What do to When you Can’t Sleep

We all know sleep is important for our health and well-being.  Yet more we have going on, the more elusive a good night’s sleep can become.  the more successful we become, the higher the risk of insomnia.  As a DaVinci — a smart, creative person juggling many ideas, projects and talents — you’ve got a lot going on.  We tend to have busy brains…and sometimes it’s difficult for us to turn them off at night.  Or sometimes we crash, exhausted, only to wake up in the middle of the night, our monkey minds racing and fully alert.

The first thing to know is that occasional insomnia is perfectly natural and no cause for alarm.   Especially if you are under stress or grieving or are at a ‘certain time of life’, your sleep is likely to be affected.

The worse thing to do when you have trouble sleeping is to start to fret about the fact that you’re not sleeping. (“Oh no!  I’ve got this big thing tomorrow and I need to be fresh and rested to be my best and now I can’t sleep and the whole thing’s going to be a disaster!”)  If this sounds like you, the best thing you can do is to catch yourself — laugh at yourself if possible — and to remind yourself of a few truths:  First, yes, a good night’s sleep is important and yet you are perfectly able to function on less sleep from time to time.  Sure you’d prefer to be well-rested for your big event — but if you don’t, the impact of your sleep-deprived state is not likely to be detectable to anyone else.  You might be aware you’re not at your best, but others are unlikely to notice anything amiss.

Same thing goes when you wake up in the middle of the night.  Did you know that, until this century, the natural human sleep pattern was to sleep for a few hours, get up in the middle of the night for a few hours, then return to sleep until morning?  Apparently, it used to be common that people would sleep a bit, get up to tend to chores or family matters — or pray — or even socialize — then sleep some more. Here’s an article summarizing the evidence of this natural segmented sleep pattern.

Waking up in the middle of the night is not a big deal.  It’s  actually ‘normal’ for us humans.  There’s no reason to lie in bed, tossing and turning.  It’s better to get up for a while.  Personally, I look forward to middle-of-the-night insomnia . . . as an excuse to get up and curl up with whatever novel I’m reading.  The house is quiet.  The phone is not ringing.  There are no interruptions.  It’s a glorious, peaceful time.

You could do the same. If you wanted, you could use this middle of the night ‘awake’ phase as a way of having more balance in your life.  You could use it to do things you love that you have time fitting into your busy schedule.  You could use it to:

* engage in your favorite hobbies

* nourish your mind (e.g. reading, journaling, listening to music, crossword puzzles, sudoku, jigsaw puzzles)

* indulge in simple pleasures

* attend to your body (e.g. gentle stretching and physical relaxation)

* engage in your spiritual practices

* try some meditation techniques

* do some personal processing (e.g. write in your journal, make gratitude lists)

Here’s one caution, though:  If you do wake up in the middle of the night, avoid the temptation to fire up your computer or television or other bright screen.  The unnatural light source tricks your body into thinking it’s morning already and then (a) you won’t get back to sleep and (b) you’re messing with your circadian rhythms.

As well, you probably don’t want to use this period to work . . . unless you want to stay up until dawn and beyond.  Besides — don’t you spend enough of your week working?   Why not use this ‘middle of the night’ time as a treat for yourself?

One more caution: If you are having difficulty sleeping, do yourself a favor by avoiding chemical aids. It’s such a tempting option: Oh, something’s wrong so I’ll take a pill for it. But sleep medications are fraught with side effects and health risks. They are dangerous when combined with many other substances. Worse, the more you use them, the less effective sleep aids become . . . so you end up taking higher dosages with commensurately higher risks . . . while you experience less and less effective results. (How many celebrities have left us too soon, thanks to these products? Michael Jackson, Prince, Tom Petty, to name a few.) Take better care of your body by avoiding these products.

If you want to learn more about ways to improve your sleep, here are some resources.

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