If you are in any way a progressive thinker, you’ve tried your utmost to make an improvement to ‘those days’. You are familiar with practices of mindfulness. You’ve tried recommended natural products.  You’ve talked to lots of people – heck you talked to the professionals too! You might have even taken big-boy pharmaceuticals promised to make a huge difference to your mental well-being.

Little has changed over the years. Most likely ‘those days’ are still a common feature of your life and you just cope, not allowing yourself to consider the possibility of genuinely enjoying this day.  The day seeps into your week, month, year, and the heart silently weeps, in spite of the smile on your face.

You wonder if this can EVER really change… if this mind of yours can ever become a true buddy on this journey of life, and not continue to trip you up, often when you least expect it.

Ayurveda and Mental Health

Western medicine considers mental health as separate from our overall physical health. Yogic and Ayurvedic traditions see the two as inseparable.

For the last 4000 years, through self-inquiry and practice, yogis (yoga masters) and vaidyas (the ayurvedic healers), came to realize one simple but powerful fact: there can be no peace and clarity of mind, or stability of our moods, in a body experiencing disharmony, discomfort, pain or stress.

More recently even Greeks come to the same realization – their now famous motto was:

“A healthy mind in a healthy body.”

Ancients knew that incorporating self-nurturing habits of yoga and Ayurveda into our daily routine would help heal the sick, and make those that are healthy stronger and at ease, more resilient, full of energy, and vitality.

In yoga we talk of ‘bliss’ often. It is a bliss of the mind, for sure! But it is a result of deeper levels of innate comfort emanating from the depths of our physical being. The yogis and vaidyas realized that there can be no true happiness & contentment if the body is suffering. The way we feel in our body will determine our mood.

The Power of an Ache

For instance, remember the time when you had a headache or a toothache. If one suffers in acute pain, you quickly realize how much your mood, and emotional mental well-being are affected.

We feel cranky, irritable, and uncomfortable – and not just in that affected body part.

Our whole being will be ‘squirming’ with discomfort, suffering greatly. And so will our mind. We’ll have difficulty concentrating or focusing our mind on little else but our pain. We’ll feel tired,  exhausted in fact. We will want to avoid all unnecessary contact with others, or we may feel particularly needy and unsupported.

Isn’t it strange how a ‘small thing’ like a headache or toothache can affect our well-being on such a deep level?

Although, it’s quite simple and logical, when you look deeper within our body.

Everything in our body is connected via the huge web of neural pathways. Whenever one nerve fires, this whole web lights up, firing the signals of discomfort through the whole body-mind system.

Funnily enough, those instances of sudden or short-lasting pain, such as toothache or headache, are much more remarkable and memorable much more felt than the seemingly small niggling pains, aches, and discomfort. We become tolerant to low level chronic inflammatory processes, digestive imbalances, immune & hormonal disorders, circulatory issues that go on over a long period of time which seem to become a part of our backdrop.

Surviving by Dampening the Pain

Why? Well, the body-mind system just learns to settle into, and to dampen down signals of distress that are coming from affected parts and systems. The body-mind system always looks for homeostasis,that innate balance, and this is geared by our own survival mechanism.

If we learn to ignore our discomfort on the conscious level, we may be able to function – and in this case, simply plod on, for a little bit longer, hopefully.

But the pains and discomfort are still there, even when we’ve learned to dampen their signals from our immediate consciousness.

And we begin to feel low in our moods, we begin to accept this low as ‘normal’. As we continue to spiral down, we forget how it actually feels to feel great!

Or maybe we step up, and decide we will try to redress these ever-present low moods, so we try the talking therapy, or mindfulness, or pills, or supplements.

But it doesn’t work. After all these years, it still leaves us feeling down, defeated again.

Until we begin to re-balance our body and attune to our circadian rhythms all else will be an uphill struggle. Allow your body to heal the layers of discomfort – in your joints, gut, lungs, belly, skin, and all of your more subtle systems by simply adjusting the rhythm of your day.

The mind will be low, our moods betraying us: feeling stressed, grumpy, moody, tired – as our thoughts endlessly ‘catch’ onto the signals of discomfort emanating from the central channel of our nervous system. Continually creating stories & patterns that will keep us mentally spiraling down in spite of our best efforts.

