Top Tips For Improving Sleep You Really Need to Try Now

Being unable to have a good sleep at night is a problem for millions of people around the world. For some, it is due to a medical condition while for others, it is caused by the things they do on a daily basis.

Without good sleep, both your mental and physical health will be compromised and you’ll have a hard time staying productive throughout the day. Therefore, it’s important to get a good sleep every night and prevent anything that might come in your way of enjoying a good night’s rest.

To help you out, here are the best tips for improving sleep you can start incorporating into your routine.

Learn about your body’s natural sleep pattern

The first step towards improving and enjoying your sleep is to understand your body’s natural sleep-wake pattern. This is also known as the circadian rhythm and every time it is interrupted, you lose your chances of having quality sleep.

The secret to discovering and establishing this pattern is to keep a regular sleep-wake schedule so that your body is well programmed to know when you will be going to bed and when you will be waking up.

Here are a few tips to help you with this:

• Form a habit of going to bed and waking up almost at the same time every day. This will help your internal clock to optimize your body so that you get the most of your sleep every night.
• Don’t be fond of sleeping-in on weekends – This will do nothing but create disharmony in your sleep pattern. If it is necessary that you make up for the sleep you lost, then it is recommended that you take a nap during the day so that your evening sleeping pattern won’t be affected.
• Nap smartly – Napping is always a good way to make up for the lost sleep. However, if it’ll make you lose your sleep at night, then you should not consider it at all. Only go for naps that are less than 30 to 40 minutes and do it during early afternoon hours.
• Be careful with after-dinner drowsiness – Avoid the temptation to sleep right after dinner. If you find yourself drowsy, find a way to keep yourself busy until it is the right time for you to go to bed.

Create a soothing pre-sleep and waking up routine

The transition from waking up to sleeping should be smooth. It should start about one hour before you finally retire to bed. Make sure to include things that will make you relax physically and mentally.

You can take a warm bath, read a book, meditate or engage in any relaxation exercise. Also, avoid the habit of thinking about your problems at this time. If you have to, then simply write them down on a piece of paper and leave them by your bedside as you retire to sleep.

In the same manner, you should have a good routine for waking up. The process of waking up should be pleasant and enjoyable. Instead of being jerked from your sleep with a rough alarm clock, consider using a smart alarm app on your phone. But ideally, you should wake up naturally with the help of your internal alarm clock.

Be careful about exposure to light a few hours to bed

Melatonin is a sleep hormone secreted by the brain to help you sleep. During daytime and when there is a lot of light around, the production of this hormone is low. As a result, you are kept alert and awake.

Here are a few tips on how to influence your exposure to light for a better sleep:

• Get enough bright sunlight in the morning – You should get exposed to bright sunlight as soon as you wake up. While you take your morning coffee, for example, sit by a sunny window and let the bright light shine on your face.
• Spend time in the daylight – Even if you work indoors for most parts of the day, find some time to venture outdoors and enjoy the natural light. Avoid restricting yourself to the indoors when there are lots of lights outdoors.
• Allow natural light into your home – Keep your window blinds and curtains open during the day so that you can allow as much natural light as possible into the home.
• Avoid big screen when you are about to go to bed – The blue light produced by computers, tablets, phones, and TV are very disruptive. Exposure to them when you are just about to go to bed may compromise the quality of your sleep. Try to avoid watching TV, working on your computer or attending to your phone when you are almost going to bed.

Prepare your bedroom for a good night sleep

Your bedroom should be one of the most comfortable places in the house. To get better sleep, there are certain modifications you must consciously do.

Other than just having a warm and comfy bed, the temperature and the lighting in the bedroom should also be spot on. For example, bright fluorescent lights should never find their way into the bedroom.

Additionally, you should remove any form of distraction in the bedroom. These include all electronics, especially mobile phone and television. When you get to your bedroom, you should be in the right state of mind to enjoy your sleep.

