I have met several clients recently who insist to me that they do not sleep well because they always wake up early and are unable to sleep in. I always want to tell them how lucky they are. Many people sleep in far too easily, but it is not a healthy way to live. How lucky to have a natural predisposition to wake up early. But these people are not happy about the situation. They want to be able to sleep longer. They claim to be exhausted when they wake up. But there again most people these days claim to be exhausted when they wake up, even if they sleep for longer. It seems that sleep is simply not giving people the rest and recuperation that they feel they need any more – however many hours they sleep. It’s not easy to persuade someone who believes they have a sleep problem (ie not sleeping long enough) to just get up early and enjoy the morning. I have noticed a strong resistance to the very idea. Interesting because many clients who are used to sleeping longer would absolutely love to gain a few hours in the early morning. There is so much you can do then, when everyone else is asleep. But the main thing I have noticed is how easy it is to believe you are tired. It is 11.20pm now and I am up printing 500 letters. I can feel my mind preparing itself already to tell me how tired I will be tomorrow morning – like an old habit. And yet I know that it is easy to overcome this – I have done it so many times before. In fact I often go to sleep around 11.30pm – it’s just different today because I am printing documents, so I feel I am working and that ‘should’ make me more tired. It’s just a habit – a hang over from the past, but so persistent. I wonder how many hours we will sleep in the future, when we will have much more efficient ways of recharging our energy. Maybe we’ll only need two or three hours. That will be nice. Lots of habits to change on the way!
