Thoughts from the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
I do not wish insomnia on ANYONE. The feeling of not being able to sleep, especially when you have something important to do the next day, is horrifying. Plus, the stress of knowing that you need to be on the top of your game makes getting to sleep even more difficult.
But once you find you can’t sleep, what do you do? Since I have had more than my fair share of this affliction of late, here are a few ideas for how to deal with that which you cannot control:
1) Keep a notebook by the bed. Some of my best ideas for blogs, newsletters and Facebook posts come to me in the middle of the night, so keeping a pad of paper and pencil right there makes it easy for me to capture them before they escape—like so many of my great ideas and observations have in the past.
2) Ask yourself, “What is keeping me awake?” Is there something in particular that has got you really worried or stressed out? What can you do about it? Is there someone you can talk to? Help you can get?
Spend some time and really focus honestly on what is going on inside your head, and see if some focus and attention can help alleviate it.
3) When all else fails, get up. You could read, watch a favorite movie, or even spend some time online researching a new prospect or writing a letter to a potential new customer. Hell, if you’re going to be up anyway, you may as well put the time to use in a way that might actually make you some money.
Here are a few things to consider that should also make getting to sleep—and, more importantly, STAYING asleep—easier for you.
• Cut out caffeine late in the day (it can stay in your system for up to nine hours).
• Shut off the tube at least 30 minutes before bed. This is a tough one—especially with the advent of DVRs—but still, try to do something quiet and peaceful in that last stretch before you turn off the lights.
• Do some stretches, deep breathing, or anything else that will relax you before you try to go to sleep.
Sleep is unbelievably vital to our health and well being, and trying to get through a work day after not having slept is a—pardon the pun—nightmare. So anything you can do to make your sleep more peaceful and deeper will do your body and your career a LOT of good.
Sweet dreams!
Blogger, author, consultant, coach and all around evangelist for the graphic arts industry, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include sales and marketing coaching, enabling clients to find engagement strategies that work for them and mentoring the next generation of sales superstars.
Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league. She is also the mother of two sets of twins under the age of ten, so she fears nothing.
