Forget early bird vs. night owl

Just go the f*ck to sleep

June 20, 2022

Hey there —

Sometimes it feels like you can’t win.

We praise early birds for resisting the snooze button and glorify night owls for “grinding” past 3am, all while stressing the importance of a good night’s sleep.

We’re told that the reason we’re unsuccessful is because we’re not waking up early enough, working long enough, and (somehow?) getting enough sleep.

Only one of these things is crucial to success (and happiness).

Spoiler alert: it’s sleep.

Long before modern hustle culture coined the phrase “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” mill and shipyard workers fighting against 16-hour workdays had a different mantra. As one of the most popular songs from the 19th century labor movement put it:

We mean to have eight hours;
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest,
Eight hours for what we will.

Turns out they were on to something.

We probably don’t need to tell you that lack of sleep severely degrades your ability to focus, make good decisions, and regulate your emotions. But it also comes with an additional cost. Literally.

From lost productivity and workplace accidents, to the lights burning long after hours and that third cup of coffee you needed to get through the day — the cost of insufficient sleep adds up.

According to a recent study, to the tune of $411 BILLION per year in the US alone.

That’s 2.3% of GDP, and that percentage holds consistent across most developed nations. To put that into perspective, that number amounts to the entire cost of each nation’s military.

All from sleeping less than 8 hours.

If you’ve got a full-time job, you might not care as much about your company’s bottom line (especially if work is getting in the way of your sleep). But if you’re a freelancer or entrepreneur, sleep deprivation may have a much higher price than you thought.

And whether it’s being forced to discount a client’s invoice because of a mistake you made, or to take a sick day due to the strain on your mental or physical health — you’ll be the one to foot the bill.

So the next time you feel like staying up a little later to eke out your latest project, or waking up at 5 AM, because it works for some elite Navy Seal, remember that going without sleep isn’t worth the cost.

TLDR; go the f*ck to sleep.

Schedule Send

Article | by Austin Kleon

Ever wish you could live in a world without email?

Best-selling author Austin Kleon does. But for now, he shares how he harnesses the power of his inbox’s “schedule send” function.

Find out how it helps him be a really nice guy — and attain freedom from the “age of instantaneous messaging.”

Why You Can’t Pay Attention (And How to Reclaim Your Focus)

Podcast | by Rich Roll and Johann Hari

You work a little, check your email. Work a little more, get a text. Back to work and—ope! Gotta see what everyone’s up to on Instagram.

Before you know it, it’s 5pm and you still have little to show for it.

But it may not entirely be your fault.

In this episode of the Rich Roll Podcast, New York Times bestselling author Johann Hari explains why our collective ability to focus on a single task is on the decline and why it’s keeping us stuck and miserable. Most importantly, he shares what we can do about it.

Bodyweight Warrior

Tool | by Tom Merrick

One minute you’re young and free.The next, you pull your back when you sneeze.

Whether it’s sleeping, working, or flexing your biceps a little too often, we all develop little aches and pains that could use a little TLC.

And Tom Merrick of Bodyweight Warrior has the remedy with his easy to follow stretching and mobility videos.

Just get ready to “embrace the suck.” That sounds way more dirty than it actually is.

Written by Erin Nystrom