Can't Sleep - It's 2:22 AM

Many people have been forced to work from home and adapt lifestyle and work style to these ‘new normal/anything but normal’ conditions known as Pandemic 2020.

Tragically, lots of others have lost their jobs to the economic fallout of Covid-19 and the job market is bleak.

Business owners are ‘pivoting’ until their toes bleed.

Parents are frantically trying to educate and entertain confined children.

‘Shelter-in-place’ sounds like an invitation to a cozy afternoon nap but, in reality, for many, it’s double or triple duty with little or disturbed sleep.

If you have a job, you’re Zooming half or more of the day and playing catch up the rest of the day. You may be picking up the slack for colleagues that are ill or lost their jobs. You are starting work earlier and finishing later.

If you own your business, you are jumping through hoops to keep customers and staff happy and serve everyone in new ways.

Social media posts suggest that we now have time to clean our closets, alphabetize the pantry, write the next War & Peace, cook like a celebrity and photograph those meals, and finish every project someone thought was a good idea.

Your sleep quality may be deteriorating as your brain struggles with the changes and demands of growing To Do lists., uncertainty and stress.

The following is an excerpt from a book I published in 2019. This prose was inspired by my overactive entrepreneur mind and another sleepless night. Unfortunately, it seems to relevant to many more people during these extraordinary circumstances and indicative of what is happening in a lot of bedrooms now.

Wishing you good health, sweet dreams and a brighter tomorrow.

2:22 AM

Can’t sleep

Mind is yelling at me about all the things I should have done

Jabbing my tired body with sharp criticism of too much started, too little finished

Poking my sleepiness with taunts about procrastination

I try to pull the covers of avoidance over my head

I punch up my pillows and bury my ears to block out the heckling

I toss. I toss some more.  I swear that I will turn over a new leaf – after I am rested

I practice rhythmic breathing and meditation and willful denial

I hum in my head to drown out the harassment, lists and excuses

Oh, how I hate that sound. Familiar and irritating. The Voice

My Voice

Getting louder

Chanting now

Get Up! Get Up! Get Up!

Feet hit the floor

3:22 AM