Image credit : Dalla
Nearly everyone I know who works online has suffered from insomnia from one time or another, and there are countless others that suffer from sleep disorder too. I select out the people that work online as this is the area I have experience with. You see, the internet does not have opening times, and therefore it’s easy to slip into a routine of working from 3pm to 6am and finding it difficult to sleep when your head hits the pillow. Trust me; I’ve been there many times over.
Having been on both sides of the fence – a 9am to 11pm routine as opposed to a 3pm to 6am routine – I can tell you that the later is no where near as productive as the former. As somewhat expected, you feel like shit most of the time when you’re on the 3pm to 6am routine due to fucked up sleeping patterns, and this naturally has a negative impact on other areas of life such as moral, creativity and productivity.
Why does this matter?
If like me, you let your business take over your life (which is a good thing if handled correctly), your mind will almost always be thinking about how you can improve your projects. You’ll worry when you don’t hit a dead-line, you’ll worry what your customers are thinking, and you’ll start to wonder how that email campaign has performed…. the list can go on and on (yes, you are not alone!).
Caring and loving your business obsessively makes it difficult to “switch off”, especially when you have a heavy work load. In most cases, this is what first triggers insomnia. Your sleeping patterns go crazy and before you know it, you’ll soon find yourself in bed while your head is still running at 100mph.
Getting the balance right
If you have ever suffered from insomnia, you’ll know it’s a bitch. There’s nothing worse than not being able to get some sleep due to your brain going over important issues in your life while your physically tired. It’s pointless and a waste of energy based on my experience as it’s always best to go over big issues with a refreshed mind rather than one that’s tired and agitated.
Insomnia is not only a problem while your trying to get to sleep, it also affects your daily routine, the way you interact with others and your general outlook on life. What I’m trying to say is that there’s little good that comes out of a shit sleeping routine.
I started researching insomnia a while back and found a really interesting article on a system that I now use. I wish I could find the article so I could link to it, and furthermore, email the author a thank you note. I no longer suffer from insomnia, and can now easily manage a balanced sleeping routine that’s not only good for my work life, but also great for other parts of my life.
The solution
The problem lies with the lack of understanding how the human body works. Your body is programmed to routine, so you need to get your body into a routine that knows when it’s time to shut down, and when it’s time to start up again.
The key here is to wake up at the same time every day.
If you currently have insomnia or generally find it hard to sleep at night, you need to start waking up at your desired time right now, no matter how many hours sleep you’ve had the previous night. You’ll feel like shit for 3 days or so due to no sleep, however your body will start to learn it’s starting time and will let you know what time it needs to shut down.
I’m no doctor but I think there’s no set amount of hours sleep you need per night, as this surely differs between everyone based on body mass, weight, age etc. And most importantly, differs on a daily basis based on what you have eaten and how much energy you have burned. I think it’s best to let your body decide how many hours of sleep you need.
After 4 to 7 days of waking up at the same time everyday, your body will start to tell you, via feeling tired and sleepy, when it’s time to hit the pillow. You’ll then have a balanced sleeping routine that will hopefully have a positive impact on your business, and life in general. This sounds so simple doesn’t it? I know. But the thing is, it is this simple (yet so effective when you put it into use!).
If you have no time restraints, a good time to wake up is before 9am in my opinion – as you get to see the day, and getting to see some natural sunlight does something for your mind that I can’t explain.
Like most positive/negative effects with the human body, you need to take care of the beast. Regular exercise is a must, as is eating healthy, nutritious foods.
The results
I’ve suffered sleeping problems due to work for a long time, however I no longer have issues getting to sleep when I wake up at the same time evryday, and I feel great throughout the day because of it.
Even though I’m working fewer hours than before, my productivity has gone way up, and most importantly, I feel great (which should be the most important thing right?). I’m now finding myself scratching my head wondering why I didn’t do this earlier, hence writing this post to hopefully help those out that also suffer from balancing a good sleeping routine.
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