Say NO to stimulants before you sleep

The temptation to take alcohol, coffee or to smoke a cigarette before you go to bed may be very tempting. If you fall for it, then know that you will be hindering your chances of having a good night rest.

Such stimulants should be avoided between four and six hours before bedtime. This is because they increase your metabolic rate. Instead of your system slowing down to let you have a good rest, they make you become more active, hindering your chances of getting a good night rest.

Exercise during the day

People who are fond of exercising regularly will always have quality sleep at night and will rarely sleep during the day. Regular exercise is the ideal antidote for conditions such as insomnia and sleep apnea.

It helps in giving the body total relaxation, leading to deep, restorative sleep. The more vigorous your workout is, the deeper and the more powerful sleep you will have. However, the exercise should come early in the day and not in the evening when you are just about to go to bed.

See Also: Are You Sleep Deprived? 8 Health Risks Of Poor Sleep

Conclusion

Sleep is very important for every person to stay mentally and physically fit. Before you get to bed, make sure that there are no distractions. If your sleep is disturbed, then you may end up feeling tired all the day long.

Make sure to have a smooth sleep-wake routine and don’t indulge in a lot of work just before you sleep. In fact, you must get rid of your work and have some time to relax before you sleep. The same is recommended for when you wake up. Don’t ever wake up in the last minute. It will only put your body under a lot of pressure.

Apart from that, light also has an important effect on your sleep. So, when you sleep, you must turn off the lights. Last but not the least, make it a habit to exercise during the day.

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The Art And The Science Of Networking

Knowing how to network successfully can help you tap into a hidden job market and present your skills and experience to potential employers. More than half of jobs are filled through networking contacts and more employers are turning to social media tools for help with hiring. Using network referrals to get a job can lead to 6% higher annual income and most networkers stay in their jobs for two times longer than direct job searchers.

Benefits of Networking

Whatever your reason for diving into the world of networking, the benefits can be huge. 96% of employees at Adobe feel that networking strengthens their creativity. The benefits of a strong network extend beyond work, as having a strong social network may lead to fewer symptoms of dementia and other diseases.

More than half of people get word-of-mouth referrals from networking contacts. It has always been a tool for job seekers but today, it’s a skill that can help many other professionals advance their careers.

Scientists use networking to help secure research grants. Contractors and construction workers network to find new contracts. Business leaders network with their employees to build relationships, foster creativity, and get to know each other outside the office. Artists and musicians use networking strategies to build followers and get discovered.

See Also: How Networking Can Make You More Productive

Building Your Network

Professionals can develop casual contact networks by participating community service organizations or the Chambers of Commerce. These networks are a great place to discuss local business and legislation and meet people from other professions. Casual contact networks can improve your business’ reputation in the local community and increase the likelihood that contacts will patronize your business.

Strong contact networks are more focused on sharing referrals within a small group of professionals. This is where developing a strong, long-term relationship is key to successful networking. Contacts made through the Business Network International (BNI) have resulted in 9.8 million referrals worldwide.

Networking can also be a tool to learn and share ideas with other professionals within your industry. Professionals can attend events and meetups to get to know other professionals and make connections. Professional conferences are a great opportunity to network while learning new skills and solutions for your business.

Now that you know why networking is so important, here are some tips that can help you learn how to network successfully:

Personalize Your Profile

Whatever social media platform you’re using, personalizing your profile is key to standing out from the crowd. On LinkedIn, including at least 5 skills on your profile can create 17 times more views. Take the time to fill out everything in your profile and write summaries that show some personality and style.

Keep Updating

Once your profile is filled out, you have to keep it up to date. Regularly updated profiles get more views and more searches. Keep updating your profile, writing posts, and changing your profile picture.

Stay Professional

When networking on social media, always be polite and courteous. You might even want to create separate accounts to keep your personal life away from your professional life. However, don’t focus only on business. It’s important to build relationships by asking others about their lives and not just work.

