Rachel Rodriguez • Lifestyle

The Illusion of Progress After Another Sleepless Night

How to reclaim your busy day after a sleepless night by changing your perspective on progress.

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Another Sleepless Night

The Illusion of progress sets in after a sleepless night.

What would you give to have a week of quality sleep?
What would you do to make sure your sleep isn't interrupted?
What would it mean if someone could help you in this situation to get you back on track?

I'm right there with you after another sleepiness night. I'm back at my desk by 8 am after missing my 4:30 am alarm to wake up.

When all I want to do is crawl back into bed, pull the comforter over my eyes, and sleep.

The belief that you need to "suck it up" or better yet "just grab a coffee."

Or my favorite... "it's part of being a mom!" Isn't helpful! It's downright some of the worst feedback anyone wants to hear when they're sleep-deprived.

Walk in someone else's shoes that's gone without sleep and you'd understand completely.

You start questioning yourself and thinking

Is it the cloudiness in your mind from the lack of sleep?

Is it self-doubt kicking it?

Is it you?

I'd give anything to say I slept like a log!

I decided to listen to music today and thought of Staind. The song "The Illusion of Progress" started to play and the words really resonated with me.

Believe in me... and yet if you flip this around... believe in yourself and the illusion of progress goes away because it's not an illusion at all.

Old Perspective About Sleep

It's a flawed belief because sleep disorders are very common.

In fact, they are so common that an estimated 30-50% of adults in the US have symptoms of insomnia.

The most common symptoms include:

difficulty falling asleep
waking up during the night or too early
not fully rested once you do wake up

A few years, ago I went through one of the hardest, most challenging times of my life. This 'sleep disorder' or lack of sleep is the last thing that stems from it.

I'd give anything to have my sleep back. I use to sleep through earthquakes!

What's come from this experience is massive amounts of research. I've spent hundreds of hours researching sleep and have learned a lot.

One thing that I've learned is that the internet provides A LOT of basic steps, and yet doesn't help solve the problem. How ironic?!

So I do what I do best, and take matters into my hands ... I dig with a new perspective on my hands!

Progress, not perfection...

New Perspective About Sleep

The first step when waking up groggy or sleepy is to do anything you can to calm the mind. Here are a few tips that'll expand your vision:

You can expect self-doubt to set in, and irritation to creep in. This is where you need to learn your triggers and cues for emotional intelligence.
When you're able to focus on creating progress by taking one step at a time, this also helps calm the mind.
Focusing your attention on your strengths will be key to sleepless nights.
Creating an environment to calm your mind will be beneficial - I turned on Staind (I enjoy old-school alternative music) this morning and listened to his music for the rest of the day!

Shonda Rhimes said it best in her Darmouth's Commencement Speech, "Anyone who says they can 'do it all' is lying!

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Smash Your Grape

The real illusion is that you are not perfect!

Accept it:

You don't have to do everything, and doing your best is sufficient.

You will figure it out because you always do because this is your life right now - only today.

Listen carefully when you hear song lyrics that speak to your inner self.

By asking your inner self, "What am I truly capable of?" you can remove the illusion and broaden your vision.

... You're capable of accomplishing anything you've set in motion!

Believe in yourself, and the rest will take care of itself.