That feeling of Bliss that yogis always speak of is not a concept of the mind. Bliss is the physical sensation of the calm and quiet nervous web, which then spills into the well-being of our mind. We feel refreshed, relaxed, at ease. Our mind becomes joyful & light. Our thoughts are filled with generosity, patience, tolerance, gentleness & peace. And our heart is steady, brave and determined, opened with the wonder that the world holds for us all.

How to HEAL YOUR MIND with the 10 Habits of Yogis

These seemingly simple practices will revolutionize the way you feel within and without! Rooted in ancient Ayurvedic wisdom, they have the power to transform your life in ways that you can’t possibly even dream of now!

Imagine sleeping well & waking up early each day, with a smile on your face, even before your alarm goes off. Having plenty of time for self-nourishment, exercise, enjoyment of nourishing foods. Plenty of time for reflection and play with your loved ones. Feeling energized, happy and joyful, no niggling aches or pains, at your optimum body weight.

As we automate our daily practice of 10 Habits, we allow our body, and particularly our nervous and hormonal systems to re-boot and heal, and by default our mood and our mind-set will change drastically.

Start Here

Begin on this journey by taking little steps each day – start by simply going to bed a bit earlier.

Trust me – this was a BIGGIE for me – I always identified with being a Night Owl type – for many many years, going to bed at 2 am was considered an early night here! Now I am regularly fast asleep by 10 pm – catching that first and most important part of the night when our bodies detox and rebuild.

During the hours of 10 pm until 2 am we use the power of our internal Agni/Digestive Power to do do some serious housekeeping. When we wake up in the morning, our mind feels fresh and clear.

A TIP for better Sleep and more effective overnight detox: commit to eating a bit less and a bit earlier each evening.

On The Road to Bliss

You will soon notice that your mind feels rather chirpy and optimistic each morning. There is this lovely feeling bubbling up from the depths of your heart, making you feel very positive about the day ahead, and even the week ahead of you, without any particular cause… Just a sense of joy starting to surface and integrate itself into your daily perception.

As you deepen and automate your practices of the 10 Habits, you will soon be coasting in Bliss, your mind at ease, joyful & light, and feeling refreshed, relaxed, and brimming with deep vitality and zest for life.

Did you know this leads to anxiety and depression?

According to Ayurveda, this behavior is associated with a Vata imbalance.The wisdom teachings of yoga teach us that the balance of the 5 elements in our bodies will help us maintain our health and well being.

The air element is  wonderful for moving energy, stoking new creativity, stirring up your enthusiasm. If the air element combined with the space element you can become spacey, ungrounded, and easily distracted. You will find yourself going from one project to the next never completing anything. You will often feel overwhelmed, anxious, and have trouble sleeping.

Usually this imbalance occurs more frequently after women go through menopause or are pregnant. But it also can also occur for everyone as they move into Vata time of life after age 50. Shifting levels of hormones, change of seasons, transitioning into Vata season (Fall) and travel all cause a Vata imbalance.

Lack of Energy & Focus

Your lack of groundedness is causing you to have sleep disturbances which leads to unevenness of energy throughout the day. You can have moments of total clarity and focus followed by feeling spacey, tired, dull or exhausted.

By constantly depleting your body you will feel like you are always running on empty. Napping is said to really improve your heart health. 15-20 minute power naps are really wonderful for rejuvenating your energy. If you need more than a 10-20 minute nap a day you need to get more rest.

The effects of sleep deprivation over time are scary.

The lack of quality rest and not enough REM cycles or deep sleep will adversely affect your memory, focus and concentration.

According to Webmd.com here are the effects of sleep deprivation over time.

• Heart disease
• Irregular heart beat
• High blood pressure
• Stroke
• Diabetes
• Kills your sex drive
• Causes accidents
• Dumbs you down
• Can contribute to causing depression
• Ages your skin
• Messes with your memory
• Puts on extra weight and makes it hard to lose it once it is on.
• Impairs your judgement (you might think you can get away with 6 hours of sleep…. NOT!!)

How Your Belly Disturbs Your Sleep and Mind Focus

What throws a lot of us off balance is chronic inflammation in our microbiome. Digestive issues will contribute to brain fog and sleep deprivation. If you have ever tried to sleep on a full belly you will get how important it is that you eat early and lighter in order to get a good night’s rest.

What causes inflammation in your gut?

