A Harm Reduction Guide to Insomnia

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Hello —

Full disclosure: I’m writing this, I haven’t slept more than one or two hours in the last couple of days.

This happens to me every other year or so, a combination of anxiety, noise, screens, + whatever else is happening in the world (or my world at that

The worst part of insomnia besides all the parts of insomnia that everyone knows, is that it’s so unpredictable and it can cycle so hard: you push through the fog and the erratic emotional reactions only to find yourself wide awake the next night at 12:30 PM. This can go on for a while, in spite of your best intentions.

The internet does not provide much in the moment support for sleep deprivation.

It’s fairly easy to find reasons why sleep deprivation is bad for you, or to find preventative strategies for getting more sleep (less stress! less screen time! Less coffee! need to do fewer things! stop existing in the year 2020! ).

It’s more challenging to find any harm reduction oriented way to cope when it’s too late for you, it’s 4:30 AM and essential oils have given you nothing.

The reason I’m describing this is not to vicariously inflict the anxiety of my own insomnia upon you, but because I want to know how you deal with your own sleepless nights.

Here are a few of my tactics for surviving nights (or many nights) of no sleep:

Checklists and Scripts

When I am rested, I look at my email scripts and task checklists with disdain — or at least bewilderment. Seriously?

I needed to write that down? Or — I was OK with sending this robot sounding email to this person?

When I am not well rested, these documents are the difference between a complete cessation of function and an off but relatively normal workday.

Stop Rescheduling

For years when I had a bad night of insomnia I would cancel all my meetings and try to get ready for the next day, a imagined next day where I was completely rested and 100% ready for all the work and meetings I had put off the day before.

Weirdly, the next day never happened quite like that. When my insomnia cycles, nothing makes it worse than putting things that I don’t feel equipped to handle day after day after day. I found it way easier to own up to my sleep deprivation, be honest with everyone who I need to talk to, and get through the foggy zombie feeling that comes with a lack of sleep the best I can.

Don’t Bike or Drive

I don’t have anything else to say about this one. In some ways it feels kind of like “stop using your phone three hours before bed“ — the problem is not not knowing you have to do this, the problem is that the obstacles to doing so are great. That said, I can’t drive or bike when I can’t remember how to signal a turn (in either mode of transportation).

How do you deal with your own sleepless nights?

Stay safe,

H