Use Photos

Social media is driven by pictures and professional networking sites are no different. Profiles with photos get 21 times more views.

Other users form an impression of you in only 1/10th of a second. So, pick your photos carefully.

Move Offline

Networking is about building relationships and it’s always best to do that face-to-face. When you make a contact online, follow up in person or at least with a phone call. Always make the effort to keep in touch with contacts. Few strong relationships are better than a lot of mere acquaintances.

Tips & Tricks for Networking In Person

• Have your business cards ready to go.
• Listen to others and see what help you can offer them.
• Share promotions from other companies and ask them to share yours.
• Meet outside the office for a better opportunity to get to know co-workers and other professionals.

Check out this infographic to learn more about The Art & Science of Networking– both online and in person:

Source: NetWorkWise

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How Hygge In the Workplace Can Help With Your Job Search

The Danes continue to top the list of the happiest countries in the world. In fact, in this year’s World Happiness Report, they came in at second, just behind Norway. Many believe their high levels of happiness is due to the Danish concept of hygge (pronounced as hoo-gah).

Hygge is defined by Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute, in his book The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living, as “…an atmosphere and an experience, rather than about things.” This means surrounding yourself with the people you love, having a strong sense of home, and feeling you’re safe and shielded from the world.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to link feelings of love, home, and safety to the process of job searching. It’s easy to feel vulnerable and uneasy putting yourself out there and deciding on what’s the best change for your life. But, by implementing hygge in the workplace, you’ll be able to give yourself more opportunities to not only make the right decision but be happy and confident in your options.

Create a Calming Job Search Atmosphere

The atmosphere you create for yourself while job searching highly affects your attitude, mood, and decision-making abilities.

Hygge is all about coziness and comfort. This means sneaking in a job search while in a stressful environment, like your current office, isn’t going to allow you to make the most out of your time.

Think of a place where you feel relaxed and free to be yourself. Get your favorite mug and fill it with a soothing tea or hot coffee. Curl up under a cozy blanket and play a calming music. Now, you’re ready to get your search started.

Find People You Love

Wiking’s definition of hygge isn’t about surrounding yourself with loved ones just at home- they should be everywhere. Finding a work-tribe you love takes a lot of time and attention to detail but, believe me, it’s worth it. Social support from co-workers who understand how you operate helps manage stress and promotes productivity.

It’s time to go into stealth mode.

Research a company’s mission statement and values on their website. Keep those in mind and peek into its employees’ social media pages.

Look at their LinkedIn pages to see what previous roles they held and dig into the descriptions of each role to see why they were passionate about each one. Use Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to see how they’re living out the company’s mission and vision. Additionally, see how much you have in common with them.

If you’re considering applying for the role, don’t hesitate to reach out to current employees. Let them know who you are, the role you’re applying for, and that you’d like to know more about the culture and atmosphere in their workplace.

Search for a Home

The idea of ‘home,’ according to the hygge concept, revolves around your ability to let your guard down, feel safe, open up and be yourself. While this is largely impacted by co-workers, it’s also about the space you’ll be working in every day.

Take a tour of the office space. If a company doesn’t offer a virtual tour, look for open houses or ask a recruiter or hiring manager for one.

During the tour, ask yourself these questions:

• Is this a place where I can let my guard down?
• Do I feel safe?
• Does this place spark an excitement and creativity?
• Do I feel comfortable and cozy in this space?
• Do I feel like I could focus and be my best here?

If you answered yes to a majority of these questions, you’ve likely found a place where you’d feel right at home. Take notes of what made you feel this way and look for those in other offices as you continue your search.

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7 Top Small Business Ideas for Students You Can Totally Try

Thousands of college students have part-time jobs and nobody wants to become a slave to graduation debt. However, rather than work for somebody else, some young people choose to work for themselves and launch their own small businesses. Despite the required time and effort, being an entrepreneur gives students more flexibility and money.

If you are one of those people, here are 7 small business ideas for students you have to try out.

