Sleep.
That's right - sleep. I know that, in the hot pursuit of a goal, sleep isn't at the forefront of the mind. Hard work, practice, perseverance - these qualities are. Rest is often considered somewhat of an afterthought. In our fast-paced world, it is work hard to get ahead or get left behind. Tired? Grab a large Starbucks latte and force your body to work off caffeine and four hours of sleep.
I always have been puzzled when fellow college students have told me over the years, "I went to bed at 2, and here I am for my 8 a.m. class.....sighhhhh." An occasion of this won't diminish health or productivity severely, but I saw people do this day after day after day. Me? One night of less than 6 hours of sleep, and I'm grouchy, irritable, unfocused, unable to produce my best work. To work at my best, I have found that I need as close to 8 hours of sleep as possible!
I was listening to a motivational speech on YouTube by Les Brown while driving yesterday. He reflected on his life, and he said that he kept a quote in mind while trying to live up to his life potential: "Live full. Die empty." I thought about this quote and also about the fast-paced quality of society. What does it take to "Live full?" Surely, to work hard at your goals, but another question crossed my mind.
How do we keep the energy tank of life full?
As stated before, I have had a month of craziness. The first week of school, I began recording for competitions, which I didn't finish until last week. I played in the opera pit last week every night. I also was contracted for my first professional gig that required a 6 hour round trip of driving on consecutive days (with a 4 a.m. wake up time!). Stack the normal TA workload and my own classes / practicing / attempting to breathe on top of that, and I found a gradual shift in my energy levels.
Adrenaline was able to take me through my final competition on February 8th, but the week after, I noticed a decline. My playing, which was at the peak of my life just a week before, was suddenly diminished. People looked at me with confusion...what was going on? I was wondering the same thing! I couldn't have lost playing ability within such a short amount of time.
Yesterday, I got home at 3 p.m. from another gig that had me awake at 4 a.m. I went to sleep, with full intentions of waking up in an hour and doing some practicing. Before I knew it, it was 7 p.m. I ended up being tired again by 11 and going back to sleep.
This morning, I woke up at 9 a.m. and was thankful for a silent Saturday morning. My mind has opened back up, and I am ready to go back to practicing!
To answer the question: How do we keep the energy tank of life full?...
In the chase toward productivity, health is often neglected. A fast-paced society says, "Go, go, go - and when you're tired, go, go, go some more!" However, the more we neglect our health, the lower our productivity will become despite the amount of time spent!
When I don't sleep, it starts with a small decline in productivity. Continue for a few days, and it branches out beyond sleep: I start craving sugary foods, I skip my workouts, my mood and motivation decline. Before I know it, I am, in a sense, running on empty, and the brain refuses to absorb more information until I stop to reload.
During track workouts in college, I sometimes would get overly ambitious. I wanted to run the next repeat another second faster, and faster, and faster. My coach would stop me between repeats and say, "Keep some energy in the tank. Only empty the tank on race day." Sometimes I listened, and other times I didn't. However, it was only when I learned to hold back the pace some, not because I was lazy, but because I was conserving energy, did I realize my potential.
In the same way, I need to monitor my energy in my work and practicing. I know I gave my best to my competitions because of the fatigue experienced afterwards. However, only when I allow myself the time to recover will I continue to make improvements. When I am rested, I am positive, my mind is full of ideas, and I have stamina.
Sleep really is important. Keep your energy tank full so you can make your best contribution to life!
