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What To Do When Entrepreneurial Insomnia Keeps You Up By Leo Lucianis
I hope you are passionate about what you do. If you aren't
it's time to rethink what you're doing! But sometimes, we
as entrepreneurs get so excited about the possibilities that
exist all around us that it's hard to fall asleep. Sound
familiar?
Many a night I will try my best to fall asleep at a decent
hour, but eventually, I'll give up, and get back on the
computer. It would seem like the logical thing to do (if
you can't sleep, might as well work, right?), but it can
really affect your health.
Throw into the mix that I'm a biological night owl, and
sometimes it's only when the light of dawn breaks through
the window do I realize I better get some sleep.
And talk about suffering the consequences in the morning.
The rest of the day becomes a hazy fog, and many times a
nap is required if I am to function even semi-coherently.
I talked to one of my friends about this, a wealthy
entrepreneur who has more energy than almost anyone I know.
And he told me something very interesting to try.
Now, whenever he gets a rush of great ideas while lying in
bed (and knows he needs a decent night's sleep), he simply
puts a notebook on the nightstand next to him. Then he
tries to get some rest.
Of course a million different thoughts will start coursing
through his brain. So at this point, he simply turns over,
reaches for his notebook, and writes down the ideas that
are percolating at that moment. Then he lies back down.
Sounds simple, right? And how is this helpful, you may be
asking?
According to him, the reason why we get so excited is
twofold. First, bedtime is probably the first chance in the
day that a million things aren't going on all around you.
That is, you aren't on the phone, you aren't writing copy,
and you aren't tweaking your website(s). So your
subconscious mind takes this time to relax... and push a
torrent of ideas into your head. And then you get excited
and can't sleep.
Second, these ideas aren't just any ideas. They are known
as "open loops" in Neuro Linguistic Programming. Basically
they are incomplete ideas because they are not immediately
actionable. You are just lying in bed thinking about all
the ideas you COULD be implementing. Is it any wonder you
can't sleep?
By writing these ideas down on your notebook, you are
effectively closing that loop, allowing your mind to say,
"okay, jotted it down, and we'll take care of that in the
morning... you can sleep now, dude"
Sooner or later, your mind will begin to calm down, and
you will be able to get that deep, restful sleep you
deserve. So you can implement all those great ideas in the
morning!
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