Why Self-Care Sometimes Means Sleeping In

After reading ‘The 5 AM Club’ by Robin Sharma, I became inspired to work on my morning routine. And whilst I didn’t quite made it to the elusive time of 5 AM, I got pretty close and my productivity soared.

I spent way more time on ‘me’ than ever before — meditating, doing yoga, listening to motivational pod casts, writing my book, journaling — you name it, I was doing it.

But…there’s always a but.

I started to get really tired.

By mid-afternoon, I was getting killer headaches but still had work I needed to do, so I’d push through and keep going. I was going to bed at a reasonable time but struggling to fall asleep. And when I did fall asleep, I’d wake up in the middle of the night and it would take me forever to get back to the land of nod. Then before I knew it, I’d be up before 6 AM and starting the day again.

I was exhausted and I wasn’t functioning well. Every time I was getting up early in the morning, I had that horrible groggy feeling you get when you get up to go to the airport at 2 AM, after zero hours sleep, because you’re so excited. Only, clearly, I’ve not been going anywhere exciting.

I needed time to refresh and refuel — so why wasn’t I doing it?

“Most of us know that getting a good night’s sleep is important, but too few of us actually make those eight or so hours between the sheets a priority.”

National Sleep Foundation

Sleep should be a priority

We need to start taking our sleep more seriously. It’s something we spend one-third of our life doing, so why don’t we value it more? We’re so busy trying to make the most out of our days that we forget that to keep having such productive days, we need to have a great night’s sleep.

We pride ourselves on being active and awake, but what if that’s to the detriment of our well-being?

“Getting a proper night of sleep is essential to our health. In fact, sleep is now known as the third pillar of wellness along with exercise and nutrition.”

Bill Fish, Certified Sleep Science Coach and Co-Founder of Truck

Self-care means exactly what it says on the tin – looking after yourself

It means knowing what we need to do in order to take care of ourselves. So this includes getting a solid 7–8 hours sleep a night unless we feel super energised and amazing on less. As Agnes Wainman explains, self-care is “something that refuels us, rather than takes from us.”

For the last few weeks, I’ve been sleeping in past my (early) alarm and snuggling myself back under the duvet until I feel ready to get up. I’ve even been wearing my sleep mask which blocks out the light so I don’t automatically wake up in the early hours anymore — and I feel so much better for it. 

Because that’s what self-care is all about. Listening to yourself and what you need, and most importantly, not feeling guilty for it.

So have that lie in, take that nap, and reap the benefits of rest. 

You deserve it.