This year, I’ve had a few minor life developments. i) I’ve started sleeping less and less – 5.5 hours a day… on a good day. Why? Partly habit. Partly just wanting to get so much done that I squeeze whatever I can into the last slither of remaining hours of each day before I crash. Also partly procrastination – clicking through YouTube and Instagram before time ultimately runs away from me. ii) I’ve left the country a whole lot (I think up to 12 times) – which means a whole lot of hotels. A lot of these were work trips, a few weekend breaks and last minute holidays, but what most of them did involve were very, very comfortable sleeps. iii) Not quite a serious development, but my older brother told me about that “why we sleep” book which in a nutshell says you should sleep… or else. It’s safe to say, the quality of the sleep I get started to play more on my mind.
I’d stay in these fancy hotels, absolutely loving life buried in 100 soft pillows in king sized beds all for me. But, back at home – not only was I barely sleeping, my sleep really sucked. Everything was off – poor pillows, the wrong sized duvet and most importantly – a cheap, worn down mattress which I think even has springs in it that poked into my back. I decided to make a change – do a bit of “adulting” – I realised that I spend all this money on trivial things that are all “external” (e.g. clothes and accessories), but behind closed doors I wasn’t spending enough to live a more comfortable life – the only thing I was investing in for longer term health purposes was really just the gym. So, I decided to completely upgrade my sleeping arrangement.
Does it make a difference?
I’ve spoken about this a couple of times – but at the beginning of the year especially I was doing so much and sleeping so late that it started to seriously impact my productivity. I would literally fall asleep whilst typing which does no good for anybody. And whilst at the beginning it wouldn’t impact me when I got to the office (I barely even drink coffee), after some time, the sub 5 hour sleeps started to really take their toll on me. Plus, given I started working out more regularly this year, yet still sleeping on a seriously poor conditioned mattress (I didn’t realise how bad at the time!), this didn’t help with any muscle recovery and I’d often go to work feeling like I needed someone to absolutely crack my back as I was going about my day – usually in pain. I can’t say that I’m sleeping 8+ hours a day everyday now (I still procrastinate, squeeze things in etc – I’m working on it), but I can say that I’m sleeping a lot better and definitely proritising this more than before.
The upgrade
I must say, even though I was sleeping poorly I didn’t even really, seriously know how bad things were before I started longing the crawl back into hotel beds. So – I upgraded a lot. New sheets (plain white), memory foam pillows, a 13.5 tog duvet (sooo comfy) and a beautiful new mattress from Leesa. A bit about Leesa… the Leesa mattress is a 3 layer foam mattress – it adjusts to suit your body shape and also controls the temperature to avoid overheating at night. It arrives in a compact handy box and honestly it’s so easy to set up, you just have to roll it onto your bed, cut it out of the plastic, and leave it to decompress – I did it all by myself in a matter of minutes and I must say I was feeling kinda proud about that. You have to give it 24 hours to fully decompress and reach its full potential but the wait is so worth it because really and truly – it’s so comfortable. During my first sleep on this bed I literally felt as though I was melting into it, and these days I seriously can’t even wait to get into it.
Another great fact about Leesa is that they also have a commitment to the environment – for every mattress they sell they plant one tree. And for every 10 mattresses they sell they donate 1 to charity.
What do you spend your money on?
Funnily enough – there are a few things we all collectively seem to not think twice about spending money on. For me – that’s food. Investing into a better sleep however is something that never really crossed my mind until this year. Does this mean I’m getting old?
The question is – is it worth your hard earned coin? Even though this Leesa mattress was graciously gifted (thank you to the lovely team!) I would 100% have invested into a luxury mattress such as this beauty anyway. I also invested into all the other finishing touches and honestly it was so worth it! We spend so many hours sleeping and it sort of forms the basis to both our health & how we eventually go about our days so in my opinion, it is something that could do with extra thought and extra investment.
Here’s the best part – you can get £100 off (yes, a whole £100!) using my discount code: SKYLISH. Honestly – you’ll never look back. For reference, I got the Leesa UK double mattress for my bedroom. If for any reason it doesn’t float your boat, you have a 100 night risk free trial in which time you can return the mattress for free.
*Sponsored post – but all opinions, as always, as my own.
Looks soo comfy!