Lying awake in bed: what do you do? Part One

You may have insomnia. My deepest condolences! So you’re lying in bed, say, at midnight, wide awake. Not even close to sleep, alert and above all; restless.

What should you do right now?

There are two schools of thought on this: two opposing points of view.

One maintains that if life gives you lemons, make lemonade with them; If life has an insomnia, use that time productively. Napoleon, who suffered from insomnia, used to work late into the night and also sat down to read.

Dale Carnegie, in his book “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living,” talks about Samuel Untermeyer, a famed lawyer, who worked the middle of the night and into the early morning because he just couldn’t sleep. He became the highest paid lawyer of his age. In fact, many famous people are and were insomniacs. A short list includes Napoleon Bonaparte, author Alexander Dumas, Teddy Roosevelt, Groucho Marx, Thomas Edison, Churchill, Mark Twain, Newton, and Benjamin Franklin. So insomnia does not exclude a great achievement and, in fact, can contribute to it! So take heart with your insomnia, although it is painful and exhausting to be an insomniac, insomnia can help you get what you want. Yes, you feel tired, but don’t worry; nature will take care of you and guide you. If you really need to sleep, you will fall asleep during the day. So get up, get out of bed, and do something.

The second approach is the opposite. Lack of sleep is bad for your system, so do your best to compensate for not sleeping. Lie motionless on the bed, go into a deep trance. Even if you don’t really sleep, you will get the benefits of total relaxation, allowing the body to repair itself a bit. In fact, stay in bed longer than normal; to make up for the lower quality rest you will receive. Save your energy for tomorrow, so you can have a productive day.

Which approach is the best?