First calm your mind, then sleep: Don't bring work and worries to bed.
"First calm the mind, then sleep," goes the saying from Cai Jitong's "Sleep Secrets" from the Song Dynasty, a guide to healthy sleep. Sleep is a physiological behavior dominated by the brain's nerve activity, and the brain can only easily transition into a sleep state when its nerve activity is inhibited. Therefore, before bed, one should maintain a peaceful and relaxed state of mind, avoiding unrealistic thoughts and any extreme emotional fluctuations, as these can cause bodily imbalances and lead to various sleep disorders.
After graduating from university, Zhang Duo successfully entered a publishing house as an editor. In his daily work, he was conscientious and responsible, and he was also a very thoughtful, innovative, and market-keeping employee.
Every year at the end of the year, the publishing industry holds a large-scale book fair. This time, the leadership announced that Zhang Duo would be in charge of all the activities of their publishing house, and a team was specially assigned to him.
For a fresh graduate like him, such a cushy job was naturally a great opportunity to showcase his talents. So, from the very first day he received the assignment, Zhang Duo refused all social activities unrelated to work, and for three months straight, he devoted all his energy to this project.
However, recently, he has been struggling with one thing: insomnia. At first, Zhang Duo didn't think much of it, believing that rest would help. However, the problem worsened. Every time he lay in bed, he would toss and turn, thinking about the problem, and even forcing himself not to think about it wouldn't help. His actions during the day, conversations and scenes with others, the thorny issues he needed to deal with the next day, and the daily work schedule for the following day would all replay in his mind like a movie. As a result, Zhang Duo became more and more anxious, and falling asleep became even more difficult.
Zhang Duo in the story is a typical example of someone who brings work and worries to bed. Indeed, in the workplace, everyone has to face endless work and complex interpersonal relationships, but he forgets that what's even more important is his sleep. If a person cannot keep their mind calm and their emotions peaceful before falling asleep, and even goes to bed with worries or anger, they are more likely to be troubled by various sleep disorders.
Actually, problems like Zhang Duo's are quite easy to solve. If you're constantly worrying about your performance today and tomorrow's work while in bed, and you can't stop thinking about these things, try taking a little time before bed, even just a few minutes, to write down the issues that concern you, your next plan, and the actions you're about to take, and concisely summarize them into a few points. After completing this "task," you can return to your bedroom with peace of mind. Perhaps you'll find that when these worries come flooding back as soon as your head hits the pillow, you'll tell yourself, "I've thought through all the problems, and I've solved them all." In fact, if you persist with this practice, it won't be long before the problem of difficulty falling asleep disappears.
In the workplace, there are quite a few people like Zhang Duo who have difficulty falling asleep due to work-related anxieties. In fact, a considerable number of working men are unable to sleep peacefully because of family problems.
Jiang Haifeng and Fei'er were college classmates who fell in love at first sight when they entered the campus. After graduating from college, they worked together in a big city and soon got married.
However, recently, Jiang Haifeng and Fei'er have both been suffering from insomnia. It turns out that buying a house in the city where they work has always been their shared dream. Seeing more and more of their friends buying houses, they decided they would buy one, even if it was a second-hand one. However, with their combined income, even if they didn't eat or drink, they would probably be too old to afford their own house by then. Therefore, they had to split up and borrow a large sum of money from their parents and relatives.
After much trouble, they finally bought their new house. However, the couple discovered that their parents had spent all their savings to buy the house, and their standard of living was not as good as before. This made them feel extremely guilty, and they often had trouble sleeping at night. Moreover, since the onset of insomnia, the couple has often argued, and the slightest disturbance would cast a dark cloud over the house. When they both went to work with such emotions, their performance at work was predictably poor.
Clearly, the couple in the story paid a heavy price for their house. We must understand that social realities are beyond our control, but we cannot sacrifice our health for a house. In a sense, we can say that ensuring adequate sleep is ensuring good health. Undoubtedly, many working men live under the immense pressure of life and work, feeling like they will be abandoned by the world if they don't work for a day. Many of these "mortgage slaves" also suffer from loss of appetite and insomnia as a result.
However, our ancestors long ago said, "One can go without meat, but not without sleep." Insufficient sleep leads to poor concentration, memory loss, and low work efficiency. Furthermore, chronic sleep deprivation can cause emotional instability and even psychological problems and mental illnesses. How can such employees create better performance and earn the boss's trust? Moreover, recent research has proven that lack of sleep not only harms physical health, but the resulting series of adverse physical conditions can also affect one's career development.
Therefore, in order to achieve success in one's career and happiness in one's family, one must learn to be the master of one's own emotions and learn to start by calming one's mind before falling asleep, so that one can naturally and peacefully fall asleep.