Lately I’ve been having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep.  Besides making me tired, I find I lose my creative edge (and my patience, I admit!).   As fate would have it- I came across two articles today that were particularly timely for me.

First, there was Baba Shiv’s article:  The Rx for Innovation.  What’s the prescription?  Deep sleep.  When the brain is tired, cortisol levels are high which means- you’re stressed.  When stressed, we avoid things that will make us more stressed- like new ways of doing things.  There’s comfort is doing things the way they’ve always been done.  Which means, risk averse

He talks about some devices that enable people to measure the amount of deep sleep they are getting each night.  [I’ve been thinking about the Zeo for a while;  based on this article and my current situation of sleepless in Cupertino, I’ve gone ahead and ordered it].

The Zeo provides feedback to help users develop better sleep habits.  More specific tips were available from the second article: How to Solve Your Sleep Crisis.  Among other things, it indicated that lights with a blue component interfere with production of melatonin, the hormone that helps us sleep.  Best to avoid TVs, computers, and tablets before bedtime.    Uh-oh.  That may be part of my problem.  When I’m getting ready for bed, I often think about something I should have done that I didn’t take care of.  My response is to run to my computer to send that email or complete the task so I won’t obsess about it as I drift off …..  Note to self:  keep a notepad and pen near the bed so I can write down those last minute things without looking at a bluish light.  I sincerely hope it works.