Invest in Rest

I've been thinking a lot this week about the phrase "invest in rest." It's a phrase I've used in my business a few times, but what does it really mean? During the day, and in life in general, we invest in a lot of things. We invest our time: taking care of kids, making sure they are fed, have clean clothes, and get to school and practices on time. We invest our money: we start businesses, have home or vacation rentals, etc. We invest our talents: using things we are good at to share and serve others. But how do we invest in rest? How much do we invest in getting a good night's sleep and taking care of ourselves?  If you're like me, there's probably room for improvement.

Obviously, sleep is a necessity. It's required for optimum daily function, but most of the time, we aren't doing much to promote good, healthy sleep. We've all been guilty of it at one time or another. Who else finds themselves scrolling their phone (sometimes for hours) before they finally drift off to sleep? Yet, we all know that screen time doesn't promote great sleep. Or children... Now, please don't take this the wrong way. I am not suggesting that we get rid of our kids. But sometimes, having kids doesn't allow us to get good rest. Am I right? Or am I right? We're talking sleep regressions, newborns waking every hour to eat, toddlers climbing out of bed and coming to mom and dad's room. We've all been there.

But the more I've thought about it, I have done some good things to try and promote good rest. Here are a few suggestions. Some are more necessary than others and are not in any particular order.

* A good mattress. I'm a fan off the squishy but not too soft, memory foam ones.

* Comfy pajamas. I obviously love our sleep dresses, but the shirt and short sets are growing on me big time. They're easy to mix and match and the fabric is heaven.

* A silk sleep mask. Haha yes, I know I'm crazy. But a few years ago I got one of those silk sleep masks, the kind that you get in a spa kit for your birthday when you're a tween. It's got an elastic strap that holds it around your head and over your eyes. It's THE BEST and I literally can't sleep without it now. It blocks out light and makes things nice and dark. For the record, Old Navy has some right now. Just in case you're looking. 

* Good black out curtains. Amazon has some wins for this one. They make black out curtains for babies that suction cup to your window, making them great for travel as well. I highly recommend those. We also had black out blinds installed in our home, in all the bedrooms. Hands down worth every penny.

* Limit screen time. This one I'm still working on. But try not to use your phone, computer, tablet, etc. for 30+ minutes before bed. 

* Have a bedtime/wind down routine. Nothing calms me down better than a nice warm shower.

* A soft blanket. Ever heard of the Minky Couture store? They're all over Utah. If you don't have a blanket from them, get online and order one. You won't be sorry.

* A sound machine. My husband and I have slept with a little desk top fan on, for years. It's 100% for white noise purposes. But now days you can find all sorts of fancy sound machines and even sound machine apps on your phone. Again, this is something I absolutely cannot go without now. A little white noise goes a long way!

So there's my list. What kind of things do you do to invest in rest? If we all invested just a little more in getting a good night's rest, how much more could we accomplish each day?