What is The Insomniac’s Guide to Productivity?
Good Morning! Or afternoon. Or middle of the night. Nice to meet you.
I am an insomniac, and I have been one ever since I can remember, going all the way back to pre-Kindergarten days through an additional half century of more or less constant experience. If you are reading this, there is a fair chance you didn’t sleep well last night, or last week, or perhaps you haven’t slept well for your entire life. The good, “normal” nights, in my experience, stand out in stark and uncommon relief.
Throughout my life—through school, university, marriage, holding 9-to-5 jobs (including both day and night shifts), and two decades as a partner in a business—I have struggled with the challenges of sleeplessness.
The Insomniac's Burden
Despite the constant experience of chronic and sometimes catastrophic insomnia, daily life and work still impose their demands. We are alive with obligations, responsibilities, chores, and duties galore.
Unfortunately, the statistics suggest the situation is not improving; people are not sleeping better, year over year. Insomnia is a broad term covering an unimaginable range of individual cases, but even the lowest estimates are alarming, with at least 70 million adults experiencing insomnia in the US alone. A 2023 RAND study estimated that one-third of the adults in the countries they studied experience at least some symptoms of insomnia. Insomnia and its effects are decidedly on the wrong side of productivity. In fact, the estimated economic impact is staggering, totaling upwards of $200 billion in the US alone, with other major economies also forgoing tens of billions of dollars in lost productivity.
A Toolkit for Sleepless Success
We need to thrive as best we are able. This book, essentially, is a toolbox. Its aim is not the “fixing” of sleep, but the ability to be productive, or more effectively productive, despite insomnia.
We are going to hack some systems—your systems—to find ways that allow you to be productive despite inadequate sleep. Everything is presented as simple, real solutions you can choose from a la carte. We are prioritizing the easy, the effective, and the efficient, along with a healthy dose of benign self-care; there will be no sergeant drills or tough love.
My strategies come from decades of living with insomnia, speaking with friends and strangers, and even participating in a full-blown “sleep study”. While I have read medical literature, I am not a doctor, nor trained in medical practice or procedures of any kind. My contention is that medical expertise is not needed for evaluating improvements in insomnia-related productivity.
Who This Toolkit Is For (And How to Use It)
This book is intended for you if you have been struggling to balance your insomnia with your productive life—anything that veers toward what you would call "chronic". I assume you are already familiar with the common wisdom around fixing your sleep, such as turning off electronics or using a darkened room, and we will not waste time covering those factoids.
We seek action steps, from beginning through to intermediate, always striving for simplicity (on the level of 1-2-3) and incremental improvement.
This is a field manual providing working information to get you through various challenges related to sleep dysfunction. It is structured as an a la carte menu or buffet; you are not meant to do everything in the book. Pick and choose what looks good for you to find new things to try.
However, this toolkit may not be for you if you are a generally well-rested human being. Furthermore, if your work schedule is heavily structured to the point where flexibility and personal decision-making is not a realistic option, I would advise seeking professional, medical-grade help. Being in charge of your time options is the best-case scenario for improving insomniac productivity.