Lying awake in bed – what do you do? Part One

You have insomnia maybe. My condolences to you! So you’re lying in bed, say, at midnight, wide awake. Not even close to sleep, alert and above all; restless.

What should you do now?

There are two schools of thought on this, two opposing points of view.

One holds that if life gives you lemons, make lemonade out of them; if life has you sleepless, use that time productively. Napoleon, who suffered from insomnia, used to work late into the night and would also sit and read.

Dale Carnegie, in his book “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” talks about Samuel Untermeyer, a famous lawyer, who worked half the night and early in the morning because he just couldn’t sleep. He became the highest paid lawyer of his day. In fact, many famous people are and were insomniacs. A short list includes Napoleon Bonaparte, author Alexander Dumas, Teddy Roosevelt, Groucho Marx, Thomas Edison, Churchill, Mark Twain, Newton, and Benjamin Franklin. So insomnia does not preclude great achievements and, in fact, can contribute to them! So be glad of your insomnia, although it is painful and exhausting to be an insomniac, insomnia can actually help you get what you want. You do feel tired, but don’t worry; nature will take care of you and guide you. If you really need to get some sleep, you will fall asleep during the day. So get up, get out of bed and do something.

The second approach is the opposite. Sleep deprivation is bad for your system, so do what you can to make up for sleep deprivation. Lie still in bed, go into a deep trance. Even if you don’t go to sleep, you’ll reap the benefits of total relaxation, allowing your body to repair itself a bit. In fact, lie in bed longer than normal; to compensate for the lower quality rest you will receive. Save your energy for tomorrow, so you can have a productive day.

Which approach is better?