When is the last time you faced an early morning but couldn’t fall asleep the night before?
I don’t have to wake up for off-hours work as often or as early as I used to when starting out in my career. But I still remember the dread of upcoming product releases and database maintenance scheduled for 3AM. Even now, on the occasion I have to be up earlier than usual, I just roll out of bed and into the next room. Back then, it was waking up around 2AM and driving empty highways into the office.
Struggle to Sleep
Before that drive, the bigger problem was falling asleep in the first place. I could try to go to bed early but couldn’t sleep either because I wasn’t tired or, more likely because I was nervous about sleeping through alarms (multiple phone alarms, plus an old-fashioned alarm clock; I haven’t settled on an analog timer yet).
When the time came to groggily get to work, there would be the little voice saying “You’re exhausted, you’re stressed, you’re bound to screw something up, and this entire day is already lost.”
But that’s not true.
All is Not Lost
You can still be at your best when you’re tired. I recently read about pro golfer J.J. Spaun demonstrating this better than just about anyone. He was at CVS at 3AM on a Sunday morning helping to care for his sick daughter. That’s one of the last places you’d expect a top professional athlete to be on the weekend of a major tournament. And yet, hours later, he was winning the U.S. Open.
His day didn’t start great. He had to have been both mentally and physically exhausted. He had to have been stressed about his sick daughter and also about the millions watching him play golf. But he put that behind him and came out on top.
Be Optimistic
We can do the same in our own way. We may not have an opportunity to win a professional golf tournament, but we can power through that lack of sleep and have a successful day. Some days will be better than others, but don’t default to the negative. It may not be perfect, and being tired may slow you down but it doesn’t have to stop you.
Thanks for reading!
Chad Callihan 