Sleep: Heather Hanson On Why You Should Make Getting A Good Night’s Sleep A Major Priority In Your Life, And How You Can Make That Happen

In order to wake up refreshed and energized you need to focus on both the quantity and quality of sleep you’re getting. Eight hours of poor quality sleep is not as effective as eight high-quality hours of sleep, so it’s important to pay attention to the things we do during the day and how it will affect our sleep.

Getting a good night’s sleep has so many physical, emotional, and mental benefits. Yet with all of the distractions that demand our attention, going to sleep on time and getting enough rest has become extremely elusive to many of us. Why is sleep so important and how can we make it a priority?

In this interview series called “Sleep: Why You Should Make Getting A Good Night’s Sleep A Major Priority In Your Life, And How You Can Make That Happen” we are talking to medical and wellness professionals, sleep specialists, and business leaders who sell sleep accessories who share insights from their knowledge and experience about how to make getting a good night’s sleep a priority in your life.

As part of this interview series, we had the pleasure to interview Heather Hanson.

Heather is a certified life and wellbeing coach, a certified positive psychology practitioner, and creator of the Embodied Energy framework, a sustainable productivity method she teaches to her clients. She is also the founder of Style & Thrive LLC, where she works as a consultant with companies to improve the wellbeing of their employees, with a focus on stress and energy management.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to ‘get to know you’. Can you tell us a bit about your background and your backstory?

Absolutely! I grew up in Wisconsin and moved to New York after college. I spent the first part of my career working as a technical designer in the apparel industry, which means it was my job to make sure the clothes fit well. It’s a bit of an unusual transition to my current work as a life and wellbeing coach, however, now I help people put the pieces of their life together in a way that fits well for them, so in a weird way it makes sense (laughs). Although I enjoyed my former career, my current work is much more fulfilling. I’ve always been obsessed with personal development, and to be able to help people improve the quality of their lives feels so much more meaningful to me.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this particular career choice?

In my former career, I always worked very hard, and it paid off in the form of promotions over the years, but I eventually burned out due to the stress and heavy workload demands. After burning out, I began researching how to recover from and prevent it from happening to me again. Then I took what I learned and implemented it in my own life. Once I gained this knowledge and personal experience, I couldn’t keep it to myself. I knew it could help other people too, so I decided to quit my job and start my business teaching and coaching other people on what I’d learned.

Can you share with our readers a bit about why you are an authority in the sleep and wellness fields? In your opinion, what is your unique contribution to the world of wellness?

After I burned out in my corporate career, I did a lot of research on productivity and wellness, leading me to take a certification course in positive psychology, which is basically the science of flourishing. Positive psychology contained all the knowledge I needed to not just recover from and prevent burnout, but to really thrive in life. As I learned about positive psychology, I realized that everything I was learning about came back to energy, with sleep being the foundation of our energy and overall wellness. Everything we do is either depleting or repleting our energy, and I believe that learning how to manage the ebb and flow of our energy is the foundational key to thriving, so now that’s what I help people learn to do.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

There are so many, but the first one that comes to mind right now is Susan Jeffers’ book, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’ve always been a fearful person, but I’m definitely someone who likes to do a lot of planning and researching before I take a risk or do something that scares me, which isn’t a bad thing except that I would frequently stay in that research and planning phase as an excuse not to take action, which that book helped me to now realize was preventing me from moving forward.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?

One of my favorite quotes is from Rumi, “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” This quote remains one of my favorites, because it continues to remind me that I can only control my own thoughts, feelings, and actions. I can direct my actions in ways to promote change in the world, but I can’t force others to change.

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Let’s start with the basics. How much sleep should an adult get? Is there a difference between people who are young, middle-aged, or elderly?

The typical range for an adult, should be between 7–9 hours of sleep. The optimal amount of sleep might be different for each of us, but typically it should fall within that range or close to it. It’s actually a misconception that we need less sleep as we get older. We still need the same amount of sleep or potentially more, because the quality of our sleep can decline as we age, so we might spend less of our sleep time in deep sleep and REM sleep and we become more likely to wake up during the night, but that doesn’t mean our body doesn’t actually need the sleep we missed out on. Children and teens often need a little more sleep than adults as well, because they’re still developing.

Is the amount of hours the main criteria, or the time that you go to bed? For example, if there was a hypothetical choice between getting to bed at 10PM and getting up at 4AM, for a total of 6 hours, or going to bed at 2AM and getting up at 10AM for a total of 8 hours, is one a better choice for your health? Can you explain?

There’s research showing negative health consequences for people who reverse their natural circadian rhythm by working night shifts and sleeping during the day. I don’t know what the consequences would be if you shift your schedule just a few hours different from your natural rhythm, but due to the research, it does seem as if it would be best to follow your own natural schedule. At the very least, it’s good to follow your natural rhythm because going against it will take more effort. This is often most difficult for night owls though, as our typical business hours don’t line up with their schedule. However, one of the benefits of the pandemic is that more employers are now open to flexible work schedules.

As an expert, this might be obvious to you, but I think it would be instructive to articulate this for our readers. Let’s imagine a hypothetical 35 year old adult who was not getting enough sleep. After working diligently at it for 6 months he or she began to sleep well and got the requisite hours of sleep. How will this person’s life improve? Can you help articulate some of the benefits this person will see after starting to get enough sleep? Can you explain?

