“The future belongs to those who get up early”:we have everyone has heard that successful people wake up very early.
Xavier Niel and others are already conquering the world while we are preparing coffee :-)
And before bed, then? It's also an important time of the day, after all.
What did the Bill Gates and company do before falling into the arms of Morpheus?
Want to know their secret? It's simple, these people are already preparing their schedule for the next day to be even more productive.
But that's not all. Check out the 6 things successful people always do before they sleep:
Billionaire Bill Gates is an avid reader. Every evening, before going to bed, the ex-CEO of Microsoft takes 1 hour to read. His reading consists of subjects as varied as politics or world news.
Besides acquiring new knowledge, daily reading can reduce stress and improve memory. According to a 2009 study at the University of Essex, reading just 6 minutes a day is enough to reduce stress by 68%.
Another huge benefit of reading a book every night is that it improves overall brain health. Indeed, each reading is like a mental training of the intellect.
Research in Britain has looked at the effects of activities such as reading. They concluded that this type of brain activity reduces cognitive deterioration by 32% in people who age.
Want to know more about the benefits of reading? Check out our article here:10 Benefits of Reading:Why You Should Read Every Day.
Arianna Huffington, co-founder of Huffington Post , is a believer in the "disconnection" method before bedtime. It is a method that she practices after fainting from overwork (this fall also required 5 stitches).
Every evening before bedtime, she puts her smartphone away in a different room than the bedroom, so as not to be distracted. Scientific research indicates that Huffington is definitely right.
According to Dr. Charles Czeisler, a specialist in sleep medicine at Harvard University, the bright lights projected by smartphones are detrimental to our natural rhythm of sleep.
These lights can even "trick" our bodies into thinking it's daytime. They send a message to our brain that prevents certain hormones from being produced. The consequence ? It is much more difficult to fall asleep.
Conclusion, if you want to sleep well, hide your smartphone in a different room from the one where you sleep.
Before going to bed, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, likes to relax by getting some fresh air. These nighttime walks help him “turn off” his thoughts of professional activities and gradually enter “fatigue mode”.
For a dynamic person who travels regularly, evening walks might just be THE perfect way to unwind after a demanding day at work. Apart from the obvious physical health benefits, this good habit hides other surprising benefits.
Indeed, a study from Stanford University indicates that walking increases creativity. This is because when we walk, the mind is less solicited. Therefore, it "gives free rein to creative ideas".
So if you're faced with a sticky problem, maybe a good night's walk is what you need to find the perfect, creative solution.
Oprah Winfrey, an essential figure in the American media, has been practicing meditation regularly for several years. As one can imagine, Miss Winfrey has a veritable minister's agenda. And what better way to relax after a stressful day than to take the time for a good meditation session?
Meditation is subject to stigma:its benefits are frequently questioned. But, in 2014, a Harvard University study put an end to all doubts.
Researchers have studied the benefits of no fewer than 19,000 instances of meditation. The results are clear:meditation reduces stress, anxiety, depression, and even pain.
Regardless of one's opinion of meditation, the results of this study speak for themselves.
In an interview with Fortune magazine , stylist Vera Wang said her bedtime ritual is based on "a considerable level of design — both conceptually and literally." Sometimes the calm that comes with the night is what you need to find your creativity.
The most surprising thing is that a study on this subject confirms that the night turns out to be the ideal time to appeal to creativity – even if it is after a trying day. Researchers at Albion College have found that morning people's creativity levels are highest at night, just before bedtime!
What does it mean ? Well, if you are a morning person, then your most creative ideas come to mind right before you go to bed. And this, even if you are tired! Your logical abilities decrease, but this works in your favor:it is precisely this reduction in logical connections that allows you to make more creative connections.
Bernard Arnault, CEO of the luxury group LVMH, likes to manage his time efficiently. Every night before going to bed, he prepares what he is going to do the next day. By determining 3 tasks for the next day, he can get to work as soon as he wakes up.
This study from the 90s confirms Mr. Arnault's time management method. The researchers assessed the participants' time management abilities at the end of high school and 4 years later, in full university cycle.
The results are surprising. Students with better time management skills in high school had better averages in college.
The most amazing thing is that their average was even higher than that of students who had better results in high school! Basically, this means that our time management skills are a better predictor of academic success than our high school academic skills.
And you ? Do you have a little routine before bedtime to make your days more successful? Share it with us in the comments :-)
