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Sleep Issues

We all suffer from nights when we just cannot get to sleep and spend hours either tossing and turning in bed or usually for me, sitting at my computer either working or playing games half the night until sleep starts to kick in.

The ability to cat nap, which I have, is great as most days at about 4.30pm I sleep for maybe ten minutes and wake up very refreshed, the former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher could survive on just four hours sleep a night but sadly I cannot.

We need our sleep to be able to function effectively and the amount that we need varies from person to person however, we have to stay alert in order to try to be at our best throughout the working cycle.

The NHS have a ‘Sleep Council’ and they advise that 51 per cent of us struggle with getting to sleep and remaining asleep.

I always find it hard to sleep after attending a networking event as I am buzzing with what I should or could have said to the person or people that I met am evolving a strategy to meet up with them again and as to how I can help them (and me) progress our initial discussions.

So how do we cure the problem, well there are several ways but it’s not an easy fix as we are all very different and also we ourselves change.

As I have often said ‘Stuff’ happens, and the stuff gets worse at night, its slow paying or no paying clients, debt problems, sales figures, family, and many other issues.

I have ‘enjoyed’ them all and found that writing a list of issues helps me. After writing the list number the topics in worst order down and in the morning I start to attack them. Starting with the number one.

A word of warning here, night time induces temper and you can find yourself in a right old ‘paddy’ with someone, even formulating your thoughts into a hard hitting email.

Of course, you must draft that email but do not put the recipient’s name into the address box yet. Write down all your thoughts and save it as a draft. Then go back to bed, feeling better.

In the morning you must read it again, think how you would feel to receive this document, if you are happy, enter the email address and press the send button. At least you have given yourself the option of not sending it, as once you send it you cannot stop it from going and also you cannot prevent the recipient from forwarding it.
So be warned. Someone I know sent out some pretty vile and untruthful stuff in the night to a list of their mutual friends and associates, the next morning he realised that he had made a massive mistake and wrote a very sincere apology however, the damage was done and a libel case is now pending.

I will address what can we do to get more sleep without reverting to sleeping pills in another blog post.

Please write and tell me what sleep issues you have had and what steps you have taken to overcome the problem.