The Life-Changing Magic of a Good Night’s Sleep for Writers and Artists

Sleep has been one of my biggest problems in life. The trouble started in fourth grade when I grew anxious about school and had trouble falling asleep, knowing that I’d have to face my problems in the morning. My problem was a frenemy who kept me close but then abandoned me on the playground when convenient. He manipulated me into goofing off, then ratted me out to the teacher. Somehow, it never occurred to me to get away from him.

I think fourth grade is when personalities grow and social dynamics emerge in the classroom. Some kids run experiments on how to make friends, influence people, and seize power. They’re like little Velociraptors, willing to kill to become the alpha. (I was a beta.)

I was fine after school, home and alone, watching cartoons and eating a Miracle Whip sandwich on Wonder Bread. Once it was time for bed, though, I’d start to worry about school, and if I’d get in trouble again, or abandoned on the playground. I’d be up past midnight, whimpering. In the morning, I’d be tired and cranky. This went on the entire school year.

I leaned into poor sleeping habits through high school, staying up late to watch Benny Hill and Monty Python on the local PBS station.

During college, struggling through demanding coursework, I typically got five hours sleep each night and dealt with headaches and brain fog each day.

After graduating and before I had a family, I travelled for work and solidified those bad habits. Getting married was a brief respite when we settled down, but once we had kids the sleep deprivation continued.

To become a writer while already being a busy person, I leaned into the poor sleep by using some of the late nights to try to write or work on other projects. I had a false, romantic notion that geniuses were up all the time working on their passion projects or whatever. It was just dumb.

Working late at night, or in the middle of the night after being awakened by your kid, is suboptimal brain performance. The work accomplished is probably garbage. You’re off your game the entire next day.

I did this crap for almost twenty years.

Finally, I figured out that sleep is when the body repairs itself and your brain is drained of junk that builds up. I was still plagued by a messed up sleep system, and now I’ve concluded that it was probably staring at computer monitors for eight hours a day for my job. After work, I’d stare at a monitor again for two or three more hours each evening for my writing.

Even now, I deal with overexposure to computer monitors each and every day.

In my search for a solution, I came across a book about our Ultradian Rhythms, which govern our brain energy. The short version is that every one and half to two hours, we need to give our brain a rest. You have to stop thinking about stuff, quiet your mind, and rest.

If you fall asleep (nap) it means you probably needed even more rest; it’s fine to sleep but not necessary.

To adopt this technique, you should first set a timer to check in with your energy level every ninety minutes. What surprised me is that I realized how I had been working through these crashes, gulping coffee or eating snacks, in a vain attempt to rejuvenate for twenty years.

I was always aware of the problem, but too stupid to make the obvious fix.

Soon, though, I didn’t need to check the clock. I recognized the brain fatigue and did the simplest thing in the world: stopped thinking.

I look at my surroundings, or I listen to music, or I close my eyes and disengage. Sometimes I’ll do each in succession, savoring the relaxation.

You might worry that you’re interrupting yourself and only making it harder to finish a task. On the contrary, it helps the solution to your problem emerge. In fact, when you struggle with any sort of problem at work, you’ll soon learn that a quick brain rest will likely make the solution appear.

You’ll find the way to respond to an email, or find the document you were searching for, or correct the broken spreadsheet.

It’s not magic. It’s giving your brain a chance to catch its breath and do what it does best: create.

The best part is for artists and writers who absolutely need to connect with their subconscious to create something original. When we’re struggling through brain fog, the clutter in our mind is blocking messages from the subconscious.

By taking a short rest, we give the subconscious a chance to speak, and for our conscious mind to listen.

Some of the best solutions to story problems while writing have emerged exactly like that, often first thing in the morning when I wake up.

A rested mind is an artist’s best tool for creativity.