David Murray has written a book for men that I intend to read on my upcoming vacation entitled Reset. (His wife has co-written the companion volume for the ladies entitled Refresh.) The subtitle of the book is "living a grace-paced life in a burnout culture." This book was recommended to me by a good friend and having skimmed the book already I'm looking forward to what Murray has to share.
Since I preached from Psalm 4 this past Sunday - and since one of my favorite verses in the Psalter is Psalm 4:8 and concerns sleep - I decided to read Murray's chapter on Rest (sleep) during my sermon preparation. Murray offers several "sleeping pills" - ways we can improve our sleep habits. In this post I will share his first suggestion and over the next few days I'll share the remaining.
Knowledge
If your schools substituted sleepology for algebra, our society would be much healthier, safer, and brighter. Despite sleep taking up a quarter to a third of our lives and having such an influence on the remainder, most of us leave school in total ignorance of the why and the how of sleep. As knowledge not only guides us but also motivates us, why not... read The Power of Rest by sleep doctor Matthew Edlund (ignoring the new-agey bits) or And So to Bed...: A Biblical View of Sleep by Adrian Reynolds.
Also, get to know yourself better and honestly work out how much sleep you really need to thrive. Most people need between seven and nine hours of sleep every day. I can do well on seven hours and even better on seven and a half hours, but eight or more hours doesn't seem to make any appreciable difference. If I get less than seven for a few days or more, consequences begin to multiply. Find your sweet spot and stick with it.
This week I am attempting to get seven and a half hours each night to see if that is my sweet amount. Last night I went to sleep around 10:15pm and my alarm was set for 5:45am. So far so good!