The idea for blog posts come at random times for me. This one came at about 3am this morning. No I wasn’t up working, I was laying in bed awake.
Normally when I go to sleep I crash hard and most of the time I sleep straight through until my alarm t 430 or 500am with the occassional middle of the night restroom pitstop. OK, TMI but it related to the story. Last night sleep eluded me. I went to sleep at 10pm thinking about bifocals after reading my book for a while. Yes, bifocals and the fact that I may need to talk to my eye doctor about a pair – AND I’M NOT EVEN 40!
So that didn’t bode well for me when I happened to wake up for a pitstop at about midnight after 2 solid hours of sleep. As I hopped back into bed my mind screamed “BIFOCALS!” to me and then started racing in all directions. As I pushed bifocals out of my head I was awake enough that my to-do list came into my mind. Now, I already had it written down on my desk and I thought about grabbing the notebook on the side table to write it down again and get it out of my head but I didn’t.
I then tossed and turned and tossed and turned some more. 1am came, 2am came, 3am came and at 3am I almost just got out of bed thinking, “I might as well be productive if I’m awake and QUIT trying to go back to sleep”. Then I thought of my long day ahead and I decided I needed to push my alarm out to 530. There was no way I was getting up at 430 and getting only 3-4 solid hours of sleep for the night then going off to be my best self for the day for myself and my clients.
While I was laying there I tried deep belly breathing, I tried a little meditation, counting sheep, you name it. I tried everything I could think of that I was taught years back when I had chronic insomnia. Finally shortly after 3am I fell back to sleep. Sleep could have been just around the corner at 1am, or 2am, but just a little longer at 3am – there she was. So, this blog post came to mind.
Was there a better use of those three hours laying there drifting in and out of trying to sleep? Should I have just given in (Quit and gotten out of bed?)Possibly.
Now here’s the morale of the story:
Like so many of as Entrepreneurs – we take classes, we learn new techniques, we struggle in our businesses, we keep trying and so many times we want to give in and give up. I want you to remember – if you’re in a “not sure what to do, I’ve tried everything and it isn’t working place”, that maybe your greatest success is right around the corner. You keep going, you shift back and forth on actions. You find some support from a friend or a coach. As I thought of my long day ahead and being on my game for my clients, here in our business, we need to think about our why.
Another long story short, I heard a story recently of a man who struggled in his business for years not achieving what he hoped for. After many years he was ready to throw in the towel but he didn’t give up. At about half a dozen years into it he made a sale that changed his business and changed the direction of his life forever. A simple reminder that what may be elusive in the moment may be just around the corner.
And that my friends is what happens when a blog post comes to mind in the middle of the night. A reminder of what is around the corner.
I’d love to hear your thoughts below. Should I have gotten out of bed? Do you have any sleep techniques I should know about if this happens again?
And yes, I may just have to take a nap this afternoon. Yawn.
Until next time, have a great day!
Great post VaNessa… I am a believer that ideas and thoughts can come to us at any time of the day. We just have to run with it. Sleep is a very necessary physiologic need for all of us, but at the same time we need to laser focus on our thoughts when they come to us. I have woken up in the night wide awake and have done some of my best writing. I paid for it later that day with exhaustion due to insomnia, but it was always worth it in the end. So, whether you attempt to go back to sleep or get up and work, I do not think there is a correct or preferred answer.
Hi Vanessa, Sometimes if I have a restless sleep, it may be from whatever I was reading or watching right before I went to sleep. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale suggests that we spend the last 5-10 minutes before we go to sleep focusing on something positive, peaceful, or uplifting rather than watching the news, for instance which may fill our mind with violence or disturbing images. Our subconscious mind tends to dwell on whatever it last heard/saw before we drift off! Hope that helps!
Hey Vanessa, It’s been a while since I visited you and this blog really hit home for me. I know you have learned all the tricks and applied them. But…when that doesn’t work, I would have gotten out of bed and started writing.
I find that when I toss and turn, I usually have something deep in the subconscious that needs to be written down. Voila…a blog post, or sometimes a planned goal.
I know that laying in bed just gets you more anxious, so next time get up for a while then return to the bed.
That’s what works for me.
Good to be back and thanks for this post.
Donna Merrill
Thank you Donna and all for your great comments. I will have them in my mind the next time I am up for hours in the middle of the night. I appreciate you.
VaNessa,
Great post. There’s two things I’m taking away from this post. First and most obvious is the point you made about quitting just before the goal. When sleep eluded you and you were left to wonder about getting up or not. I would say HECK NO… that’s probably because I like sleep. I may not get enough, but i do covet it!
Secondly is the fact that you turned a life battle (lack of sleep) into a related post about being an entrepreneur. A brilliant segway, but one that i sure comes easy as I know you live and breath being an entrepreneur. However the real gem is showing how you took action on a thought and shared a little of yourself at the same time.
That’s the mark of a true leader. Thanks for sharing the life lesson.
Ken Pickard
The Network Dad
Should you have gotten out of bed? I don’t know, VaNessa… sounds to me like you made productive use of that time anyway! Had you been fretting and stewing and tossing and turning, I don’t believe those insights would have come to you.
It’s interesting that I should see this post right now, when I am studying Ch.9 in Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. That chapter is on Persistence. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Willena Flewelling
hi vanessa,
there are also times that I experienced similar situation. What I did was, I grab my laptop and started going back to work. I tried to be more productive than to waste my time trying to back to sleep. I stayed up til 4am and caught 3 hours of sleep because i have to work at 8am. Result- I’m sleepy the whole day and i couldn’t focus much. I’m not productive at all. Wrong move.
So next time you had this situation, it’s better you go back to sleep. As doctor suggests, don’t involved your sleep to too much activities that require much thinking and physical energy. hope this helps.
Hey Vanessa, I can totally relate to your story, I often toss and turn when I’ve got an idea in my head for a post or 3 that just takes on a mind of its own. I usually have to grab my iphone and open the wordpress app and start typing the main ideas out so I can put my mind at ease until morning. But, I must confess, I have had some great ideas in the early hours of the morning!