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Resilience Is About How You Recharge, Not How You Endure

Website content extracted from: https://hbr.org/2016/06/resilience-is-about-how-you-recharge-not-how-you-endure?fbclid=IwAR2OgP-KfsSpWPZ4fBhFv8RL5jVRAj4QNnnEzoWId5IXZVxcIHjo-YdQpbU

by 
• Shawn Achor
 and 
• Michelle Gielan

June 24, 2016

As constant travelers and parents of a 2-year-old, we sometimes fantasize about how much work we can do when one of us gets on a plane, undistracted by phones, friends, and Finding Nemo. We race to get all our ground work done: packing, going through TSA, doing a last-minute work call, calling each other, then boarding the plane. Then, when we try to have that amazing work session in flight, we get nothing done. Even worse, after refreshing our email or reading the same studies over and over, we are too exhausted when we land to soldier on with the emails that have inevitably still piled up.

Why should flying deplete us? We’re just sitting there doing nothing. Why can’t we be tougher — more resilient and determined in our work – so we can accomplish all of the goals we set for ourselves? Based on our current research, we have come to realize that the problem is not our hectic schedule or the plane travel itself; the problem comes from a misunderstanding of what it means to be resilient, and the resulting impact of overworking.

We often take a militaristic, “tough” approach to resilience and grit. We imagine a Marine slogging through the mud, a boxer going one more round, or a football player picking himself up off the turf for one more play. We believe that the longer we tough it out, the tougher we are, and therefore the more successful we will be. However, this entire conception is scientifically inaccurate.

The very lack of a recovery period is dramatically holding back our collective ability to be resilient and successful. Research has found that there is a direct correlation between lack of recovery and increased incidence of health and safety problems. And lack of recovery — whether by disrupting sleep with thoughts of work or having continuous cognitive arousal by watching our phones — is costing our companies $62 billion a year (that’s billion, not million) in lost productivity.

And just because work stops, it doesn’t mean we are recovering. We “stop” work sometimes at 5PM, but then we spend the night wrestling with solutions to work problems, talking about our work over dinner, and falling asleep thinking about how much work we’ll do tomorrow. In a study released last month, researchers from Norway found that 7.8% of Norwegians have become workaholics. The scientists cite a definition of “workaholism” as “being overly concerned about work, driven by an uncontrollable work motivation, and investing so much time and effort to work that it impairs other important life areas.”

We believe that the number of people who fit that definition includes the majority of American workers, including those who read HBR, which prompted us to begin a study of workaholism in the U.S. Our study will use a large corporate dataset from a major medical company to examine how technology extends our working hours and thus interferes with necessary cognitive recovery, resulting in huge health care costs and turnover costs for employers.

The misconception of resilience is often bred from an early age. Parents trying to teach their children resilience might celebrate a high school student staying up until 3AM to finish a science fair project. What a distortion of resilience! A resilient child is a well-rested one. When an exhausted student goes to school, he risks hurting everyone on the road with his impaired driving; he doesn’t have the cognitive resources to do well on his English test; he has lower self-control with his friends; and at home, he is moody with his parents. Overwork and exhaustion are the opposite of resilience. And the bad habits we learn when we’re young only magnify when we hit the workforce.

In her excellent book, The Sleep Revolution, Arianna Huffington wrote, “We sacrifice sleep in the name of productivity, but ironically our loss of sleep, despite the extra hours we spend at work, adds up to 11 days of lost productivity per year per worker, or about $2,280.”

The key to resilience is trying really hard, then stopping, recovering, and then trying again. This conclusion is based on biology. Homeostasis is a fundamental biological concept describing the ability of the brain to continuously restore and sustain well-being. Positive neuroscientist Brent Furl from Texas A&M University coined the term “homeostatic value” to describe the value that certain actions have for creating equilibrium, and thus wellbeing, in the body. When the body is out of alignment from overworking, we waste a vast amount of mental and physical resources trying to return to balance before we can move forward.

As Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz have written, if you have too much time in the performance zone, you need more time in the recovery zone, otherwise you risk burnout. Mustering your resources to “try hard” requires burning energy in order to overcome your currently low arousal level. This is called upregulation. It also exacerbates exhaustion. Thus the more imbalanced we become due to overworking, the more value there is in activities that allow us to return to a state of balance. The value of a recovery period rises in proportion to the amount of work required of us.