• Processed Foods (breads, pasta, chips, cookies, candy ,cakes) anything that does not grow in nature.
• Any food that has been treated with radiation, chemicals, hormones, antibiotics.
• Meat and fish that has been given food that is not in the animals natural diet.
• Heating foods with microwaves in plastic containers.
• Eating too heavy late at night, past 7:00 pm.
• A diet that includes refined sugar.
• Having the same foods every day.
• Gobbling down your food too quickly while walking, standing, or driving.
• Taking a huge amount of supplements instead of eating wholesome fresh organic foods.
• Sitting down for a meal when you’re upset.
  

Ignoring The Problem Won’t Make It Go Away

What if you are complacent or apathetic about your lack of energy and focus?

This syndrome if left unattended over decades will eventually lead to some serious health issues down the road like: immune disorders, chronic fatigue, weight gain, diabetes, heart problems, chronic depression,  anxiety, memory loss, or dementia.

4 Secrets To Solve Your Foggy Mind And Low Energy

1. Early to Bed Early to Rise…

Going to bed at 10:00 pm or earlier every night consistently will help you break this pattern.

By staying up late and being on blue screens (TV iPhones, iPads, laptops), you rob yourself of essential deep rest that will help you keep your mind sharp and help you sustain your energy during the afternoons and early evening. Taking the TV out of the bedroom is the first step.

Watch for Signs of Tiredness. Yawning, eye rubbing, and heavy eyelids. If you find that you are reading the same sentence 10 times without comprehension close the book and turn off the lights!

2. Avoid Drinking Alcohol During The Week & Caffeine After 10:00 am

Drinking alcohol will cause you to wake up in the middle of the night disturbing your REM cycles and preventing you from being on top of your game the next day. Save it for the weekends.

3. Practice Daily Meditation And Yoga 5 Days A Week

Doing 10-20 minutes of body breath practices will help you oxygenate your body and help you keep you mind clear and your energy even throughout the day. Even five sun salutations will help regulate your energy.

Would love to exercise but have no energy to get yourself off the sofa?  Daily exercise will give your more energy so that you can exercise and improve your health and mental clarity.

Daily meditation helps you floss the mind and increases your grey matter!  You get smarter! Read this great blog about Meditation. Meditating before bed helps you process your day and give you a deeper sleep.

4. Eat Earlier lighter dinner for better sleep.

Closing the kitchen after an early dinner and fasting on water between meals will also help you get to bed earlier, leave you well rested and energized the next day.

Stop eating at 7:00pm

Do Intermittent fasting by putting 12-16 hour between the last meal of the day and breakfast. For example, if you eat at 6:00 pm dinner you would fast until 7:00-8:00am the next day.

If you are hungry before bed try making warm Golden Milk recipe with either milk or Almond milk.

The Next Right Step

If you have had it with losing the plot and low energy, invest in your health and well being. Get to know why your daily habits can make a huge difference in how your mind and body ages. You will be able to have the energy to step into your Swa Dharma (the next right step for you and your family).

I have seen folks in their 20’s dragging themselves through the day and elders in their 90’s full of beans still working because it so so much fun. It has nothing to do with age and all do do with your daily habits.

I am a 65 year old yoga teacher and teacher trainer. I just added a new career as a Yoga Health Coach four years ago. I see students adopting this healthy lifestyle and dropping years off their physiological age. I am working with folks 20-80 years young. They are active and sharp as a tack!

You can avoid serious health issues by following the healthy habits that are recommended by Ayurveda. These habits  help to regulate your personal clock so that you are in tuned with the daily rhythms of nature. Read here about  Dina Charya.  

An insightful quote from the Dalai Llama when asked what surprised him most…

 “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.”  Dalai Llama

A Challenge

Vibrant energy is your birthright! I invite you to share with me how you are investing in your well being and any challenges you have with adopting a healthier habits. Wherever you are in your life, you can always get this party started!

Let me know what you are doing to keep you mind clear and to have vibrant energy throughout your day.

The migraines eased when I was 10.  But year after year my asthma worsened. Characterized by an overactive immune system and inflammation of the airways, asthma can be experienced as restricted breathing, coughing and wheezing.  It can be triggered by infections, allergies, strong emotions, and exercise. 

My triggers?  All of the above. As an adult, I became so sensitive to cat dander that my office was off limits to co-workers. My regime of medications included three inhalers, antihistamines, and other oral medications.  A cold? Five days on prednisone. Thrush from the prednisone? Try an antifungal. I became a medication expert. And I began to wonder what would happen if I contracted something like H1N1. Would I be admitted to a hospital? Would prednisone, a drug with serious side effects, become a daily go-to?  

