The Magic Of A Good Night’s Sleep And How To Finally Get One

Image courtesy of Dusty Allen Smith

Aahh!  I slept for 9 straight hours last night.  Something I hadn’t done for months.  I know, I know, I’ve got that book on sleep and all, but don’t hold it against me.  Sleep just hasn’t been my highest priority lately and after waking up this morning I realize the mistake that has been.

For the last couple of months I’ve been burning the midnight oil to get the Blueprint ready for launch as well as a few other early ‘09 surprises.  Then came the Holidays and my time was even shorter with more projects on my plate.  I would work much of the day and well into the night.  Other than a few brakes, I was in front of my screen tapping away on my little aluminum apple keyboard.  I’d go to bed at a semi-reasonable hour, but found it hard to turn my brain off as I tried to drift into REM sleep.  More and more I wake up with that nagging feeling that my body and brain are being neglected.

Over time, this nagging feeling turns into anxiety and even slight depression.  It is only when we have a few REM cycles that our brains rejuvenate their ‘feel good hormones’.  Otherwise, there is an imbalance that results in that common ‘blah’ feeling we get when we neglect this necessary daily habit.

Within the last few days I felt my drive and passion go ‘kaput’.  I stopped caring about the many projects in the mix and even those I cared about were met with poor focus when I tried to apply myself.  So I decided it was time to fix the problem.

Our tendency when facing large to-dos with little time is to try and ‘push through the pain’.  This works fine when properly ‘nourished’, but try and make it work with a neglected mind and body and you’re only asking for the poorest of results.  Sometimes we have no choice, but more often than not we are just choosing the wrong thing.

Emergency Rejuvenation: Time required, 24 hours or less

The first thing you need to do to finally get that necessary sleep is make a decision.  Yesterday morning, when I woke up feeling like crap, I finally decided that the time was now.  That whatever I needed to do to get a good night sleep was going to happen RIGHT NOW!

Once you make that choice, it’s only a matter of a few technicalities and then you’re on your way to that happy place in your head.  Here are some thoughts:

• Make a list of everything that absolutely has to get done TODAY.  Then create a separate list of those things that you were planning on doing today, but are now going to push until tomorrow (these would be things that can wait one more day, but no more).
• Determine a time when your work day ends and decide to completely close up shop at that precise time.
• Determine a time when your work day restarts and decide not to reconnect with your work until that time.
• Plan on a light, healthy dinner that will promote deep sleep (stay away from too spicy, sweet, heavy, etc…  Something that has a tendency to keep your blood sugar steady all night).
• Plan an evening of relaxation.  Do whatever you need to do to get your mind off of anything that stresses you out or causes over stimulation.  Basically, you don’t want to have trouble turning off your brain when your head hits the pillow.
• Get ready for bed a little early.  Be sure to be in bed with plenty of time for some final brain relaxation before you close your eyes.
• Read a book on fiction.  Anything that takes you away from your normal thoughts and helps distract your consciousness and promotes eventual ’sagging of the lids’.
• Stick with your plan.

So here is exactly what I did…(It was late morning when I made the decision to do this.)

• I made two lists.  One that HAD to get done and then one that needed attention tomorrow.  This is key because we can’t sleep if we have unfinished tasks that need attention.  But if we at least have them written down, we can rest assured that we will see them when we get up the next day.  This also means that we can’t neglect the MUST-DOS.  I don’t know about you, but deep sleep doesn’t come for me unless my plate of must-dos is properly polished clean.
• I decided that 5pm would be my cut off time.  I promised myself that at this very time, both my laptop and cell phone would go off and not be turned back on until the following day.  Otherwise I’m sure I would pop in to check mail and this would go against the whole point of the process.  This actually gave me a little extra push to work hard as I looked forward to ‘clocking out’.  Then I determined that after breakfast the following day, I could re-open shop.
• For dinner I had a nice hot bowl of  a light, healthy, favorite soup, accompanied by a piece of whole grain toast and butter.  This kind of meal is light on the stomach, easy to digest and will last me a long time.  And notice I mentioned no dessert.  Refined sugar (assuming that’s what dessert means to you) will only wake you up in the middle of the night when your blood sugar crashes.
• I don’t watch a lot of TV, but I do enjoy it when I have time.  So Liz and I had a CSI marathon as we watched 4 full episodes on cbs.com.  That gave me about 4 hours of having someone else think for me.  A wonderful feeling for a tired brain.  It also gave me some needed down time with my wife.
• Then, at 9pm I jumped in the shower and started my evening ritual early.
• I had received a few pieces of fiction for Christmas, so I whipped one out and started reading.  Within 30 minutes I was already dozing.
• Lights went out early and both my mind and body were well prepared for a long, deep doze.  Waking up, I looked at the clock and I had actually slept in.  WOW, I was dead to the world for NINE, STRAIGHT, HOURS!
• Finally, I enjoyed a nice breakfast with Liz and then a boot up of my computer.

Within seconds of getting back to work, I realized that a real rejuvenation had taken place.  I could think clearly, positively and confidently.  Ideas were flowing instead of floundering.  Once again I was reminded of the great importance of consistent, sound sleep.

So why all the steps?

The fact is, a good night sleep is a production that requires a very precise mind and body makeup that rarely happen on their own.  Our brain, for example, requires many different stages of shutdown to achieve a REM state.  First it has to be organized (to-do lists), then turned down (CSI Marathon), then relaxed (fiction book) and finally turned off (sleep.  Technically it never turns off, but you get my point.)  Miss a single step and you will most likely sleep with less depth.

Then comes the body.  Even if the mind is properly put to bed, you body has to cooperate as well.  If I had eaten a large, heavy meal, I most likely would have woken up with indigestion at about 3am.  Exercise is also a great way to accomplish these goals, but not necessary on the day of rest.  It’s more important that it’s just a regular habit.  Whether it hits on that day or not is not crucial.  But if you do exercise, 4 or 5 hours before bed will help out the shutdown process.

And finally, the logistics.  Shutting down my computer and turning off my phone not only kept me from working when I shouldn’t, but it gave me a real sense of clocking out that needed to take place.

I hope this post is helpful to anyone struggling to get a good night sleep.  Especially those who are trying their best to accomplish their best.  I urge you to consider taking this kind of break, once a month at least, if for nothing else, to make the most of the time you actually ARE working.  I can tell you right now, I’m getting more done today than I have in the previous 3 days combined.  Just a thought.    Eric.