Powerful Sleep

If you're anything like me, you've had to fight through bouts of insomnia or just poor-quality sleep.

I used to chalk it up to stress; without a doubt Hong Kong can be a stressful place to live. Even though I try to eliminate or reduce stress wherever possible, it can't be completely avoided. The funny thing was I'd get insomnia even when all was right in my world and I wasn't dealing with many worries.

I never understood why sleeplessness would land on me out of the blue (and with both feet) until I read the results of study by Kacper Postawski, a sleep science researcher. His discoveries were a real eye-opener, in a manner of speaking. Postawski wrote a book called Powerful Sleep, in which he discusses sleep myths, sleep mechanics, Circadian rhythms, sleep cycles, lifestyle factors (such as getting exercise, managing stress, sunlight exposure, caffeine, alcohol, drugs and so on) and the mystery of quality sleep.

I found out that not only was I attempting to solve the problem the wrong way, I was also trying to "catch up" on lost sleep, which in turn robbed me of much-needed daytime energy. I'm an active man: bodybuilding three days a week, practicing Tai Chi and sword forms on Saturdays, running about with my camera, editing photographs, teaching photography classes, keeping the household ship-shape, maintaining two web sites, and writing. I hate it when my energy levels crash and I don't feel like doing anything. Oversleeping was a major cause, not to mention downright unhealthy.

More importantly, the book is teaching me how to manage my personal body clock to optimise my sleep so that I can spend less time in bed and more time doing the things I love. I've already shaved off 1.5 hours with a few minor adjustments, and I feel better for it. In one month, that equals almost two days of increased productivity. Even if I make no further gains (but I expect I will), how much time does that buy me over 10 or 20 years? I don't know about you, but I don't want to sleep my life away. I've been in Hong Kong more than nine years and I still feel as though I've barely scratched the surface; I need all the time I can get.

I mention this in the hope that many regular readers (and maybe even some of the new ones) will take a look at Kacper's book if they suffer from sleeplessness or tend to oversleep. If you're interested in learning more, download the first two chapters for free.

If you decide to follow up and study Powerful Sleep, by all means drop me a line and let me know if it made a positive difference in your life.