Everyone
says you need at least a year of retirement to wind down. I’m unwound now
and it feels pretty good. My thoughts recently returned to the office. Not that
I want to go back to work, but I want to revisit the career advice I gave
people. I'm afraid I misplaced one piece of advice. I didn’t lose it, but I
mis-ranked the advice that should have been at the top. [Warning: If you are
not in a traditional career, this advice could still apply to you, so stick
with me long enough to decide.]
My #1 career advice is not about
networking, or teamwork, or marketing your personal brand, or getting the right
kind of experience, or being at the right place at the right time, or being a
good listener, or re-inventing yourself, or how you manage stress, or how you
dress. It’s not even about having more confidence, although I once thought it
was.
My #1 piece of career advice is…
[drum roll……] Here it is.
Get more sleep.
No, really. That is it.
I know you are tired. Tired of hearing about the wonders of
sleep and the evils of sleep deprivation. Tired of articles about blocking out all the blue light on your devices
and getting the right pillow and sipping some chamomile tea. Tired of reading
that your body needs deep REM sleep to repair itself and how your problems are
magnified through tired eyes, and how it’s better to get more sleep than to get
more done. If we aren’t careful,
we can turn sleep into another pressure to which we aren’t measuring up.
I know it isn’t easy. When I
worked, I usually set my alarm for 4 or 5am. I often lay awake worrying about my children’s daycare or tomorrow’s difficult conversation or ducking another javelin from Atilla the
Hun. Then I would wake up at 3am worrying about the
same stuff plus the leering dread of my upcoming alarm. Now I lie awake
thinking about tomorrow’s garden weeding or playing with my grandbaby. It’s
easier now.
But the last few years of my
working life, I unlocked the secret key to more sleep and I want to share it
with you, my exhausted friends and readers. Another drum roll….. the secret 3
steps to more sleep:
1)
Figure out what time
you need to go to sleep in order to get 1 more hour than usual.
2)
Back up from there,
the amount of time you need for your (and your people’s) bedtime routine.
3)
At that time tonight,
END your day.
The ‘tonight’ part is important,
because you have to stop putting this off. Life won’t be different tomorrow
night.
So the big secret is to do the math and know when to END
your day. You will have no choice but to find things to stop
doing or to do more efficiently. This really stinks, but there is no way around
it. We just can’t get more than 24 hours/day no matter how wonderful we
are. Trust me, I’ve tried..
How much
is enough sleep? Don’t
accept 7-8 hours as your magic number because you might be outside the normal
bell curve. Someday when you have a week off for a “don’t have to get up”
vacation, don’t set your alarm for a few days and find out how much sleep your
body gravitates to.
And best of all, if you are walking
through life with Him, then cast your cares on Him first, and your sleep will
be sweeter.
If you lie down, you will not be
afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will
be sweet. [Proverbs 3:24]
In peace I will both lie down
and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord,
make me dwell in safety. [Psalm
4:8]
I admit that I do still wake up at
3am occasionally worrying about something. But thankfully, I can
pray about it and let it go. Then I roll over and do the “4 7 8” trick to fall
back to sleep quickly. [See life hack sleep 4 7 8 ] You can read other articles to find
good practices to help you fall asleep, stay asleep, and increase the quality
of your sleep. But if you don’t first get serious about ending your day, they
won’t have a chance to work.
A more peaceful sleep is sweet
icing on the cake and one of the great benefits of sleeping next to God. Eat more cake. Tonight.
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