Once upon a time, a young monk asked an old monk a question, "What did you do in the temple when you were young?" ”
The old monk said, "I just chop wood, carry water, and cook." ”
The little monk asked again, "Then what are you doing now?" ”
The old monk said, "I still chop wood, carry water, and cook. ”
At this time, the little monk was very surprised and said, "Then there is no difference in how you have lived all these years?" ”
The old monk said: ".There is a difference, when I was young, I thought about carrying water when I was chopping wood, I thought about cooking when I was carrying water, and I thought about cutting wood when I was cooking, but now I am enlightened and enlightened, and I cut wood every day when I chop wood, and when I carry water, I carry water, and I cook when I cook. Now every day of my life, I can live in the moment.
I've read this story many times before, but each time it's just a light laugh. However, when I recorded it in my card note box and revisited it one day, I suddenly felt like crying.
I didn't live until I was 36 years old to really experience the beauty of getting enough sleep
Prior to that, for 23 years, I found myself in a state of lethargic and low spirits. It is as if living in a fog, the world is always blurred, and it is impossible to truly feel the clarity and truth of life.
Until the early morning of January 25, 2024, after I got up early to sort out the day's card notes, I squatted on the toilet and suddenly had a feeling that I had never felt before. At that moment, I woke up from the unreal, and the whole world became clear and bright. I can clearly realize that this is because I went to bed before 9 o'clock the night before, ensuring enough sleep and allowing my brain to be fully rested and recovered.
I habitually write this feeling down in my Flomo as a flash note. When I later compiled this note into a permanent note, I found myself living in a vicious cycle triggered by lack of sleep. It seems that every day when I go to bed, I always feel like I have something to deal with, and even if nothing is happening and I have time to sleep, I always go to bed late or can't sleep peacefully. This state caused me to be confused and inefficient during the day, and at night I couldn't sleep peacefully because I was thinking about various things. This vicious cycle keeps me in a constant state of exhaustion and anxiety.
When I think deeply, I can clearly realize this state back to my first year of junior high school. At that time, a history teacher and I had an insightful conversation. She told me that in rural families like ours, with many children and no background, if we don't study hard, we may have to spend our lives farming at home in the future. From that conversation onwards, I studied diligently, as if I had become a different person. In the evening, I would hide under the covers with a flashlight and read, and then wake up early in the morning to read.
When I was in junior high school, I used this way of sacrificing sleep, and my grades really improved a lot, and I was successfully admitted to the key high school in our city, and I didn't notice any problems. However, this approach cost me dearly in high school.
The study pressure of high school made me lose sleep all night long, and many times I couldn't sleep, so I would get up at one o'clock in the morning and go to the dormitory manager's office to read a book or chat with them. Weekends are supposed to be a time off, but I always choose to hide in a corner of the campus and secretly read a book, never really relaxing. Lack of sleep led to my low learning efficiency, forming a vicious circle: high stress leads to insomnia, insomnia affects learning efficiency, low learning efficiency leads to a decline in grades, and declining grades increase stress. In the end, I was only admitted to a third-tier undergraduate school.
Looking back on it now, that experience still haunts me. Moreover, the subconscious mind that sacrifices sleep in order to achieve the goal has not disappeared because of the end of the college entrance examination. Even, this subconscious mind made me develop a habit of always feeling anxious during my breaks, as if there were many things waiting for me to do, and I couldn't really relax. I am in a trance every day, although my heart is full of desire and hard work, but the quality of sleep is getting worse and worse, and the state is getting worse and worse, and the work efficiency is naturally not high. And I don't know that I am in a vicious circle brought about by not being able to rest well, and I am just pushed forward by the inertia of life.
This continued until 2021, when the pandemic was raging, I was stuck at home, and I encountered many difficulties in my life and work. During that difficult time, I gradually realized that I had been living in an illusory world. Actually, I didn't really realize the importance of sleep at that time, I just longed to get rid of the anxiety and confusion in my heart.