Tutoring

Make use of your strong understanding of a specific subject and become a tutor. There are websites that offer such services. All you need to do is sign up, specify the subjects you’re good at, and the employer will match you with students. You can work online with learners from middle school to college level.

What to do if you want to tutor your peers but there’s already a tutoring service at your college? Savvy entrepreneurs know how to compete. They use a unique selling point. College tutoring services are usually available at certain times. Offer the schedule that fits your clients. Evening hours or weekends are the most suitable time for students.

Blogging

If you wouldn’t mind sharing your knowledge or life with other people, then this option is right for you. You can earn some cash by starting a blog.

Online blogging platforms make it easy to set up a blogging site. Revenue comes from affiliate marketing programs, like Amazon Associates or paid advertisements. So, to make your blog a money-making machine, you need to gain much blog traffic. Take the topic you’re passionate about and provide consistent, unique content.

Being a YouTube blogger can also be a profitable business. Open your channel and upload videos based on your choice and interest. If you succeed in getting a lot of subscribers, you’ll start making cash quickly.

Don’t forget about advertising. Social media and the word-of-mouth of the students will do the work. Once you have more clients than you can handle on your own, start looking for partners.

An Essay Writing Service

Every business aims to satisfy a particular need of their customers. So, look around and find out what that particular need is.

What do your peers usually complain about? Is it the difficulties of academic paper writing?

Then, why not offer a service that could assist them in tackling such challenges? If you don’t have a crystal clear idea of what this implies, try working as an essay writer or an editor in any reputable essay writing service.

As in the case of most businesses, providing high-quality products is extremely important. Well-crafted, non-plagiarized papers can build you a solid returning customer base.

Residential and Commercial Cleaning Services

Before moving into a new place, people usually hire a house cleaner to tidy it up. Some people are just too busy to clean their homes or offices themselves. So, they use cleaning services. This is money waiting to be made.

At first, you will need to spend $50 on cleaning supplies. Second, let people know about the service you offer. Facebook has made it easy and fast to spread information. Create an appealing Facebook page for your small startup services and promote it for a little cost. From there, the opportunities will flow.

You can take out few hours every day from studying and do cleaning jobs to earn extra income. If your business takes off, you can employ other students as staff.

Graphic Design

See Also: The Essential Elements of Modern Web Design

Most small businesses want to get their hands on professional looking logos and designs without spending too much. If you are well versed in Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator, then consider creating a portfolio on Odesk, Fiverr, and Nairaland and get orders.

If you’re a student majoring in graphic design or a relative field, you can start a small design business that can provide such service. The quality of your products and design will determine the number of customers that will run after you. If you become successful in gaining a lot of returning customers, you might even make this your full time business after college.

Beauty Business

This is one of the most lucrative small business ideas for students. Campus is full of female students that are happy to save on beauty procedures. If you’re a master of manicure and pedicure, offer home nail fixing services. You’ll only need to buy the basic tools and equipment and charge a bit lower than beauty salons.

Can you do braids that are so trendy now? Hair braiding business will definitely bring you some cash as well.

Doing makeup is a viable idea, too. A really talented makeup artist will never run out of money!

To provide these types of beauty services, you might need to take special courses. You will improve your skills and get a certificate proving your qualification.

Pastries and Cake Making

Cakes are an indispensable part of most parties. Students like to celebrate their birthdays and other occasions so, why not make a career out of baking cakes, pastries and other products?

If you have the skills, you can seize this opportunity and cook on order in your spare time. Once people know how delicious your products are, you will get a steady income. Word-of-mouth advertising is a powerful tool, especially in college.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need to be enrolled in a business or entrepreneurship class to start making money. You just need to find the right business for you and you’ll be able to receive a slow but steady income. With that, don’t be afraid to start with these small business ideas for students.

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How to Pursue Your Purpose and Overcome Your Limitations

Purposeful living is the beginning of self-actualization. Defining your purpose that’s aligned with a burning desire is the key to success.

