Categories: Articles

When Do You Sleep?

That is one of the top questions I get asked. Often. It’s either that one, or "do you ever sleep?" Same question, different connotation.

My general response is, "I don’t work hard, but I do work long." Meaning, I don’t consider what I do "hard work," but with travel and my personal lifestyle, I have long (sometimes very long) days. That being said, when I first joined my other business partners at Twist Image, I did make a personal promise to myself that I would go to sleep when I was tired and wake-up without an alarm (meaning whenever it naturally happens). With the exception of when I have a super-early morning flight, I’ve stayed the course.

But, there’s got to be more to it than that…

What prompted this thought was something that Chris Brogan blogged about over here: No – I Don’t Sleep. It’s a passionate post where he states:

"my head is always racing. I lie in bed thinking about the future, about communications, and about how I can help people do more with their businesses. It’s a horrible thing. I wish I thought about world hunger or super powers or beautiful parks in the wilderness. I think about this stuff that I talk about all the time. Another reason why it seems that I don’t sleep is that you use your time differently than me. You watch a little TV, and/or you have other pursuits. You do this or that or whatever, and it’s not the same as what i do. I make stuff, all the time."

Some of us (and that includes me) might be considered a workaholic… but then again, maybe not.

Bottom line: I love what I do. I’d much prefer to write (or write this Blog post) instead of watching TV or a movie. I find peace and solace in putting my thoughts out there. It’s comforting and relaxing. I feel the same way about trolling through the Twitter stream – much more fun and relaxing than just sitting on the couch. I also like the hustle (did I just quote Gary Vaynerchuk?). I like the fact that while others are trying to "make it to the weekend," that I’m much more focused on trying to "make it." In the end, I probably get anywhere between 6-8 hours a night, which isn’t bad considering that I "think about this stuff that I talk about all the time," (to quote Mr. Brogan) and that I never slept that much (even as a kid).

My favourite joke about sleep goes something like this:

Person #1: How do you sleep?
Person #2: Oh, I sleep like a baby… I wake up every hour crying.
<insert drum roll here>

How about you? When do you sleep?

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.