So how do we recover and build resilience? Most people assume that if you stop doing a task like answering emails or writing a paper, that your brain will naturally recover, such that when you start again later in the day or the next morning, you’ll have your energy back. But surely everyone reading this has had times where you lie in bed for hours, unable to fall asleep because your brain is thinking about work. If you lie in bed for eight hours, you may have rested, but you can still feel exhausted the next day. That’s because rest and recovery are not the same thing. Stopping does not equal recovering.

If you’re trying to build resilience at work, you need adequate internal and external recovery periods. As researchers Zijlstra, Cropley and Rydstedt write in their 2014 paper: “Internal recovery refers to the shorter periods of relaxation that take place within the frames of the workday or the work setting in the form of short scheduled or unscheduled breaks, by shifting attention or changing to other work tasks when the mental or physical resources required for the initial task are temporarily depleted or exhausted. External recovery refers to actions that take place outside of work—e.g. in the free time between the workdays, and during weekends, holidays or vacations.” If after work you lie around on your bed and get riled up by political commentary on your phone or get stressed thinking about decisions about how to renovate your home, your brain has not received a break from high mental arousal states. Our brains need a rest as much as our bodies do.

If you really want to build resilience, you can start by strategically stopping. Give yourself the resources to be tough by creating internal and external recovery periods. In her upcoming book The Future of Happiness, based on her work at Yale Business School, Amy Blankson describes how to strategically stop during the day by using technology to control overworking. She suggests downloading the Instant or Moment apps to see how many times you turn on your phone each day. The average person turns on their phone 150 times every day. If every distraction took only 1 minute (which would be seriously optimistic), that would account for 2.5 hours of every day.

You can use apps like Offtime or Unplugged to create tech free zones by strategically scheduling automatic airplane modes. In addition, you can take a cognitive break every 90 minutes to recharge your batteries. Try to not have lunch at your desk, but instead spend time outside or with your friends — not talking about work. Take all of your paid time off, which not only gives you recovery periods, but raises your productivity and likelihood of promotion.

As for us, we’ve started using our plane time as a work-free zone, and thus time to dip into the recovery phase. The results have been fantastic. We are usually tired already by the time we get on a plane, and the cramped space and spotty internet connection make work more challenging. Now, instead of swimming upstream, we relax, meditate, sleep, watch movies, journal, or listen to entertaining podcasts. And when we get off the plane, instead of being depleted, we feel rejuvenated and ready to return to the performance zone.

Shawn Achor is the New York Times bestselling author of Big Potential, The Happiness Advantage and Before Happiness. He serves as the Chief Experience Officer for BetterUp. His TED talk is one of the most popular, with over 11 million views. He has lectured or researched at over a third of the Fortune 100 and in 50 countries, as well as for the NFL, Pentagon and White House. Shawn is leading a series of courses on “21 Days to Inspire Positive Change” with the Oprah Winfrey Network.

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Michelle Gielan, a national CBS News anchor turned UPenn positive psychology researcher, is now the bestselling author of Broadcasting Happiness. She is partnered with Arianna Huffington to research how transformative stories fuel success.

The Healing Power of Prayer

Website content extracted from: https://omtimes.com/2013/09/the-healing-power-of-prayer/?fbclid=IwAR060W5BetLbQspt691W18Bk2nFYfMngk4UwZO-SO82qnW5XJB0P_E9s4-8

BY JOHN HOLLAND

In today’s world of technological advances and medical breakthroughs, many people question the validity of the power of prayer to heal. It has definitely been shown to assist in healing. A survey of 31,000 adults released in 2004 by the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that 43 percent of U.S. adults prayed for their own health, while 24 percent had others pray for their health. I think those figures speak for themselves.

Using Prayer to Assist Healing

So, what exactly is prayer? Prayer (whether spoken or unspoken) is communicating with: God, a Higher Power, the Universe, or what I refer to as the Divine Source. Prayer is a way for us – as human beings – to become involved and develop a relationship with the source. This connection can benefit your life on many more levels than just healing. Most religions agree that there is one true source that cares about you, no matter who you are or your personal circumstances. It wants to respond to you and your needs, but wants you to respond back. There has to be a two-way communication. Even if you don’t fully believe in a deity or follow a certain faith, there may be times when you find yourself offering a small prayer of gratitude, even if you’re not totally aware of who you’re thanking.  Praying enables you to forge a relationship with something you may not be able to see … but it’s truly there.