Now, what does success mean to you?

How you define success determines your eagerness to find your purpose. Successful people overcome limitations by mixing thoughts with definiteness of purpose. They are not afraid of taking action and when faced with setbacks, they never quit.

Successful people pursue their purpose and overcome their limitation because they have cured themselves of the “excuse” disease. They never make up excuses why they can’t, why they do not, and why they aren’t.

To effectively pursue your purpose, you need to treat and cure the “excuse” disease effectively. You have to go through a mental cleansing process and get rid of the excuse disease. When you face challenges, avoid the temptation to use your lack of education, age, bad luck or family background as excuses.

This is how to pursue your purpose and overcome your limitations:

Kill the “no brains” excuse

Most people around us have this internal feeling that they aren’t intelligent enough to pursue their purpose and succeed. Most of the time, it all comes down to how they think. They downplay their brainpower and overestimate the brainpower of others.

I want you to understand that it is not how much knowledge you have that matters but how you put that knowledge to use.

To pursue your purpose and overcome your limitations, you have to understand that enthusiasm and interest are factors you have to seriously consider. Therefore, to overcome the “no brains” excuse, having the right attitude and willpower to finish what you’ve started is important. This way, you are sure to successfully pursue your purpose than those with intelligence alone.

Develop the willpower to stick with whatever you are doing presently until it is completed.

Overcome the “age” excuse

Sometimes, you’ll find people who fail to pursue their purpose by using their age as an excuse. As a result, they lose the opportunity to try something new.

Age is in the mind and to overcome your limitations, you have to learn how to let go of the age excuse. No time is late or early to pursue your purpose. You have to learn to try something new at any point in your life.

You have to develop the power of belief inside you so as to be able to overcome the aged feeling.

Muster all the strength you can, tell yourself you can overcome your limitations, and be successful.

Here is how you can overcome the age excuse:

• Do what you really want to do at any point in time. Never think that  you should have begun years ago. It’s only late when you allow your mind to think it’s late.
• Always be enthusiastic about the future and practice looking forward to it.

Finally, there is no better time than now to pursue and overcome your limitations. Nothing happens by accident and we do not become successful by making excuses. You will find success in pursuing your purpose and overcoming your limitations if you only look for reasons why you can and not why you can’t.

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Reassessing + Crushing Your Goals

GOALS!! Sometimes this word can be intimidating, you may hear it and think of goals you didn’t accomplish, or maybe you don’t feel super motivated right now and you might be afraid of failing. We ALL go through times in our lives like that! This planner was created with you guys in mind. We already have so much in our lives we have to think about and do and take care of, we wanted to take some of that stress off your shoulders, ‘cause we have been there! Goal setting does NOT have to be intimidating or scary, it can be exciting! There is a method to creating a smart goal! At STARTplanner we are true believers in writing down your goals, AND your actions steps…how are you going to achieve that goal and what steps are you going to take to get there! Having it visually down on paper, and visualizing yourself finishing that particular goal is going to get you to where you want to be so much quicker!

Visualize! Get creative and create a vision board to help you stay motivated when you are losing focus!

Break up the big picture into different areas and aspects in your life where you want to achieve goals this can help you organize your thoughts!

Don’t always think big! A goal doesn’t have to be this huge life changing goal. Start small! Your goals must be achievable for whatever stage of life you are in!

Accountability!! This is important!! Have someone to hold you accountable in the different areas of your life. It does not have to be the same person for each goal! Pick someone who will push you to be your best and will cheer you on the entire time through the struggles and the victories!

Remember there is NO wrong way to set and achieve a goal! Go at your own pace and hustle through! We are cheering you on! 

Grab one our Goal Trackers HERE today to get a head start on setting your goals!!

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How To Survive A Broken Heart

I get asked how to survive a broken heart all the time and my response is always the same: piña coladas. This is why I am a relationship expert. I know so much about love that I can change Cupid’s diapers (he poops little peanut butter cups.)

