We tell children to nap, force them to go to sleep early, even if they aren’t tired, because we know what happens when they don’t sleep enough.

They get erratic, angry, cry, run around,become violent, trip, throw tantrums. They basically become the worst version of themselves.

An now look at you. Angry against everyone, getting fat and you don’t know why, being emotional for no reason, procrastinating, and constantly worn out.

Maybe you just need to sleep.

“Oh but I don’t have the time to, I have this and that and my work, career, meetings, e-mails, traffic, my house payments etc etc ”. 

YOU got yourself where you are. If you are complaining about your life, then you should stop what you are doing, take two steps back, look at what you’ve done to get yourself there, and try and do something about it. If you are « really busy », and feel « overwhelmed », then this little piece is for you.

If you lack sleep you are undoubtedly less efficient in everything you do. There is no debating this. Activity and efficiency are very different things.

If you are under slept, you are less proficient, and more likely to be late in your work. So you work overtime to catch up, don’t have time to sleep, and you can see how this vicious cycle is never going to end.

Sacrifice something. Stop doing something. Cut someone out of your life. Do less useless things. Say no to something, but get more sleep.

You can’t do everything at the same time. Sit down, take 15 minutes to lay out the 5 things that are important for you in your life, and only do those. Here is my list :

  • My important relationships (My Family, My girlfriend, My 8 friends).
  • Being Healthy.
  • Having enough money to survive.
  • Getting Stronger.
  • Doing what I love and believe is meaningful.

The rest is shit. If anything I do does not fit into any of these categories, then I have to reconsider it.

It’s ok to be tired. It’s normal to be tired. When? When you have worked all day and you go to bed. Just don’t be tired all the time. Sleep enough. 4 hours is not enough. 6 minimum, and more like 7 or 8 if you are exercising. More is better. Especially if you have been sleep deprived for years.

If you don’t have enough time in your life to sleep enough then I am sorry to say this but you are organising things desperately wrong. In order to survive you need (in order of importance on how fast you’ll die before you need it) :

  • Drinking Water
  • Sleeping
  • Eating
  • Having Social interactions
  • Exercising

So if your life seems like it’s a mess, start by taking care of yourself. Make sure you sleep enough. Once you have that down, the rest will take care of itself. You will be less stressed, more alert, smarter, less emotional and impulsive. All of that will help you be much better in the long run.

Go to bed earlier, and nap. Try to stop alcohol, marijuana and sleeping pills as they prevent deep sleep.

You may feel overwhelmed right now, you might think that things are difficult, and that you are swimming upstream, but working more won’t make it better. Work better and you’ll do more.

Maybe you’re just tired. And you should go to bed.
Take it easy,
Morgan. 

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