Insomnia: sleep depravity & a journey to find it.

As grown up trying to make both ends meet. We sometimes take jobs with way too much workload for us.
We start working late nights, bringing our work load home so as to reduce the amount of work to be done the next day or meet up with a deadline.
But the truth is that no amount of time is ever enough. Instead we develop bad lifestyle that are in the very near future deleterious to health.
At first, we think it's natural that you are able to stay late nights working, but in reality, you are going down a dangerous path.
When you start to see the bad side, the effects and the overall effect of your newly found way of life. You start looking for remedy and a way out.
It usually starts with trying to have a good night sleep and you end up staying awake till almost dawn.

Stuffs like this are happening everyday. But it doesn't have to.

With the proper enlightenment, 
You can manage your time well, 
have a healthy lifestyle. 
If it's impossible to get the 
above mentioned, quit that job, 
it isn't for you. 

Nancy is a content developer and due to the volume of jobs she has to deliver every day, she finds herself keeping late hours. Some days, she gets only 2 hours of sleep. As a result, on nights when she has no job, she finds it hard to sleep and will spend the night on Facebook jumping from one post to the other just to while away the time.

Nancy had developed insomnia and she wasn’t worried about it, until it began to affect every area of her life. “What is wrong Nancy , why are you not responding to my touch” her husband would complain. “I don’t feel like it, please” she would say. “It has been two weeks and every time you say you don’t feel like it”. Nancy had lost her sex drive and it was ruining her marriage. “Nancy, you slept through the meeting, again. If this continues, I might have to reconsider our contract agreement” her business partner complained. Not only her sex drive, her insomnia was costing her the business, because due to lack of sleep at night, she found herself being drowsy throughout the day. She was also forgetful and her general productivity was ebbing. Nancy needed help, but she didn’t know where to get help, until she met me. You must have heard the word insomnia, and even if you haven’t, you must have experienced it at one point in your life. Like everything else in life, when it becomes too much, it is a cause for worry. When you constantly cannot sleep or stay asleep, you have insomnia and this post will not only teach you how to deal with, but will also teach you how to prevent it. For the sake of those who haven’t heard about insomnia, let’s do a quick definition.

Insomnia in simple terms is habitual sleeplessness. When you find it unable to sleep when you want to, it is called insomnia. What causes insomnia? Insomnia can be caused by both medical and psychological factors. Sometimes, when you have consistent insomnia, it might be as a result of an underlying medical condition. Medical conditions that can cause insomnia are; Angina Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Asthma Sleep apnea Brain lesions Tumors Stroke Parkinson’s disease
Alzheimer’s Upper and lower back pain Acid reflux disease Chronic pain. Aside medical conditions, insomnia can be caused by disruption in circadian rhythm from jet lag, change in job shifts, high altitudes and even extreme temperatures.

The focus of this post is on the psychological causes of insomnia, because these are what we can actually control, especially as entrepreneurs. Psychological Causes of Insomnia The psychological causes of insomnia are from lifestyle and habits, or conditions and circumstances present in our lives. They include; Stress Depression Anxiety Emotional state of helplessness and hopelessness Traumatic experience (transient insomnia) Mental disorder Staying up late all the time.

Now you know the psychological causes of insomnia, what are the effects of insomnia? Insomnia is a thing of worry and if you have it, you should not hesitate to find a solution, because the effects can be dire. Effects of Insomnia Sleep deprivation makes you drowsy during the day and this has been a cause of may automobile accidents. Insomnia makes you dumb. When you suffer from lack of sleep, you begin to loss alertness and concentration. It becomes hard to think critically, because sleep is important for the brain to function efficiently. Sleep loss can lead to fatal diseases such as; hypertension, heart attack, diabetes, stroke, heart failure, irregular heartbeat. It kills sex drive; insomnia can make you lose interest in a lot of things including sex. Lack of sleep can make you more depressed if depression is the root cause.
Insomnia ages your skin and makes you look older than you are. It makes you have wrinkles, fine lines and even dark circles. Insomnia makes you gain weight and leads to obesity. Continuous insomnia can lead to death. Yes you read that right, There is hope for you, if you are battling with insomnia.

With a few habit changes you can actually start getting more sleep. 5 Practical steps to killing that
Insomnia Neutralize the anxiety causing insomnia: Being anxious is going to make adrenaline flood your body system and this is going to cause more insomnia. So instead of agonizing over things that cause you to be anxious, do away with those thoughts and you will soon fall asleep. Use
your bedroom for sleep and sex: When you carry your office work into the bedroom, or use your computer in the bedroom, your brain begins to associate the bedroom with work and this cab cause sleeplessness. To deal with sleeplessness, let your bedroom be only for sleep and sex.
Keep all work and computers out of the bedroom. Let your bedroom be your relaxation joint and soon you will see that as soon as you step in, you will fall asleep.

Challenge thoughts and worries that keep you awake at night: Whatever is giving you worry, instead of shelving them and agonizing over them to the point that you cannot sleep, confront them. You might not find a solution, but you will find a plan which will give peace, enough to make you do away with your insomnia. Make your sleep area as comfortable and as noiseless as possible: Keep the lights in your bedroom dim, put off the television and your phone. Take a cool bath before bed and listen to soft music. This would put you in a relaxed mood, enough to induce sleep.

Use medication wisely: There are dietary supplements that can help you deal with your insomnia. While they are a temporary solution, they are not a cure for insomnia. Supplements such as; Melatonin and Valerian. You can also use therapy, which is better than drugs and supplements.
Therapy will target the root cause of the insomnia.

Is there a way to prevent insomnia? Yes there is. You can prevent yourself from having insomnia by following these simple tips. Ways to Prevent Insomnia

• Don’t smoke
• Cut down on caffeine
• Work regular hours and don’t keep long hours.
• Keep regular sleeping hours Exercise regularly.

I always sleep better when I exercise. Don’t over-indulge in food or alcohol Journaling helps with your worries and helps you sleep better. I hope this helps you sleep better, because sleep is very important for the proper functioning of your body systems.

Don’t be like Tricia.
You are not a robot.
Sleep, your body needs it.

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