Native Americans Indians use drumming and chanting as a form of prayer in their ceremonies. Others sing out their prayers in music and song, while some repeat their prayer requests using the rosary. Buddhists use prayer beads and some commune with God through meditation.

No matter what style of praying you choose, it’s important for you to begin.  Don’t worry how you pray at first, or for how long. Don’t get caught up trying to find the right words or correct prayer intentions. God won’t be upset with you even if you don’t have much to say. Just pray, give thanks and begin to commune with the Divine Source. This is your time to express your concerns, whatever you’re feeling and experiencing in your life. Through prayer, the Divine Source will reach out to your consciousness, your mind, and your soul. It wants your love.

After all, love is the highest form of praise.

John’s Lesson

When you begin, it’s okay to make up your own little prayers before you jump into a novena. Keep them short and simple. A good one to start off with as soon as you wake up in the morning is: “I love you. Please bring to me your blessings for my highest good.” It may sound short and simple, but it’s powerful. Say it a few times during the day and before you go to sleep. Keep repeating it. You may also decide to add in your own affirmations, for example: “I am now following my soul’s purpose and God is bringing the right people in to my life now” or even, “With God in my corner, I can achieve anything!”

Mix them up and personalize them as much as possible. Record them in your journal as they change and evolve. Over time, you can spend more time in prayer as you experiment to see what form of praying you’re comfortable with. Remember that God, the Universe, the Divine Source doesn’t care how you pray, as long as you begin and pray from your heart and soul. By praying you’ll develop a loving relationship, where the source and your soul connect in spiritual union, bringing you blessings of comfort, inspiration, and strength that could take you through the rest of your life.

Mindfulness Meditation - Guided 10 Minutes

Start walking barefoot - Earthing

Sea Water Health Benefits

Website content extracted from: https://youqueen.com/life/health/sea-water-health-benefits/

We all know that bathing in the sea water is great for our health, but have you ever thought why? You feel good, your skin looks marvelous and your body seems healthier than ever – these are the most fabulous sea water health benefits. But let’s discover why.

Sea Water has a Similar Composition as Our Blood Plasma

In order to understand the therapeutic virtues of the sea water, we will start with the following two facts:

• The medicinal use of sea water dates all the way back to 4th century B.C. when Hippocrates first used the word “thalassotherapy”.

• This word comes from the Greek thalassa, meaning water, and therapia, meaning to cure. Known also as the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates was the first to use sea water for healing purposes.

• Seawater contains the same 84 vital elements found also in the human body. These elements include vitamins, mineral salts, trace elements and amino acids. But sea water is also rich in living microorganisms that produce beneficial antibiotic, antimicrobial and antibacterial substances.

• Human beings have the natural ability to easily assimilate all these elements, for our bodies’ mineral constitution, as mentioned above, is very similar to that of the sea water. In fact, sea water contains almost the same concentration of minerals and trace elements as the human blood plasma.

Sea Water Skin Benefits

It is well known that spas all over the world use sea salt in their beauty and massage treatments. Why?

• The salt contained in the sea water helps remove toxins from the skin and acts as a natural exfoliator – it removes dead cells and encourages the production of the new ones.

• Sea water replenishes our skin with minerals. Magnesium in particular improves its hydration, as well as its overall appearance.

• One of the most important sea water health benefits lies in its ability to heal damaged and irritated skin.

• Sea water can reduce inflammation and help cure many skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis, rosacea, psoriasis and eczema.

• It has great antiseptic properties, very useful in healing minor wounds, cuts, rashes and abrasions – salt and potassium chloride seem to be majorly responsible for these beneficial, mending effects.

All in all, sea water greatly improves skin texture, increases its elasticity and alleviates and heals many skin discomforts.

Sea Water and the Immune System

Swimming in the sea water can greatly contribute to our overall health.

A study has shown that sea water-grown cherry tomatoes have higher amounts of antioxidants than those grown using fresh water. The study has further found that these tomatoes can improve the body's defenses against heart disease and cancer. But this is not all!

• Being so rich in many vital elements, sea water has the ability to activate the body’s healing mechanism and boost the immune system. It opens skin pores, allowing them to absorb sea minerals, while helping them expel harmful toxins, responsible for numerous diseases.

• It also increases the level of oxygen in our bloodstream, and thereby the amount of beneficial elements needed by the blood to fight off free radicals.

