If you read the last few posts, you can imagine how tired I was at work yesterday! Last night, I went to be shortly after getting home from work last night and slept through till this morning.
It is amazing the difference one night of good sleep can make on one’s outlook and disposition!
It shouldn’t amaze me. About 10 years ago, I learned the importance and value of sleep.
About 20 years ago, I was extremely frustrated. I had so many more things that I wanted to accomplish than I had hours in a day.
So, I bought a book called The Sleep Management Program and trained myself to sleep less. I went from sleeping 7 1/2 hours per night to less than 6 hours.
For years it was great. I got more done, etc. Then something strange started happening.
This is going to be difficult to describe but I will do my best…
Periodically, I started having this feeling that I was going to cave in psychologically. It was as if my soul was like the crust of the earth but it was getting very thin…like thin ice. It felt like my soul was just going to collapse!
This feeling would usually happen at work and would last for about an hour. At first it occurred monthly. Gradually, I started having them weekly.
This perplexed me because at night, I would meet with and mentor young men, father my children, etc. How could I help other people deal with life and then feel perilously close to just crumpling into a shell?
After much thought, I decided that I just needed to be more efficient in my sleep! I saw a book that I thought might help me, Power Sleep.
I never finished that book.
In the first few chapters, the author described about 15 symptoms of severe sleep deficit. I was regularly experiencing at least three of them!
The very day after I read those few chapters, I went to church and learned that a friend of mine had had a nervous breakdown a few days earlier. He had been working at least 20 hours per day and been under an extraordinary amount of pressure. One day, he went to work and had a nervous breakdown. He just slumped down to the floor and cried. He cried for a week straight!
When I heard this, I realized that if I didn’t make an immediate about face, I was just a few steps behind him. My desire to accomplish things had run up against my physical limitations.
It took many months before I could sleep more than 6 hours. That may sound strange, but my body was trained. I went to bed two hours earlier at night only to wake up two hours earlier in the morning.
Now, I plan to get 7 1/2 hours. It doesn’t always work out that way, but I do try.
My wife is trying to teach me how to to sleep in on the weekends. She has a Ph.D in sleeping in. She can do it on ANY day.
Sometimes, I actually make it to 7:00. My all time best is 7:30!
Anyway, today was a nice reminder of the value of a good night’s sleep.
Good night!