Experimenting with Alternate Options

Faced with the challenge of frequent flare ups, I began to experiment with alternative and complementary health care. I dabbled in supplements and spent money on tinctures and acupuncture. Progress was slow.

Then I hit a turning point:  my doctor recommended I try a new medication- a designer drug used to treat severe allergic asthma. I’d receive injections every three weeks- and be at risk of anaphylactic shock after each treatment. I was dumbfounded. Designer drugs? Me?  

This wake up call invited me into a deeper question – how could I stop the cycle of inflammation and illness?  How could I bolster my health so that exposure to allergens and viruses did not trigger such a massive response from my body?  I realized I needed to look at the heart of what was making me sick. I had to start taking full responsibility for my health.

Self Care + Daily Routines of Ayurveda

My journey began to shift more fully once I was introduced to Ayurveda, an Eastern model of medicine from India. I had looked to yoga as a way to manage stress, and Ayurveda was a key teaching in the first training I attended. Ayurveda can include consultations with trained physicians and treatments like massage, oiling, enemas and dietary changes. But my curiosity was most peaked by a book I found which depicted the daily routine recommended by Ayurveda. 

Based on the Ayurvedic clock and the doshas, energies that dominate different times of the day and seasons of the year, Ayurveda recommends specific times of day to eat, sleep, and do other types of self care. Awake before sunrise. Early morning meditation. Eat your biggest meal at midday. It was the first time I had seen self care mapped out as a routine – one that looked nothing like my current day.

Stress, Asthma + Disease

From the perspective of Ayurveda, disease has three causes: making negligent choices, disrespecting your senses, and living out of rhythm.   I needed to understand how my constitution was leading me on a path towards lung issues, and how to line up my lifestyle with the natural world around me. I had to give myself a chance to create physical and mental resilience by eliminating key sources of stress.

These three key areas became my transition points:

1. Food Stress – Hot Versus Cold

The first shift I made? Eating in a way that honours the 4 season climate I live in. Hot water therapy became a habit that I still use daily: I carry a thermos of hot water everywhere I go and sip from it throughout the day. Cold air conditioned offices warrant hot water therapy in the same way that cold winter days do. I never drink ice water, and only switch to room temperature water when it really heats up. 

Lemon is too drying for me – so I quickly became used to plain water.

This pattern is also mimicked in my food choices. I eat warm foods like soups and stews in cooler times and limit my intake of raw cold foods like salads and raw veggies to the hotter months. I learned to protect my ability to digest, my digestive fire, by not dampening it with cold food or drink during the coolest seasons.

2. Sleep Stress – Chronic Deprivation

Learning to let go of my night owl tendencies was another change that shifted my health. When I began to experiment with an earlier bed-time I realized that I had been living in a state of chronic sleep deprivation. I was able to see that fatigue was triggering stress in my personal relationships and at work, and that going to bed early was one of the most impactful ways I could create more ease. 

Ayurveda recommends we go to bed before 10pm and rise before 6am.  Embracing this schedule has made it easier for me to work, be in relationship with friends + family, and find ease in challenges. More ease means less stress and fewer flare ups.

3. Body Stress – Learning to Breathe with Ease

My final big learning came about when I noticed how often I carried worry and stress in my body.  Learning how to develop a soft and sweet relationship with my breath was new for me. I was used to pushing myself hard and breathing hard. Learning to use a mantra was one way I created a more friendly relationship with my breath.  Practicing ujjayi or ocean breath was another. I began to recognize how often I was tightening my torso in a way that stopped me from inhaling deeply. 

Learning how to deepen each in a breath and slow the release of each out breath helped me create a baseline of groundedness that I could access anywhere. Breathing became my go to way to recognize when I was stressed and the main tool I used to re-establish myself in a space of ease. 

Freedom in breath is the exact opposite of the experience of asthma. Working with this technique gave me the ability to stay calmer and more relaxed when I was sick. This means less constriction, less medication, and less uncertainty.

Daily Ease in Breath + Body

I’d love to say that my asthma has disappeared and I no longer need my inhalers. While this is not true, I have significantly shifted my lung health.