• Sea air and sea mist are full of negatively charged hydrogen ions, which are powerful antioxidants. Inhaling sea mist can therefore improve the immune system and enhance the overall health of every cell and organ in our body.

• The iodine contained in sea water supports our immune system function and boosts the thyroid activity. Being a great natural antiseptic, it also considerably increases our body’s ability to fight infections and kill parasites, bacteria and fungus.

Two more benefits:

• Sea water improves blood circulation, due to its high concentration of minerals.
  In fact, thalassotherapy increases blood circulation by replenishing our body with essential minerals, which have been depleted due to different internal and external factors.

• Sea water has also the ability to relieve cold and flu symptoms, as well as to cure bronchitis and sinusitis. Inhaling sodium chloride, or salt from sea water, helps loosen mucus and treat pulmonary problems.

Sea Water can Promote Psychological and Emotional Well-being

Reducing stress and healing the mind is however one the greatest sea water health benefits.

• Sea water and sun work in synergy to treat many emotional disorders, such as depression, nervousness, anxiety, apathy and many others.

• Magnesium, lithium and bromine contained in sea water are exceptional calming elements, which have the ability to stabilize and maintain proper serotonin, melatonin and tryptamine levels in the brain.

• Lithium, for example, is a medication that is often used to treat many psychological problems, and especially the bipolar disorder.

• The high content of magnesium in the sea water can efficiently help reduce stress, relax muscles and nerves, and induce calmness. In fact, minerals contained in the sea water are in some way natural hypnotics that promote good quality sleep and help cure insomnia.

In conclusion, sea water is an excellent treatment for many nervous problems and it can considerably increase the sense of well-being and relaxation.

Have we missed any of its benefits? Tell us how you feel when immersed in sea water and share your healthy experiences with us and other readers.

Sleep Hygiene: Train your Brain to Fall Asleep and Sleep Better

How to Sleep Better

Website content extracted from: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/sleep/getting-better-sleep.htm

Tired of tossing and turning at night? These simple tips will help you sleep better and be more energetic and productive during the day.

How can I get a better night’s sleep?

Sleeping well directly affects your mental and physical health. Fall short and it can take a serious toll on your daytime energy, productivity, emotional balance, and even your weight. Yet many of us regularly toss and turn at night, struggling to get the sleep we need. Getting a good night’s sleep may seem like an impossible goal when you’re wide awake at 3 a.m., but you have much more control over the quality of your sleep than you probably realize. Just as the way you feel during your waking hours often hinges on how well you sleep at night, so the cure for sleep difficulties can often be found in your daily routine.

Unhealthy daytime habits and lifestyle choices can leave you tossing and turning at night and adversely affect your mood, brain and heart health, immune system, creativity, vitality, and weight. But by experimenting with the following tips, you can enjoy better sleep at night, boost your health, and improve how you think and feel during the day.

Tip 1: Keep in sync with your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle

Getting in sync with your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, or circadian rhythm, is one of the most important strategies for sleeping better. If you keep a regular sleep-wake schedule, you’ll feel much more refreshed and energized than if you sleep the same number of hours at different times, even if you only alter your sleep schedule by an hour or two.

Try to go to sleep and get up at the same time every day. This helps set your body’s internal clock and optimize the quality of your sleep. Choose a bed time when you normally feel tired, so that you don’t toss and turn. If you’re getting enough sleep, you should wake up naturally without an alarm. If you need an alarm clock, you may need an earlier bedtime.

Avoid sleeping in—even on weekends. The more your weekend/weekday sleep schedules differ, the worse the jetlag-like symptoms you’ll experience. If you need to make up for a late night, opt for a daytime nap rather than sleeping in. This allows you to pay off your sleep debt without disturbing your natural sleep-wake rhythm.

Be smart about napping. While napping is a good way to make up for lost sleep, if you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night, napping can make things worse. Limit naps to 15 to 20 minutes in the early afternoon.

Fight after-dinner drowsiness. If you get sleepy way before your bedtime, get off the couch and do something mildly stimulating, such as washing the dishes, calling a friend, or getting clothes ready for the next day. If you give in to the drowsiness, you may wake up later in the night and have trouble getting back to sleep.

