How to get through the day after no sleep
It’s understandable that the morning after no sleep seems dreadful. In fact, many people have it as the biggest fear, and sadly, they see it coming true from time to time.
Today I will attempt to change this perception because in reality things don’t have to be as terrible as our anxious brain pictures it.
Definitely, after a night of no sleep we can feel anxious and fatigued – it’s unreasonable to deny that. But these heavy feelings usually don’t come from the actual amount of sleep, rather from what that night of no sleep meant to us. If we feel like we failed another night by not sleeping, we usually expect a failed day… But does this always come true?
🤔 Think of yourself and of some college student who stayed up all night partying – objectively the amount of sleep can be the same for both of you, but why do these two situations feel so different? Hmm…
A belief that a bad night equals a bad day can manifest itself in a form of anxiety, emotional fatigue and frustration during the day that can lock us in the loop where we expect to have a bad day, thus we feel anxious during the day and keep trying to avoid it.
But in reality, we tend to give too much credit to our insomnia, because the day can be okay even if we didn’t sleep much. Let me explain what I mean.
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Self-care, self-care and self-care
To quit that loop, at first we need to “normalize” and validate feelings like anxiety, meaning that we can allow ourselves to feel that emotion – without this step, we can’t move on.
I know, it is definitely unpleasant, and no anxiety feels nice (its purpose is to make us do something to protect ourselves) but at the same time anxiety is not here to get you, it can’t harm you. So giving yourself a permission to feel whatever comes naturally is the first step towards letting go of struggle. Anyone on your place would feel down after a night of less sleep, having those feelings isn’t wrong at all!
Anxiety is automatic, and that means that we don’t choose it on purpose - no one does. But because it is automatic, it also leaves automatically the moment the brain feels safe - there is simply no need for it. So we don’t need to do anything for anxiety on purpose, but we can help ourselves feel safe.
How can we help ourselves feel safe on the day after no sleep? Self-care. If on causal days it is good to be compassionate and understanding to yourself, then on the days of less sleep – we can multiply that 3 times!
We need to show that we can take care of ourselves even on a day like this. Many people think that they need to act, feel or think a certain way (hello, “positive affirmations!”), but I find that often it results in ignoring our true feelings by masking them with so many efforts. While a good alternative here is to go on the path of least resistance. It’s when we listen to what we really feel like doing and allowing ourselves to do this. Or allowing ourselves to not do something if we don’t feel like doing it! A cheat day if you will.
Feel free to treat yourself like a queen or a king on those days, there are no wrong ways – take a nap if you want, go for a walk, eat your favourite meal, talk to your friend, or do nothing – it’s all up to you!
The most important is that we show ourselves that even if we happen to have a poor night sleep, the next day can be spent the way you want.
Lots of love <3
Ali
Oh, and two new videos have been uploaded on my channel since we last talked – you have to see them if you still haven’t:
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