I am sensitive to the rigorous schedule all sales people keep when travelling. While I know you must maximize every opportunity on your business trips, I also know that sleep and rest is a key factor of success.
You need to be well rested to be your best and most creative in front of clients and prospects. If you are not sleeping well, you can’t be well rested. Good sleep hygiene will not only make you a more successful sales person, it will make you healthier too! Sleep fights of depression and helps the body to heal when it’s sick. I know it can be hard to sleep consistently well when you are traveling. Strange hotel rooms, uncomfortable beds, airplane naps, late night dinners and entertaining with restaurant rich food and wine, all discourage sleep. Here are some tips for setting up a healthy – and profitable – sleep schedule.
1) Set up a solid routine. Organize your schedule as best you can so that you can go to sleep and wake up at the same time everyday. This might be hard when traveling. If so at least be regimented at home. Such scheduling will train your body to sleep when you need to and wake up feeling rested.
2) No Naps! This is a hard one for many – especially our newest employee (and my husband Chris!). Even if you have had a lousy night’s sleep don’t take a nap during the day. Daytime napping makes it harder for you to fall asleep at night. If you must nap, push back your bed time by the equivalent time of your nap.
3) Dump Distractions: The bedroom should be a place for sleep ( and romance!) only. Put the TV, computer, and radio in the living room because they act as a brain stimulant, not depressant and will keep you awake for hours.
4) Get out of bed. If you can’t sleep don’t stay in bed and stare at the clock. Instead, move to another room, read a book and go back to bed when you feel sleepy
5) Travel with ear plugs. If you are in a noisy hotel, blocking out nose with ear plugs will help you sleep. Don’t worry. You can still hear the wake up call!
6) Make 2 lists. Keep a journal beside your bed and before you sleep. In the first record all your success from the day. Everything you accomplished that you were happy about, no matter how small. If you exercised, that can be a success, if you ate healthy that could be a success. As could a great sale, a recovered customer, hitting your targets. Anything that makes you feels good and proud. The second list is a place for you to write down everything that has to be done the next day. Empty your brain of it’s to do list and get it on paper. Every email that has to be sent, clients you need to call, proposals to write errands to run, family members to call. Everything you can think of. Putting your to do’s on paper will help you to relax and fall asleep. With your brain thinking about all the success you had today, and the thought that everything you need to do is safely on a piece of paper, your peace of mind will allow you to fall asleep quickly, and stay asleep all night.
7) Exercise: A good work out will help you sleep through the night and feel rested the next day
Dedicated to increasing your sales
Colleen
Great post Colleen-
Traditionally salespeople don’t travel well- not only do they carry lots of baggage (emotional baggage is included here) but they also are not disciplined or balance enough- work hard doesn’t always equate with playing hard. Sales is one of the few professions that taxes your mental, emotional and physical areas and these must be well maintained.