Perhaps out of an instinct for survival, coupled with a sense of responsibility as a first-time father, I began to listen to a lot of books on Fan Deng's reading, especially books on parent-child education. In one year, I listened to almost all the books recommended by Mr. Fan Deng. For the books that I thought were better, I bought paper books or e-books and came back to read them carefully, and from then on, I embarked on the road of reading and writing.
In the process of reading, writing, and waking up early, I gradually realized the importance of sleep. After more than two years of hard work, I was finally able to go to bed at 10 p.m. without stress.
From 2022 onwards, I gradually increased my reading intensity, and in 2023, I set a goal of reading no less than 100 books per year and started to update my writing every day. However, as I read more and wrote more, and the work itself was busy, I found that my time became more valuable and I had more and more things to deal with. This made me more aware of my time and sleep, and I started to think about how to allocate my time more rationally and how to be more productive.
In order to look my best while reading and writing, I began to put more emphasis on my daily sleep. In the past, I used to put off falling asleep until 12 o'clock at night, and even though I didn't feel like I had much to do, I would still be obsessed with the screen of my phone. Even when I sleep, I don't feel steady, and I always feel like I've got something to do. At the same time, since I set a goal of waking up at 5:20 a.m. every day to write, if I don't go to bed until 12 p.m., it is obviously difficult to ensure enough sleep time.
Therefore, I deliberately adjusted my daily routine. When I get home from work, I spend time with my family first and enjoy the time I spend with them. After that, I set aside some time for myself to take care of my personal affairs and try to fall asleep before 11 p.m. What's even more interesting is that at 10 p.m., I set an alarm to remind myself to put down what I'm doing and get ready to fall asleep. If there's no emergency, I'll tidy up my belongings and drift off to sleep.
After this adjustment, I was able to get enough sleep so that I could wake up naturally the next morning, completely free from the feeling of being dizzy after being woken up by the alarm clock. Not only that, but as the quality of sleep has improved, I wake up feeling that the whole world is clear and bright, and I appear more and more often. This is especially evident when reading – the words seem to jump before my eyes, every word seems to be exceptionally clear, and the whole world seems to brighten up at this moment.
More importantly, I know that it is because I truly understand the importance of sleep that I can "sleep when I should sleep", rather than lying in bed with a lot of thoughts. This is a feeling of enlightenment, just like the old monk said earlier: "Now that I am enlightened, I chop wood every day when I chop wood, carry water when I carry water, and cook when I cook." ”
And it took me 36 years and a long dream-like exploration to understand this. Today, I am writing this article to share my cognition and thinking, hoping to bring some enlightenment to those who are also exploring.
The four levels of cognitive ability
The development of a person's cognitive abilities can be roughly divided into four stages:I don't know I don't know, I know I don't know, I know I know, I don't know I know. Unfortunately, most people spend their entire lives at the first level.
1. Don't know what you don't know: At this stage, people are not aware of their blind spots and shortcomings. People may lack a true sense of themselves, a lack of clarity about their potential and goals. Just like what I knew about sleep quality before I was 34, I only knew that I didn't sleep well at night, but I didn't think deeply about the reasons.
2. Know that you don't know: When people start to realize their inadequacies and blind spots, they enter this stage. They begin to look for knowledge and experience to fill in their own gaps. It is a period of growth and learning, and people actively pursue self-improvement and improvement. For example, between the ages of 34 and 36, I realized that I lacked knowledge of how to get enough sleep.
3. Know that you know: At this stage, people have mastered certain knowledge and skills, and have a certain degree of confidence in their abilities. They are aware of their strengths and weaknesses and are able to use their knowledge and skills effectively to face challenges. Since I was 36 years old, I have gradually realized the importance of sleep and have begun to understand and study it in depth.
4. Don't know what you know: This stage is at the highest level of cognition of one's potential and ability, and people inadvertently show the knowledge and skills they have mastered, but may not be fully aware of their abilities. At this stage, you need to constantly reflect and remind yourself to transform your tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge in order to discover and realize your potential. At the moment, I'm still trying to get to that level.
Love to sleep ≠ recognize the importance of sleeping
While loving sleep and recognizing the importance of sleep both involve sleep, they represent different concepts. The former may simply be a person's behavioral habits, while the latter is an understanding and importance of the importance of sleep.
