How many times you woke up at 5,6,7 even 8 am on Monday and felt so broke and bad that even a shot of double espresso from nearest Starbucks couldn’t improve your state of mind?

I am saying “state of mind” because our mind is the only relevant thing in the entire process of human existence. People do not achieve their goals because of weak bodies. They do not outperform because they give up in their minds.

The same works with productivity. Sometimes the task list is so long that you can’t even think of the accomplishing the half of them. At the end of the day, you realize you have done 2 extra tasks. On a contrary, during the days when you have 3 small tasks to take care of, you still struggle with number 3 at 6 pm on Friday. You’re sleepy, tired and want to take a nap immediately.

How can you stay more productive and procrastinate less? Intelligent Speaker team has prepared an ultimate guide with the tricks and tips we gathered from our users, team members, and lifetime experiences.

In this post, we are talking about best sleeping practices.

Let’s make it clear. Sleeping is as important as breathing. If you constantly fight with your sleeping time, it will fight back. The aftermath of such a battle can become the worst scenario in your life. Here are some great tricks from National Sleep Foundation:

Sleeping Schedule is a must

• Relaxing bedtime routine can help you to fall asleep sooner and in a better mood
• Skip naps if you can’t fall asleep during the night
• Find a way to release your energy, exercising can be a great way to combat stress
• Sleeping environment matters and your bed matter.

Let’s take a closer look.

Sleeping Schedule:

With our schedules sometimes the only thing you want is sleep. Or sometimes you want to watch a horror movie till 3 am. It’s normal. We all are human beings and we know the best ways to relax. How can we erase such violent borders between the extreme ways of spending our spare time? The answer is balance. Many people found it helpful to stick to the same wake-up schedule. No matter what time you went to bed, you get out of it every day at same time. This helps you to discipline your body and make your organism work for you. What tool can help you to wake up better?

Wake’n’ shake the alarm clock which does not give up, even when you do! To adjust your body to a new life you are to struggle a bit during first couple weeks of your new schedule. This magical alarm clock will not snooze until you very actively shake it. When I say “actively” I mean it. You have to shake it as hard as you can, create variable hand movements and start your morning with a “mini work-out”. This alarm will never let you down. New life means new tools.

Today there are a lot of alarm clocks that make you’re waking up real fun. Among them this little cutie - alarm on two wheels that will do it’s best to run as far as possible before you catch it. If you refuse to start a chase, it will come back with even more annoying sound.

Bedtime routine:

Everyone has a ritual. Bedtime ritual is a sacred time when you do something really indulging, knowing that soon you’ll be sleeping sweet and sound. Some people love to watch funny videos, some prefer to watch a movie or read a book. These can help you to relax but not your eyes. Most of the jobs today are related to constant screen-eyes contact and the pressure your eyes have at the end of the day might be tremendous.

How can you avoid eye strain and still relax before sleeping? Intelligent Speaker can be you wonder tool. You don’t have to stare at your tablet or phone to fully plunge into your favorite book or the blogger you enjoy most. Add all the articles and content you’d like to listen and enjoy relaxing bedtime with a great story in your ears! You can install Intelligent Speaker to your Chrome or Firefox browser, add the content you’re interested in during your usual internet surfing time and listen to your personal podcast with the files you’ve added to the feed. Intelligent Speaker is a text-to-speech extension which cares about your eyes and your health.

Skip naps

Naps can boost our productivity during the daytime but can absolutely ruin our night time sleeping. When considering taking a nap, always think of: Time of sleeping, reason, and the aftermath. Normally 30-minute nap can give you enough energy to work for another 4-5 hours. One hour nap brings all your lost energy back. After 3 hour-nap you’ll feel worse than ever before. Balance is the key, never forget!

Exercising as an opportunity

For many people (such like I am!) exercising is a routine for keeping your body in a good shape, stay healthy and release your mind from stress your mind gets outside of the gym. I’ve always thought of a better use of this couple hours in a gym. Music sometimes gets boring. Radio does not play your favorite songs or programs. TV distracts a lot. Again, Intelligent Speaker gives you a real opportunity to catch up all the world’s news, new posts from social media and blogs, articles from digital newspapers and magazines. Just imagine listening to a new post from Techcrunch or Medium while you are on walking machine or doing your cardio. You can also listen to any book of your choice, including academic materials and improve your professional and personal skills while you’re exercising!

A sleeping environment is a key

Your bed is the coziest place in the house. At the end of the day, your bed gives you a shelter from all the problems and daytime stresses. Take a good care of this place. Keep it clean and cool. Total darkness is also a key element to healthy sleeping. Even if you got used to sleeping with a light on, you should try to dim it to a maximal level and turn off all your devices, even a small light from the screen can bother you during your sleep.

Healthy sleeping is the first step to your productive day!