Freedom from daily medication use is a significant gain for me, as is the ability to breathe freely and to worry little about exposure to allergens. I rarely need prednisone. My entire system is less inflamed and less at risk for a flare up.  Living in line with nature, making discerning choices, honoring who I am – this is how I love my lungs.

But what if we would dress this idea by reversing them? What a concept! 

This is my mission as a Yoga Health Coach:

And I was put on the spot in the last month.

When Your World Falls Apart

6 weeks ago I picked up the phone and got the news that my man’s brother died of heart problems. My heart started pumping. I could feel the blood flow fast through my veins and my feet leaving the ground. I gripped hard into this conscious awakening of feeling this news settling in, including both my hands on the kitchen counter. Right then I made myself two promises and focused all my energy on two foundational habits that I would stick to no matter what; eating earlier and lighter and exercising every morning.

Why?  Because I knew my man would need all the support he could get. A sick run down partner, mother for him and our children, was not going to be of any help. Being a Yoga Health Coach I knew by experience and coaching my clients through hard times these two habits would be of core help during this difficult grieving time.  

The Earlier Lighter Dinner

An earlier lighter dinner created a domino effect for me to feel into my fatigued body and mind.  This offered me permission to be in bed earlier for a deep and resourceful sleep. The more shut eye we get we build a strong immune system for the long term and short term of our well being.

A study by Janet Mulligan on sleep loss and inflammation proves the relationship between deep sleep and our immune system. Reading this article helps to understand why eating earlier and lighter optimizes sleep. With this simple practice, I knew my body would be armed and rested to defend against any immune challenges that would arise in my surrounding and changing environment.  Explaining my need for sleep to my family was now easier than ever.

Get Moving in the Morning

Have you ever noticed that when you exercise you get more energized? This is an increase in endorphin levels in the body. In effect we kind of get high.  Our cardiovascular system gets boosted which allows you to have greater endurance throughout the day.

Exercising in the morning became documented ritual for me. To help me track this daily habit beside my light switch in my room I posted Mastery Habit Tracking sheet. Every day I would check off a box when I completed this one habit. 

Each movement became so precious and became my lifeline to this divine source of energy that energized my whole being on all levels.  Movement sharpened and focused my mind to digest my own emotions and able to hold space for my family during this sad time in our lives.  During this crisis setting up my day with exercise was crucial.

Living in Crisis

NEXT: to break the news to my man. Off he went to be with his family to begin the grieving process. The full responsibility of our two children fell naturally onto me. 

I scaled down my agenda to the necessary;  teaching my yoga classes, my YHC exam, keeping up with my free talks. Canceled everything else.

One of my strengths as a mother is asking for help. It’s a community that raises a child. Right?  As one of my main family values, it’s important that I be a role model for other families to reach out in the time of need and not get burnt out. And in turn, I reached out to my community to help with babysitting and to fill my freezer with healthy foods which freed up more time for me to be where I was most needed. 

Two funerals and three weeks of traveling, my entire family fell ill with a nasty virus and was bedridden for 7 days each, one after the other, Mom to the rescue for another 2 weeks. Ouff!

Effortless and Automated

As time passed I noticed the two fundamental habits I chose were effortless and automated. Allowing me to be fully present to respond to my family’s needs and I noticed that they held the fort for the rest of my habits to fall into place.

And guess what? I haven’t been sick. Investing my time and energy towards my well-being held true, in my eyes, to my family’s actual need: to fully be present to meet their needs for their well-being.  

Have you ever caught yourself in a habit that didn’t align with your desired intention and influenced the rest of your daily routine?  

• sleep earlier but eat a big meal that keeps you awake all night
• exercise in the morning but go to bed too late the night before so you sleep in
• ___________(add your own) but don’t do it

These essential habits are also known as keystone habits. Which is in reference to stone masonry when constructing an arch way, it’s the last stone place in the middle of the arch way to hold every other stone in place.

Our habits are our daily building stones of our daily routine and are actioned out one after the other, but which one holds the fort?

I stuck with two of them and proved to me that they were strategically placed for a strong integral foundation as a mother. Which habit(s) are your Keystone habits? And WHY? Comment below I’d love to hear what keeps you strong when you need it.

I have learned that getting enough sleep is one of my most critical self care habits.  If I don’t get to bed early enough, my day is one of overwhelm and ineffectiveness in all aspects of my life- at home, at work, and in my relationships.

