It pains me that most of us are running around on not enough sleep. Sure, we’ve all had to pull the occasional all-nighter for school or work, and we’ve all also had times when we were having so much fun that sleep seemed irrelevant. Many of us have dealt with the sleep deprivation that comes with a new baby, or even, sometimes a new puppy. All that stuff is part of life.
The sleep deficits I’m talking about are the ones we develop as a result of the increasing cultural pressure to do more, faster, and all the time. Our work creeps into our “off” time. Our off time is full of activities for ourselves and our kids. Then there’s the housework and the yardwork and the volunteering in our communities and oh, yeah, we’re supposed to keep up on current events and the world needs saving and what the heck am I making for dinner? Sleep starts to seem like a luxury. That is not ok.
First of all, let me remind everyone, again, that they are beloved children of God, or valuable humans, or essential to the world, however you best hear it, just by existing. You are enough, without doing anything. I start from the premise that everyone deserves to be healthy and happy. Sleep is part of that.
While we sleep, our brains and bodies take out the trash. Memories consolidate. Muscles repair themselves. We can’t possibly be really healthy without enough sleep.
Still not convinced? Fine. We are less productive when we are overtired. (I hate that we hyperfocus on production, but if that’s the lever I need to push to get folks to rest, I’ll do it!) Tired people have accidents, make mistakes, and take longer to complete tasks. Plus they tend to be crabby.
Maybe we started the year with some good intentions around getting enough sleep and as time went on, we got distracted. Now is a great time to get back on track. Tomorrow I’ll talk about what that might look like and how we might get there.
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