I’m so glad you asked this question, because I did this myself about 4 years ago, and that’s when I finally understood the importance of sleep. This might sound like an exaggeration, but I can honestly say that every area of my life improved quite dramatically. I experienced significant improvements in my mood, diet, overall energy levels, the quality of my work, my memory, ability to focus and make decisions, my relationships, and the list could go on. All of the research on sleep validates my experience as well. It all boils down to the fact that sleep restores and re-energizes us. When we get enough sleep, we’re able to show up in the world the way that we want to, in our full capacity.

Many things provide benefits but they aren’t necessarily a priority. Should we make getting a good night’s sleep a major priority in our life? Can you explain what you mean?

I believe sleep is the number one thing we should prioritize after any other urgent survival needs. When our energy is low due to lack of sleep, all areas of our life suffer, which is what I discovered when I transitioned from being constantly sleep-deprived to getting enough sleep on a regular basis. By getting enough sleep, I had the energy I needed to show up in all areas of my life the way I wanted to, rather than just trudging through life mostly on auto-pilot, which is what I had been doing before. So if you have areas of your life where you want to improve, and you aren’t currently getting as much sleep as you need, you should start there, because that will give you an automatic boost not just in that one area, but all areas. You may find that some problems completely disappear once you’re caught up on sleep and well-rested every day.

The truth is that most of us know that it’s important to get better sleep. But while we know it intellectually, it’s often difficult to put it into practice and make it a part of our daily habits. In your opinion what are the 3 main blockages that prevent us from taking the information that we all know, and integrating it into our lives? How should we remove those obstacles?

I believe it comes down to lack of time, lack of energy, and lack of planning. Ironically, the solution to overcoming these three obstacles, is sleep (laughs). In all seriousness though, transitioning from sleep-deprivation to a life where you’re getting enough sleep and still being productive, is extremely difficult. We skimp on sleep because we think there aren’t enough hours in the day. We just want to get caught up on work and then sleep. The problem is that we just don’t have the energy we need to get caught up. Making this transition to getting enough sleep on a regular basis will require some planning, and it will also require temporarily removing some things from your to-do list until you’re caught up on your sleep. Once you’ve eliminated your sleep debt though, and can maintain a schedule of getting your ideal sleep hours each night, you will be able to be more productive than you were before, meaning it will take you less time to do things than it did before. The most important thing to realize is that we need to get caught up on our sleep first and then increase our productivity again, not the other way around.

Ok. Here is the main question of our discussion. Can you please share “5 things you need to know to get the sleep you need and wake up refreshed and energized”? If you can, kindly share a story or example for each.

1. In order to wake up refreshed and energized you need to focus on both the quantity and quality of sleep you’re getting. Eight hours of poor quality sleep is not as effective as eight high-quality hours of sleep, so it’s important to pay attention to the things we do during the day and how it will affect our sleep. For example, consuming caffeine, alcohol and food too close to bedtime can lead to poor sleep quality. On the other hand, exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet can increase the quality of your sleep.
2. It’s also important to know exactly how much sleep you need each night. You can figure this out by letting yourself sleep without an alarm until you find yourself naturally waking up and feeling refreshed after the same number of hours for a few nights in a row. Then make sure you get that much sleep each night going forward.
3. As much as possible, you should also follow your natural circadian rhythm to go to sleep and wake up at times that feel natural to you. If you don’t already have a sense of whether you’re more of a night owl or an early bird, start paying attention to when you get sleepy at night or when you naturally wake up and adjust your external schedule to match your internal one. Stick to the same schedule each day, even on the weekends, as much as you can.
4. You can also enhance your natural rhythm by exposing yourself to daylight right after waking up and reducing your exposure to daylight and blue light in the evening by avoiding computer and phone screens or wearing blue light blocking glasses.
5. Also, make sure your sleep environment is comfortable and relaxing. You can make the physical environment comfortable by having a comfortable mattress and sheets, dark window coverings, keeping the bedroom quiet and at a cool temperature. You can also keep your bedroom mentally relaxing by keeping it separate from the rest of your life by leaving work and other worries outside the bedroom. Create a routine for the end of your work day where you plan out the next day or brain dump everything you need to remember or do the next day so you don’t take those worries to bed with you. You can also create an evening routine where you begin to wind down and relax about an hour before bed to help separate yourself from the stressors of the day.

Whatever you end up doing, remember that the goal is to consistently get your ideal number of high-quality sleep hours each night.

What would you advise someone who wakes up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep?

If you can’t get back to sleep due to thoughts running through your head, it’s helpful to get up and write those thoughts down so you know you won’t forget in the morning. Research also shows it’s helpful to get up and do a relaxing activity until you feel tired again. Some activities shown to be helpful are to meditate or think of as many things as you can that you’re grateful for, kind of like counting blessings instead of sheep.

What are your thoughts about taking a nap during the day? Is that a good idea, or can it affect the ability to sleep well at night?

A nap is a good idea if it will absorb some sleep debt you’ve accumulated. However, if you’ve been getting enough sleep regularly for a while, a nap might not be a good idea, as it could disrupt your sleep that night. If you do decide to take a nap during the day, it’s best to keep the length of the nap between about 15–30 minutes and to finish the nap no later than 3pm.

Wonderful. We are nearly done. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

It would be a dream come true to have a conversation with Michelle Obama. I think she’s such an inspiration, as a woman who’s strong, intelligent, poised, and also kind, down-to-earth and funny. I think there’s a lot more we can all still learn from her.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can visit my website at heathergracehanson.com, and you can follow me on Instagram @heathergracehanson.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!