Tip 2: Control your exposure to light

Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone controlled by light exposure that helps regulate your sleep-wake cycle. Your brain secretes more melatonin when it’s dark—making you sleepy—and less when it’s light—making you more alert. However, many aspects of modern life can alter your body’s production of melatonin and shift your circadian rhythm.

How to influence your exposure to light

During the day:

Expose yourself to bright sunlight in the morning. The closer to the time you get up, the better. Have your coffee outside, for example, or eat breakfast by a sunny window. The light on your face will help you wake up

Spend more time outside during daylight. Take your work breaks outside in sunlight, exercise outside, or walk your dog during the day instead of at night.

Let as much natural light into your home or workspace as possible. Keep curtains and blinds open during the day, and try to move your desk closer to the window.

If necessary, use a light therapy box. This simulates sunshine and can be especially useful during short winter days.

At night:

Avoid bright screens within 1-2 hours of your bedtime. The blue light emitted by your phone, tablet, computer, or TV is especially disruptive. You can minimize the impact by using devices with smaller screens, turning the brightness down, or using light-altering software such as f.lux.

Say no to late-night television. Not only does the light from a TV suppress melatonin, but many programs are stimulating rather than relaxing. Try listening to music or audio books instead.

Don’t read with backlit devices. Tablets that are backlit are more disruptive than e-readers that don’t have their own light source.

When it’s time to sleep, make sure the room is dark. Use heavy curtains or shades to block light from windows, or try a sleep mask. Also consider covering up electronics that emit light.

Keep the lights down if you get up during the night. If you need some light to move around safely, try installing a dim nightlight in the hall or bathroom or using a small flashlight. This will make it easier for you to fall back to sleep.

Tip 3: Exercise during the day

People who exercise regularly sleep better at night and feel less sleepy during the day. Regular exercise also improves the symptoms of insomnia and sleep apnea and increases the amount of time you spend in the deep, restorative stages of sleep.

• The more vigorously you exercise, the more powerful the sleep benefits. But even light exercise—such as walking for just 10 minutes a day—improves sleep quality.
• It can take several months of regular activity before you experience the full sleep-promoting effects. So be patient and focus on building an exercise habit that sticks.

For better sleep, time your exercise right

Exercise speeds up your metabolism, elevates body temperature, and stimulates hormones such as cortisol. This isn’t a problem if you’re exercising in the morning or afternoon, but too close to bed and it can interfere with sleep.

Try to finish moderate to vigorous workouts at least three hours before bedtime. If you’re still experiencing sleep difficulties, move your workouts even earlier. Relaxing, low-impact exercises such as yoga or gentle stretching in the evening can help promote sleep.

Tip 4: Be smart about what you eat and drink

Your daytime eating habits play a role in how well you sleep, especially in the hours before bedtime.

Limit caffeine and nicotine. You might be surprised to know that caffeine can cause sleep problems up to ten to twelve hours after drinking it! Similarly, smoking is another stimulant that can disrupt your sleep, especially if you smoke close to bedtime.

Avoid big meals at night. Try to make dinnertime earlier in the evening, and avoid heavy, rich foods within two hours of bed. Spicy or acidic foods can cause stomach trouble and heartburn.

Avoid alcohol before bed. While a nightcap may help you relax, it interferes with your sleep cycle once you’re out.

Avoid drinking too many liquids in the evening. Drinking lots of fluids may result in frequent bathroom trips throughout the night.

Cut back on sugary foods and refined carbs. Eating lots of sugar and refined carbs such as white bread, white rice, and pasta during the day can trigger wakefulness at night and pull you out of the deep, restorative stages of sleep.

Nighttime snacks help you sleep

For some people, a light snack before bed can help promote sleep. For others, eating before bed leads to indigestion and make sleeping more difficult. If you need a bedtime snack, try:

• Half a turkey sandwich
• A small bowl of whole-grain, low-sugar cereal
• Milk or yogurt
• A banana
• 
  

Tip 5: Wind down and clear your head

Do you often find yourself unable to get to sleep or regularly waking up night after night? Residual stress, worry, and anger from your day can make it very difficult to sleep well. Taking steps to manage your overall stress levels and learning how to curb the worry habit can make it easier to unwind at night. You can also try developing a relaxing bedtime ritual to help you prepare your mind for sleep, such as practicing a relaxation technique, taking a warm bath, or dimming the lights and listening to soft music or an audiobook.

