How to Reduce the Headaches from Sleep Deprivation to Preserve Your Writing Output as a New Father
Change your perspective on sleep to balance fatherhood and your writing journey
Before kids, my 9–5 job made me feel like I don’t have enough time to write.
I write for about an hour before going to work. I was averaging about 1 article every two weeks. Yes, I was new to writing.
Then, I became a father.
Whatever writing habits I had changed. I felt even more constrained by my writing schedule! I would occasionally think that online writing is not for me. However, I kept writing anyway. You know what they say, “consistency is key…” right?
And the experts were right.
That consistency made it less challenging to finish writing 1 article a week.
I thought being a parent was going to hinder my dream to become an online writer, but instead, it made me more efficient. However, that “increase in efficiency” becomes useless when I’m sleep-deprived.
Prolonged sleep deprivation gave me headaches that made writing 10x more difficult.
Redefine the importance of sleep
Sleep is no doubt important to your overall health (and your creativity).
Matthew Walker made me realize how much I dismissed the importance of sleep. Because of his research, I made sleep a top priority to help me keep up with the busyness of life. Doing nothing is more helpful than functioning like a zombie.
No one wants to be around you (because you’re grumpy). Worse, the quality of your work also goes to trash.
“Humans need more than seven hours of sleep each night to maintain cognitive performance.”
― Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
The science made sense. But none of it mattered when we had a baby. Calming down your baby (in the middle of the night) became the top priority.
In other words, sleep was deprioritized.
That, of course, led to sleep deprivation.
And when I’m sleep-deprived, I can hear Matthew Walker’s in my head saying, “My friend, you need 7 hours of sleep otherwise, you’re not going to be able to function well for your baby”. Guilt creeps in. That imaginary voice is what forces me to go back to sleep (even when I feel ok) just so I can clock in my 7 hours!
But I end up getting a headache anyway.
Instead of getting 7 hours of sleep, follow your circadian rhythm
People say that you should avoid sleeping “too long” because it can give you a headache. They’re no scientists, but I started to believe them more. It’s the difference between believing something that is theoretical and something you experience.
This does not mean I no longer believe in Matthew Walker’s work.
It just means that I cannot be dogmatic about science and facts. Sometimes, it is more helpful to be open to new ideas and adjust your views whichever benefits you the most.
At this point, I gave up on getting 7 hours of sleep regardless of its importance.
That’s when I paid more attention to my circadian rhythm. In a span of about 2 months, I noticed a pattern:
- Whenever I wake up, and it lines up with my circadian rhythm, I feel ok even when I only had about 4 hours of sleep.
- Whenever I push myself to get 7 hours of sleep, but it does not line up with my circadian rhythm, I get a headache.
- Now, if I push myself to get 7 hours of sleep, and it lines up with my circadian rhythm, I feel well-rested.
This made me conclude that those headaches I get are not caused by sleeping too long but because I did not follow my circadian rhythm.
Fewer headaches = less garbage output
My two-month observation debunked the way I view the importance of getting 7 hours of sleep.
Then I accidentally scrolled through this post on Instagram. The thumbnail of the video says, “4 hours of sleep is plenty”. Call it “confirmation bias”, but I believed it.
As a result, I paid less attention to tracking my sleep, which, allowed me to write more often.
“Your body will tell you how much sleep you need — you just need to follow it.”
— Ex-CIA Operative Andrew Bustamante, The CIA Mental Edge Book
I was able to write a total of 68 articles in the span of 3 months (when our infant is between 3 to 6 months old).