This is a non-gender specific advice. If you’re a woman who has been done wrong, put that pint of ice cream down and pick up a piña colada. If you’re a man who’s been rejected, turn down the heavy metal music you’re playing and turn up the rum, pineapple juice, and coconut milk.

I’m not saying you should go out and drink so much you wake up fully clothed in the bathtub with a slice of pizza stuck to your face. Just simply use a piña colada as an airbag to create the collision a break-up creates. This famous tropical drink can transform the brass knuckles of rejection into marshmallow peeps.

It’s not a cure but a shortcut back to the highway of love.

Did he say “It’s not you, it’s me?” Has he ignored your last 15 texts?

Stop acting like there’s an alien lizard or worm living in your chest and you have minutes to live. This sucks but don’t insult the human heart. Thinking that it can’t take grief is like thinking the sky can’t support the stars. Just do what I tell you to do. Order a piña colada at a bar where there’s a jukebox playing funky tunes- a bar where there are members of the opposite sex so you can do some window shopping.

Touch with your eyelashes. But I seriously encourage chatting, winking, and making out. Every time two human beings kiss, a flower blooms somewhere in the world. Of course, that’s not true, but it’s a nice thought. I have never regretted making out with someone, only not making out.

It helps to think of your heart as a piece of steel- not chocolate or flesh or crepe paper. A shiny ball of steel which has a breaking point.

But have you ever seen steel forged?

It’s heated in a volcano hot furnace until it glows white. It’s so hot, the hard steel is malleable. Then, it’s hammered and smashed into shape.

Two pieces are clobbered to form one whole piece and then the steel is dumped into the water. Once it’s cool, it becomes extremely hard.

I’ve had my heart broken many, many times. And each time, I ended up stronger. My furnace? A piña colada. Maybe some Patsy Cline, a new friend for that moment.

Normally, as a dude, I don’t drink cocktails. I like my liquor to be liquor-flavored. My favorite beer is in a can. Cocktails seem to be designed to obscure the taste of liquor as if I drink it for the delicious flavor. I drink whiskey because, after a long day, I like my toes to be warm.

Adult beverages should not taste like candy. Cocktails are fundamentally dishonest, booze dressed up like Rainbow Brite. I don’t begrudge a lady who wants to enjoy a fruity drink, like an Appletini, a Chocolatini or Cheesecaketini. I’ll be having a bourbon.

However, I do make one exception to this rule: piña colada. If I get dumped, I shuffle right up to the bar and order a piña colada. Coconut mug? Yes. Umbrellas? Two. Cherries, orange slices, and pineapple chunks skewered on a plastic sword? Please.

Piña coladas taste like the beach. The ocean is just one giant, salty tear.

She cries with you and calms your fever with a frosty wet kiss. A piña colada is a vacation in a blender. It’s a sweet bubble. I have seen cowboys with faces hanging longer than curtains order a piña colada and five minutes later, you can see their hearts melting.

All it takes is one. So, do it. If there’s a song coming, sing it. Can’t sing? Everybody can sing. The Power of the Colada compels you! Stomp your feet. Clap your hands. Unleash the Kraken!

You know how they say time heals all wounds? Piña colada can do the same thing. It heals and reinforces them. My heart is made out of airplanes and suspension bridges and ninja swords.

Final Thoughts

I know other relationship writers have tons of advice on this topic. But I’m inclined to think that advice is crap if it doesn’t involve a night where you force yourself to shower, put on pants without elastic waistbands, and venture out into public- actual public and not Facebook.

Facebook is not public. It’s a fun little website where advertisers own your private life and then sell it back to you. Public, as in, inhaling the molecules of other human beings. If your heart is currently broken and you’re of drinking age, then I insist that you enjoy a piña colada. Just drink responsibly and eat the fruit. It’s good for you.

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