Are you tired? I sure am. Having returned, at least temporarily, to the 9 to 5 go to the office life of corporate America, I can tell you that I am fighting a serious case of the sleepies. By the late afternoon, I can feel it in my bones. Judging by the articles that showed up on my newsreader today, I’m not the only one fighting this problem.
James and the giant sleep
James Chartrand over at Men With Pens started the ball rolling with the provocatively titled, How to Sleep Your Way to the Top. James always has such good titles, having cut her teeth in the Copyblogger school of provocative titles. James makes a point about freelancers priding themselves on their lack of sleep, but I think the issue is much more widespread than that. Â I think that the problem goes all the way to the basis of American culture (and yes, I count James’ Canada as part of America).
Complaining is bragging
I don’t know anyone who brags about how much sleep they get, but I know plenty of people who are proud of their lack of sleep. Sure, they may sound like they are complaining, but it is that fake kind of complaining we all like to indulge in. We live in a culture that feels an obligation to be overwhelmed. Admitting that you aren’t busy is almost like admitting that you are a failure. How dare you not have a full schedule of things to do! Even our recreation seems overly packed. We spend vacations traveling from one spot to another, seeing as much as we can see and trying to keep to our itinerary. We don’t want to waste our vacations just relaxing.
Don’t mistake motion for progress
The sad thing is that being busy is ruining our productivity. Tired people don’t do their best work. There aren’t many people who can truly be productive and creative for eight straight hours, much less ten or twelve. The brain needs downtime. The brain needs time to rest and it needs the time to stop trying to accomplish a goal and just look around. We need to taste our food, not just salt it.
Take a break
Towards that end, you might want to consider some of the suggestions that Celine Roque over at Web Worker Daily makes: listen to your body, repay your sleep debts, nap during the day, sleep after you learn something new and stop worrying about it so much. To that I would add a simple thought. Stop making yourself busy. Everyone is busy from time to time, but it doesn’t have to be a lifestyle. Take at least a small part of your day and just relax, away from the television and the computer and even a book. Just relax for a few minutes and allow yourself to calm down and reset. That’s what I plan to do tonight.
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Great post, when I have told some people I take a 20-30 minute nap in afternoon, then shake their heads in disdain.
Then I tell them I wrote or thought of something great after supper. They should allow naps in workplace and be proud you take a nap in afternoon, but be ready for great insight and ideas later in the day.
Joe
Hi Joe,
Yeah, people actually get offended when you tell them you took a nap.
After I wrote that post, I got three hours sleep that night. Karma, baby. That’s all I’m sayin’.
Not me. I got seven. Woke up without the alarm.
I am one of those people who can benefit from a short nap, and I can also usually fall back to sleep if I wake up in the middle of the night. Not everyone can.
Some people have a sleep pattern with one or more cycles of relatively light sleep before they fall into a deep cycle. Some go directly into a deep sleep cycle, before they have the lighter sleep cycles. Those are the ones who cannot take a short nap. They have to sleep long enough to finish the deep cycle and come up to a lighter level, or they feel that they can’t focus or be alert. Everyone should learn what their particular sleep pattern is like, and adjust their sleeping schedule accordingly.
Those with chronic problems despite 8 hours or more in bed should ask their doctor about being tested for sleep apnea.
Good advice Tech
It truly is a very significant subject and overlooked by a great number of bloggers, even professionals. I appreciate you helping making people more educated about that topic.
Thanks Apryl!