In a recent chat with one of my yoga health coaching clients  our conversation centered on the idea of getting enough sleep- and the difference between getting into bed (which she is good at) and falling asleep (which she resists).  There are many reasons why we might resist falling asleep- the belief that we won’t be as fun if we have a 9pm bedtime. Or that we are missing out on something we could be doing to make our life more satisfying.

In her case, though, it was because there was a lot of mental chatter happening as she tried to juggle a massive shift in responsibilities in her personal life. Our conversation became one about a real and practical issue: sometimes our resistance to letting go of the day is because we have not effectively closed it off- we are still carrying ideas, thoughts and to-do’s with us as we hop into bed. This open loop prevents us from fully embracing our fatigue, surrendering into the sweetness of being rather than doing, and falling asleep.  

So I taught her a trick- how to do a “mind dump”.

The Mind Dump

Over 10 years I was introduced to the work of David Allen. Allen’s book- Getting Things Done– spoke to me so much that I spent a weekend in Seattle in one of his seminars.  One of my biggest learnings from my studies of his work was David’s version of the mind dump- what he calls a “brain dump.”  Allen says that one of the key ways we can reduce stress is by learning to capture “everything-little or big, personal or professional, urgent or not. Everything.”

My initial work with this tool was purely in the professional realm- I saw the benefits solely in the context of how they could improve my ability to manage my growing list of projects as an Executive Director of an expanding non-profit organization.

Now that most of my work is with clients in the realm of self care, wellness and health, I see that my “mind dump” nets me much bigger benefits. It is one of the key tools I use to close off my day and create the best-case-scenario for getting enough sleep. When I know everything is captured in one place I can step away from my day and rest easy for the night.  

So how do you get started?

Creating Your Mind Dump

1. Set a time each day to sit down and capture everything.  As David Allen says- “Get it all out of your head.” This might be at the end of your work day before you leave the office.  It might be after dinner- before you start to wind down for the night.  Or- if you need extra rest like my client or need to be clear before you move onto the next part of your day- it might be after lunch or before your next appointment.

The time of the day doesn’t matter, but scheduling it in DOES. Set up a trigger to instigate a new habit – an alarm on your iphone, a reserved spot on your google calendar, or a stop at a coffee shop on the way home from work that is reserved solely for this purpose. Give this habit some dedicated time each day and set up the structure so that you don’t miss the opportunity.

2. Create ONE place where you capture everything.  A spiral bound notebook dedicated to your mind dump. An online system in Evernote that syncs with your phone. A dedicated project in Basecamp or your favorite project management tool.  What is the most practical, accessible, useful tool for you?  

Me? I tend to be a paper girl- as much as I love my electronic tools, the fastest way for me to capture quickly is a notebook. A big capture might be 2-3 pages long.  A shorter one half a page.  I use Moleskin notebooks- their design makes me appreciate the importance of what I am capturing.

The one no-no: scraps of paper, post it notes and multiple capture tools.  You need to have everything in ONE place- a place you can reliably access both to capture and then to later process your mind dump.

Which brings us to the next tip…

3. Let go of the need to process what you are writing as you are capturing it.  How often have you sabotaged yourself by getting distracted by your to-do list?  In our effort to lessen our overwhelm, we often trick ourselves into dealing with the lowest hanging fruit in the belief that crossing things off our to-do list will net us the biggest benefit.  

If this is your deal then staying focused on capturing rather than processing will require effort AND potentially net you the biggest gain.  Why? Because if you fail to capture effectively, you will not effectively close off the day.  And closing off the day is one of the most underutilized techniques for getting better sleep.

So when do you process your mind dump? Creating dedicated time to process is key.  You have to create a system for emptying the bucket regularly. There are MANY different ways we can organize ourselves-  if these ideas have captured you check out David Allen’s book “Getting Things Done.” This website is a great resource for best practices. Finding a system that works for you takes time- but to start, the mind dump- capturing- is a good way to start clearing space for yourself.

The one tip I can offer?  This one again comes from David Allen:  when you DO take the time to process, if the task it will take you less than two minutes do it right then rather than transferring into an organizational system.

Getting to bed. Getting to sleep. Staying asleep. If more sleep is one of your keystone habits, and making it happen is a struggle, consider the benefits of a mind dump.  Every other sleep trick I can offer you- eating earlier, self massage, a walk after dinner, going to sleep before 10- will be amplified by this ONE trick- getting your thoughts, ideas and inspirations out of your head.