, which has been affecting my healthy sleeping habits at large. Thus, to address and mitigate the above stated conditions, I started to work in day shifts more than in night shifts depending upon urgency and need. While working during night shifts at special occasions as described, I decided to have coffee and let the sleep to go out of the way from my work. However, simultaneously, while working in day shifts, I decided to go to sleep early with giving proper alarms to wake in the morning and ensured that I sleep 8 hours at night. I strongly believed that these practices will certainly improve my sleeping habits up to my desired level and help me in concentrating more on my respective works. Discussion Week 1 and 2 During week 1 and 2, I made no changes in my sleeping habits. Rather, I formulated a SWOT analysis (refer to Appendix A) with the intention of adopting strategies for gaining success in enhancing my sleeping habits. Apart from this, I also designed a quantitative table (refer to Appendix B) for the purpose of recording my success in relation to the above stated context. Week 3 and 4 In these weeks, specific outcomes associated with my sleep were assessed. It is worth mentioning that after adopting and implementing certain effective strategies, I attained an hour more of sleep in week 3 and 4, but unfortunately, my objective of 7 hours per night was not fulfilled. Specially mentioning, the effective strategies that enabled me to attain an hour more of sleep in the stated weeks included preparing a regular schedule of sleep, switching off any technology based appliances such as mobile phones, computers or laptops and televisions among others and most importantly, doing regular exercise (Optalert, 2014). Besides, the other strategies that I adopted include making necessary changes in meal options and getting sunlight during the day time (Sleep Health Foundation, 2011). Week 5 After attaining an hour more of sleep in weeks 3 and 4, by adopting as well as executing the strategies as discussed above, finally, I was able to sleep 7 hours uninterruptedly, going to bed at 11.00 p.m., which is often regarded as the standard sleeping time of adults. It will be vital to mention in this similar context that there lay certain reasons for which, I was able to sleep 7 hours in a week 5. In this regard, such reasons can be reckoned as greater level monitoring of my sleeping habits, strictly following the habits that have the potentiality to make better sleep and most importantly, eradicating the ways through which healthy sleeping habits get affected at large (Williams & Carey, 2003). In this final week, i.e. week 5, I worked out deliberately in formulating effective plans for improving my sleeping habits. This plan supported me to avoid the practices that used to lead me towards affecting healthy sleeping lifestyle. Moreover, the plan aided me to generate positive health outcomes and also reap several significant benefits. These benefits could be duly measured in the form of experiencing healthy lifestyle, making me feel much better and fresh, as well as concentrate more upon completing respective works in an efficient way. Besides, the above stated plan supported me to develop my interactions with others and taking effective decisions regarding certain vital aspects (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). Conclusion From the above description, it can be ascertained that for me to continue to improve my sleeping habits, I need to follow certain important factors. These factors may include strictly monitoring the checklists regarding excellent sleeping habits, deciding about the consumption of meals that does not affect healthy sleeping lifestyle and determining the requirement of sleep on a daily basis among others. I strongly believe that greater level of improvements in my sleeping habits, by adopting several significant strategies, will certainly aid me to develop my lifestyle through various ways. These ways can be apparently observed as developing interactions with others, establishing strong communication with different individuals, concentrating more on respective works and increasing my ability to make better as well as informed decisions towards any unforeseen aspect. I wished that I would have learnt the techniques of enhancing my sleeping habits a long time back; however, I strongly believe that my life will become much better from this point of time. References Bible.org. (2015). The naked truth (Ecclesiastes 5:10-20). Retrieved from https://bible.org/seriespage/8-naked-truth-ecclesiastes-510-20 Bible Hub. (2013). Proverbs 3. Retrieved from http://biblehub.com/nlt/proverbs/3.htm Harvard Medical School. (2007). External factors that influence sleep. Retrieved from http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/science/how/external-factors IHS. (n.d.). What does the bible say about frequent sleeplessness? Retrieved from http://www.ihs-sonlite.org/w-156-what-does-the-bible-say-about-frequent-sleep.html Optalert. (2014). Good sleep habits: Simple ways to improve your sleep. Retrieved from http://www.optalert.com/news/good-sleep-habits-simple-ways-to-improve-your-sleep Sleep Health Foundation. (2011). Good sleep habits. Retrieved from http://sleephealthfoundation.org.au/pdfs/Good%20Sleep%20Habits.pdf UK Health Centre. (n.d.). Factors affecting sleeping patterns. Retrieved from http://www.healthcentre.org.uk/sleep-disorders/factors-sleep-patterns.html U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2011). Your guide to healthy sleep. Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/sleep/healthy_sleep.pdf Williams, D. A., & Carey, M. (2003). Sleep hygiene. Retrieved from http://www.med.umich.edu/painresearch/patients/Sleep.pdf Appendices Appendix A – SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Future Oriented Self-Motivated Development in Lifestyle Time Consuming Lengthy Process Excessive Monitoring Required Opportunities Threats Long-Term Sustainability Providing Guidance Overall Performance Development Deteriorated Health Conditions Restriction in Future Development Lack of Making Effective Decisions Appendix B – Quantitative Analysis Action Plan Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Remained Focused Yes Yes No No No Achieved 1 Hour More of Sleep No No Yes Yes No Slept at least 7 Hours No No No No Yes Read More