How much sleep do we need?

As a nation, we can become fixated on the number of hours we “need” to sleep. Everywhere we look there are reminders that we should be getting good quality sleep, our 8 hours a night. Social media offers up all sorts of sleep remedies, various therapists suggest ways to create bedtime routines in the hope we will be able to switch off and sleep.

It doesn’t always work. We become tired and find coping with things we normally take in our stride, far more challenging.

Insomnia – it’s a killer!

I have struggled with insomnia most of my life, it’s a bugger and I have learned that I need to find pockets of time to rest otherwise I just fall over.

When I was little, I used to get very anxious when I couldn’t sleep and those of you who also suffer with sleep problems (or lack of it) you get caught up in getting more and more anxious that you are not sleeping that then makes you not sleep.

My lovely Mum would come into my bedroom and offer up various visualisations and meditations (I didn’t know that’s what they were at the time) but more often than not, would suggest that I just rested. She would explain to me very carefully that just because I wasn’t sleeping, I was resting my body and that if I rested my eyes too, it would allow my body to recharge.

Pockets of rest.

So that’s what I do. And if I find that life is feeling overwhelming, if I feel tired and run down and in the need of rest, I find pockets of time to do just that. It doesn’t have to be a long period of time, half an hour just doing nothing, focusing on my breathing with my eyes closed can make all the difference.

Taking care of your mental health.

Pockets of rest are not something you can always plan, you sometimes have to be a little spontaneous BUT if you know you have a busy week ahead, if you know that you are running on empty, identify where you have that odd 30 minutes and mark it as time out. It can increase your productivity and work wonders for your mental health.

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December is a busy month for most people and historically I have coached most years BUT it tends to be intermittent with lots of cancellations and rescheduling as people grapple with social stuff, Christmas tasks and other associated activities.

I totally get it.

December is busy for a lot of people.

Rather than get frustrated about an ever-changing diary or gaping holes in what started out as a jam-packed day, I’m doing it differently and taking the time out so I’m ready to go again in the New Year when it’s always busy.

Self-employed anxiety.

Being self-employed throws up all sorts of anxiety – “should I be taking this time off; I won’t be earning?” “Is it wise to take a break from social media, what if I lose followers?” “Am I letting clients down when stress levels are high?”

You cannot do it all, be it all, all of the time – you need to rest and recharge.

You even get caught up in – “is this incredibly self-indulgent to take this time out?” but ultimately, the reason we take the risks we do as business owners, freelancers, the self-employed is to be able to have a better work life balance, to be able to make these decisions however scary that might be sometimes.

Do things differently.

So, if you are reading this and have decided to do December or Christmas differently this year, if you are struggling with “what will people think?” or “should I’s?” – remember, sometimes we need to do what is right for us even if it doesn’t meet everyone else’s needs.

If we don’t take care of ourselves, how can we possibly take care of others? Remember the air stewards’ wise words when talking about safety measures?

“Remember to put your own oxygen mask on first before you stop to help others!”

Wishing you a joyful December, a peace filled and kind Christmas and here’s hoping 2024 and the New year brings with it a more positive and kinder world.

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