I thought sleep was my enemy, until I didn’t die.

I wasn’t even aware of Sleep Awareness Week, until I received an email from Thrive Global. You might join the celebration or not…

Sleep like a baby. Or, better indeed, sleep like a Koala. Pic by  Cris Saur

I wasn’t even aware of Sleep Awareness Week, until Thrive Global sent an email about it. It looked funny initially but invited me to reflect on my relationship with sleep.

When I was in my early 30’s, I thought my life was close to an end.

For whatever reason, I had a premonition that I was going to die at age 34. Why? I never asked myself.

But that premonition haunted me for many years.

And it damaged my relationship with sleep.

Life, Death and Sleep.

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” — Warren Zevon

Sleep was my enemy: it was stealing my remaining productive time.

Life felt short. I wanted to seize every waking moment. Sleeping seemed like a waste of time. Every hour I slept meant one hour less that I could use to do something. To achieve something before I died.

I remember working on a big project all night through. Going home to take a shower to then back to the office to present. Or going out and then going back to work w…