Sleep for Road Warriors
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Sleep challenges that business travelers aka “Road Warriors” face
Road warriors are faced with several challenges in getting a good night’s sleep. The purpose of this article is to give you a summary of the the factors that sleep experts say are important to a good night’s sleep, discuss some of the challenges that you face in creating a favorable sleep environment on the road, and some practical solutions for improving your sleep.
First, let’s list some of the conditions that affect sleep. If you compare the environment of the business traveler against a list of good practices recommended by sleep experts you will find that many of the conditions for good sleep are violated by the business traveling environment.. In his book “100 Questions & Answers About Sleep and Sleep Disorders” Dr. Chokroverty cites the following recommendations:
- Keep a regular sleep-wake schedule, including weekends.
- Sleep the amount needed to feel rested.
- Avoid napping during the daytime.
- Do not watch television, listen to loud music or plan the next day’s activities in bed.
- Avoid caffeinated beverages (coffee, tea, cola, hot-chocolate) in the evening.
- Avoid alcohol near bedtime (i.e., no “night-cap”)
- Avoid smoking, especially in the evening.
- Do not go to bed hungry.
- Adjust the bedtime environment.
- Exercise regularly for at least 20 minutes, but do not exercise close to bedtime.
I have a permanent Gold status with a major airline for accumulating a million miles of air travel on that airline alone so I have some experience in business travel. I know others that have truly earned the title “Road Warrior” who practically live on the road. We run into trouble with the very first recommendation for good sleep – “…keep a regular schedule..”. Change is about the only “routine” in business travel. Even if we have a routine of travel during the week it can be broken when we return home on the weekends! I have listed Dr. Chokroverty’s list again with some comments below:
| Sleep factor | Comments | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keep a regular sleep-wake schedule, including weekends. | Business travel seldom allows a regular sleep schedule. |
| 2 | Sleep the amount needed to feel rested. | Jet lag and mental anticipation contribute to a cycle of being adrenaline-alert and then crashing. |
| 3 | Avoid napping during the daytime. | This usually isn't a problem with business traveling but time changes may promote the urge to nap. |
| 4 | Do not watch television, listen to loud music or plan the next day's activities in bed. | Hotel rooms are frequently laid out to promote watching TV in bed. Business travelers often find comfort in having the TV on. |
| 5 | Avoid caffeinated beverages (coffee, tea, cola, hot-chocolate) in the evening. | Eating late due to the travel schedule can cause us to slip here. |
| 6 | Avoid alcohol near bedtime (i.e., no "night-cap") | Eating late and business entertaining can cause us to slip here. |
| 7 | Avoid smoking, especially in the evening. | Stressful conditions such as traveling and conducting important business frequently causes more frequent smoking. |
| 8 | Do not go to bed hungry. | Food of the right type may not be available when you arrive at your destination. |
| 9 | Adjust the bedtime environment. | The bedtime environment may not be controllable (noises, lighting, etc.) in the hotel room. |
| 10 | Exercise regularly for at least 20 minutes, but do not exercise close to bedtime. | It is a challenge for travelers to maintain a consistent exercise schedule. |
Practical steps we can take to sleep better on the road
There are a lot of potential conflicts between what will help us to sleep and what we encounter during business travel. What can we do if we have not followed the guidelines for getting good sleep – either out of choice or because we couldn’t control the circumstances we find ourselves in? I would recommend that you take three basic steps to help yourself sleep when you’re on the road.
Prepare your environment
Make your sleep area as much like your “home” environment as possible. Adjust the lighting to a similar level to that of your sleep area at home. Add or subtract the pillows, blankets, and bedding to so that your bed feels like the one you use at home. Wear the same type and amount of clothing that you normally wear to bed. If possible, get a room that is away from the elevator to minimize the noise from the hallway. Adjust the temperature in your room to be slightly cool because studies have shown that it is easier to sleep in a cool environment.
Prepare yourself physically
Do the best you can to have a comfortable amount of food in your stomach at bedtime. Avoid food that you know will keep your digestive tract busy! Try to drink no more alcohol than normal. Try to drink an appropriate amount of water (flying can cause dehydration) but drinking too much can cause you to get up, too. Avoid stimulants that have already been mentioned including caffeine and nicotine.
Prepare yourself mentally
One of the most productive things that you can do is to claim sleep time as your own. This is a powerful and practical attitude that says: “I have done everything that I can do for now and the best thing I can do for myself and my goal is to get some sleep. All my concerns and worries can wait until tomorrow.”
When you get into bed you need to actively focus on sleep. If you are going to watch television or plan the next day’s activiites – do that until the time that you go to sleep but do not mix the sleep with any other activity. This means that when you go to bed you resolve that it is time to put other things out of your mind. Turn off the TV, and commit yourself to sleeping. When you do this you will have taken the first step in blocking distracting thoughts.
The use of a “Mind Loop” to block distracting thoughts while you sleep
A tool that I teach my clients to block distracting thoughts is something I call a “mind loop”. Before you can use it effectively you must have already committed yourself to sleeping as I have described above. You must choose in advance to put off any distracting thoughts as they present themselves. If you allow yourself to think about what you will say the next day, what might happen, etc., your mind will not relax.
You can choose to block the thoughts by repeating a “mind loop” rather than thinking about the distraction. One of my favorite scripts for a mind loop is:
Remember to forget… and forget to remember. Remember to forget.. and forget to remember… Remember to forget… and forget to remember….
To use the mind loop you simply repeat it when a distracting thought comes to mind. If you begin to think a thought that is distracting you then you tell yourself that whatever the thought is can wait until tomorrow, now is the time to sleep, and repeat the mind loop to yourself until you find yourself distracted. This is a powerful technique that will allow you to keep your mind clear without being a Yoga master!
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Custom Sleep Audios
Adding your name to the audio along specific references to your situation can make a sleep audio even more effective. Customized audios also make fantastic gifts. If you would like me to develop a custom audio for you feel free to contact me at sales@mindmassageaudios.com for a quote.