“It’s Impossible To Get 8 Hours Of Sleep”
Last week I was speaking at an event and I had a conversation with one of the attendees. The talk I gave was about the benefits of self-care, and how many busy professionals see time for themselves as a tradeoff... That it takes time time from other important things rather than as an investment in creating more quality time for important things. In the talk I shared the importance of getting enough sleep, and how it contributes to you being more energized, focused, and present throughout the day.
To that point, this attendee said to me “Brian, I hear what you’re saying about getting more sleep. But I can’t. I have 4 kids, a commute, a demanding job, and 24 hours in the day. It’s impossible for me to get 8 hours of sleep.”
That might be how you feel too if you have a lot of responsibilities. Your days are already full and if you were to carve out time for more sleep or improved self-care, something else would need to go. And while the logic is right, the perspective isn’t. And here are two reasons why:
- It’s not that it’s impossible to get 8 hours of sleep… It’s that it seems impossible to maintain your current load of responsibilities and add on the extra time for added sleep. You could make changes to your current commitments and enable yourself the rest. You could completely neglect your kids needs and get more sleep. You could do a horrible job, work part-time even though full-time is expected of you, and have more time to sleep. Obviously those aren’t acceptable solutions... But what it illuminates is the choice you’re implicitly making. You’re choosing to be a good parent, friend, and worker. You’re choosing that it's not worth it to you to disrupt these other important things. So let’s use the right language that’s more accurate - it’s not impossible - you’re choosing not to get 8 hours of sleep and you’re choosing the consequences of that over the alternative.
- It’s with that fairer perspective that you can actually do something about it. You don’t need to accept a certain fate for yourself and improve the quality of your choices. Even with everything on your plate, there are ways to create space and get more sleep. Waste less time on your phone throughout the day and be proactive about doing your errands so that they don’t pile up at night. Delegate certain responsibilities so that you don’t need to handle them. Change your routine from working out early in the morning to integrating it within the work day, and enforce boundaries that protect that time. There tradeoffs you’re making are within the current design of your life, and the opportunity is to create a new design that supports you in choosing to do things in a way that help you get more of what you want.
Nothing is impossible, it’s that it appears to be impossible based on how things are currently set up. When you realize that you’re in more control than you think, that you have agency, you feel empowered to make small adjustments that support you in creating the life that you want. So embrace the creativity that comes with your most important responsibility - doing your best with what you’ve got - so that you can fulfill your personal and professional mission in the world.
