Don’t Overlook This Habit

Light sleep, bad sleep, no sleep, it’s been the theme of the week and it’s made me realize how important sleep is, especially for youth ministry.  If I want to be productive it means saying good bye to all nighters.  If I want to be creative it means giving myself time to dream.  If I want to stay healthy it means being well rested so I’m not downing that third can of soda to stay awake.  If I want to keep up with teens it means restoring and refreshing myself with quality rest time.
Now with a hurricane, earthquake and power outages in a week, your sleep is going to get disrupted, but in a regular week (if they exist) here are a few tips to set your sleep schedule up for success:

• No Tech Before Bed: It’s a stimulant, you want to be rested and relaxed to fall asleep.  30 minutes before you go to bed, turn it off.
• Don’t Fight It: If you are tired at 8:30pm, just go to bed…it doesn’t mean you are old, just tired.  Your body was designed to tell you when to rest.
• Make Your Bed: This is my neurosis so it’s optional, but if you get into a well made bed at night chances are you’ll sleep better.  Check out this study regarding a healthy sleep environment, I totally buy into it.

If you sleep well, you’ll perform better.  I know this isn’t going to directly help you bring more kids to Christ, but it will prevent you from burning out.  Our body is a temple and one of the best ways to care for it, is through making sure it gets rest.

What other sleep tips do you have?  What obstacles stand in the way of getting a good night’s rest?