Problems clearing you head at night can also stem from your daytime habits. The more overstimulated your brain becomes during the day, the harder it can be slow down and unwind at night. Maybe, like many of us, you’re constantly interrupting tasks during the day to check your phone, email, or social media. Then when it comes to getting to sleep at night, your brain is so accustomed to seeking fresh stimulation, it becomes difficult to unwind. Help yourself by setting aside specific times during the day for checking your phone and social media and, as much as possible, try to focus on one task at a time. You’ll be better able to calm your mind at bedtime.

A deep breathing exercise to help you sleep

Breathing from your belly rather than your chest can activate the relaxation response and lower your heart rate, blood pressure, and stress levels to help you drift off to sleep.

• Lay down in bed and close your eyes.
• Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
• Breathe in through your nose. The hand on your stomach should rise. The hand on your chest should move very little.
• Exhale through your mouth, pushing out as much air as you can while contracting your abdominal muscles. The hand on your stomach should move in as you exhale, but your other hand should move very little.
• Continue to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to inhale enough so that your lower abdomen rises and falls. Count slowly as you exhale.

To follow along with a guided deep breathing exercise, click here.

A body scan exercise to help you sleep

By focusing your attention on different parts of your body, you can identify where you’re holding any stress or tension, and release it.

• Lie on your back, legs uncrossed, arms relaxed at your sides, eyes closed. Focus on your breathing for about two minutes until you start to feel relaxed.
• Turn your focus to the toes of your right foot. Notice any tension while continuing to also focus on your breathing. Imagine each deep breath flowing to your toes. Remain focused on this area for at least three to five seconds.
• Move your focus to the sole of your right foot. Tune in to any sensations you feel in that part of your body and imagine each breath flowing from the sole of your foot. Then move your focus to your right ankle and repeat. Move to your calf, knee, thigh, hip, and then repeat the sequence for your left leg. From there, move up your torso, through your lower back and abdomen, your upper back and chest, and your shoulders. Pay close attention to any area of the body that feels tense.
• After completing the body scan, relax, noting how your body feels. You should feel so relaxed you can easily fall asleep.

For a guided body scan meditation to help you wind down and clear your head at bedtime, click here.

Tip 6: Improve your sleep environment

A peaceful bedtime routine sends a powerful signal to your brain that it’s time to wind down and let go of the day’s stresses. Sometimes even small changes to your environment can make a big difference to your quality of sleep.

Keep your room dark, cool, and quiet

Keep noise down. If you can’t avoid or eliminate noise from neighbors, traffic, or other people in your household, try masking it with a fan or sound machine. Earplugs may also help.

Keep your room cool. Most people sleep best in a slightly cool room (around 65° F or 18° C) with adequate ventilation. A bedroom that is too hot or too cold can interfere with quality sleep.

Make sure your bed is comfortable. Your bed covers should leave you enough room to stretch and turn comfortably without becoming tangled. If you often wake up with a sore back or an aching neck, you may need to experiment with different levels of mattress firmness, foam toppers, and pillows that provide more or less support.

Reserve your bed for sleeping and sex. By not working, watching TV, or using your phone, tablet, or computer in bed, your brain will associate the bedroom with just sleep and sex, which makes it easier to wind down at night.

Tip 7: Learn ways to get back to sleep

It’s normal to wake briefly during the night but if you’re having trouble falling back asleep, these tips may help:

Stay out of your head. Hard as it may be, try not to stress over your inability to fall asleep again, because that stress only encourages your body to stay awake. To stay out of your head, focus on the feelings in your body or practice breathing exercises. Take a breath in, then breathe out slowly while saying or thinking the word, “Ahhh.” Take another breath and repeat.

Make relaxation your goal, not sleep. If you find it hard to fall back asleep, try a relaxation technique such as visualization, progressive muscle relaxation, or meditation, which can be done without even getting out of bed. Even though it’s not a replacement for sleep, relaxation can still help rejuvenate your body.

Do a quiet, non-stimulating activity. If you’ve been awake for more than 15 minutes, get out of bed and do a quiet, non-stimulating activity, such as reading a book. Keep the lights dim and avoid screens so as not to cue your body that it’s time to wake up.

Postpone worrying and brainstorming. If you wake during the night feeling anxious about something, make a brief note of it on paper and postpone worrying about it until the next day when it will be easier to resolve. Similarly, if a great idea is keeping you awake, make a note of it on paper and fall back to sleep knowing you’ll be much more productive after a good night’s rest.