Your Sleep Persona - The Dolphin

We all have a natural master body clock in our brain that triggers our "sleep-wake circadian rhythm". This circadian rhythm is designed to regulate feelings of sleepiness and wakefulness over a 24-hour period. This means feeling sleepy or awake is a biological experience, determined by our genetics!

Every person has a different circadian rhythm and your SLEEP PERSONA has been based on your own unique rhythm of sleepiness and wakefulness. Understanding your SLEEP PERSONA helps you get the most out of your day.

As a Dolphin, your daily performance is highly dependent on the quality of sleep you get. And that’s because even though dolphins get eight hours of sleep a day, most are not getting the restorative sleep they actually need.

While asleep, dolphins often drift back into wakefulness, preventing them from getting into a deeper phase of sleep where all the restorative benefits of sleep occur (known as your Deep Sleep State). As a result, dolphins are most likely to be diagnosed with insomnia.

Getting out of bed can feel like a chore and as light seeps into the bedroom in the morning, dolphins find it difficult to stay asleep. But once they wake up they will usually be alert. 9am to 12pm is a great time for ANALYTICAL tasks that require logical and critical thinking, which in turn requires a lot of attention to detail, focus and very few distractions. But with little sleep, dolphins at most will only achieve sporadic bursts of productivity.

As they day goes on, tiredness will kick in and by early afternoon energy levels are generally low. Now’s a good time for a dolphin to schedule a break.

While it might be tempting to doze off for the rest of the afternoon, dolphins can use the period 3pm to 6pm for CREATIVE tasks. Creative tasks require innovative, out of the box thinking to generate new ideas and solutions and in turn less attention to detail. With dolphins being naturally friendly, creative sessions done in teams are where they thrive the most.

Late gatherings are attractive for dolphins, but most know any late nights only make things worse the next morning. Even though dolphins dread waking up, they would try anything to help improve their sleep routine. This makes them resourceful and curious.

As a dolphin, it's important to develop a REGULAR SLEEP ROUTINE, even over the weekend. Consistently going to bed at 10pm and waking up at the same time each day anchors the body’s master body clock and sleep routine. Once dolphins wake up, greeting the morning routine with some immediate exercise and natural sunlight as soon as possible helps avoid “sleep inertia” – that familiar feeling of drowsiness that can last for hours after you wake up.

A bedtime routine is also a great addition at night if you don’t have one. Starting to WIND DOWN 30-60mins before bed helps put your mind and body at ease. While many dolphins have tried wind down routines already (e.g. from warm baths to guided meditations), continuing to do this consistently at the same time every day is important. As is, experimenting with different things that relaxes you.

There will always be nights when you have difficulty falling asleep. When this happens, it’s best not to panic. If you can’t fall asleep after 20 minutes of lying in bed: LEAVE YOUR BEDROOM! Then, find something relaxing to do in this time (e.g. you could read a book, sketch or even meditate). This helps you remove any frustrations you have with your sleep environment. Also do the same if you wake up during the night and can’t fall back asleep.

In both scenarios, don’t force yourself to sleep and don't focus on the time. This can perpetuate anxiety and make falling asleep even more difficult.