1. Definition and understanding: Sleeping may only mean that a person has more sleep needs or preferences, and they may feel sleepy more easily and need more rest time. Recognising the importance of sleep means that a person understands and accepts the importance of adequate and high-quality sleep for physical and mental health. This includes understanding the effects of sleep on memory, the immune system, mood regulation, and more.
2. Behavior and attitude: Sleeping may just be a person's behavior habits, they may not care about the quality and depth of sleep, but simply pursue more sleep time. Recognizing the importance of sleep means that a person will actively seek ways to improve the quality of sleep, such as adjusting the schedule and optimizing the sleep environment, to ensure adequate rest and recovery.
3. Health effects: If a person just loves to sleep but does not understand the importance of sleep, they may ignore the improvement of sleep quality and thus fail to fully realize the benefits of sleep. Recognizing the importance of sleep can help a person better manage their sleep, which can improve their physical and mental health and improve their quality of life.
The quality of one's sleep is also a reflection of values
Li Xiaolai mentioned in the book "The Road to Wealth Freedom".Values are about understanding what is more important and what is most important. As I read the book and think about my own values, I found that rest is more important than exercise, work, writing, reading. So, I insisted on getting a good night's sleep until the point and making sure I got enough sleep. When you rest well, you can have a better state and a healthy body, and you can do all other things more efficiently.
We live in this world, in fact, we are constantly making choices and judgments, choosing whether to do this thing or that thing, and the standard of judgment is our values.
For example, some people choose to sleep and worry about other things because they feel that those things are more important than sleeping. And some people choose to sleep without thinking about anything because they think sleep is the most important thing.
So, I now understand better why in the book "A Peculiar Life" it is mentioned that Lyubichev should ensure 10 hours of sleep a day. This is because he believes that adequate sleep is more valuable to him than anything else.
According to the "2023 China Sleep Health Insight Report" released by the China Sleep Association, 74% of respondents have experienced sleep problems. Whether it's difficulty falling asleep, poor sleep quality, or erratic sleep, these sleep disorders are seriously affecting modern people's lives.
More than 40 percent of people suffer from emotional insomnia, and the problem is more common in younger people. Workplace stress often leads to negative emotions, which in turn interferes with our sleep. To make matters worse, poor sleep quality and low mood can create a vicious cycle.
Emotional insomnia is mainly manifested as difficulty falling asleep, usually due to various negative emotions and emotional instability. These negative emotions may be related to work pressure, family conflicts, interpersonal relationships and other things in life. In the short term, these things can cause us to suffer from temporary insomnia; But if we have long-term emotional problems, insomnia symptoms may continue to worsen, which in turn can have a negative impact on our overall health.
How does emotional insomnia come about? Essentially, it's because we feel that other things are more important than sleeping, so we keep thinking about it. Of course, many people's value judgment is made subconsciously, and they themselves are not aware of it, that is, they are at the first level of a person's cognitive ability, "I don't know I don't know".
To address emotional insomnia, we need to recognize the value of sleep. Only when we are truly aware of the importance of sleep can we "sleep when it is time to sleep".
Sleep well and be more productive
When it comes to the value of sleep, many people only stick to the vague concept that "sleep is important" and rarely delve into how it is important.
In fact, a deeper understanding of the value of sleep is not only a process of conceptual clarity, but also an opportunity to empower us to act and clarify our goals. It's only when we truly recognize how adequate, high-quality sleep affects our efficiency that we value and strive to practice healthy sleep habits even more.
1. Restore energy: Sleep is a physiological activity that human beings must carry out, which helps the body and brain to recover, strengthens the immune system, and makes people feel energetic and more capable of coping with various tasks and challenges the next day.
2. Improve concentration: If a person does not get enough sleep, his attention may be distracted and it will be difficult to concentrate on completing tasks. On the contrary, adequate sleep can improve a person's concentration and make the person more focused on the task at hand.
3. Enhance memory: During sleep, the brain organizes and consolidates memories, which helps people better remember newly learned information.
4. Improve creativity: When people are in a state of exhaustion, their thinking may become rigid and it is difficult to generate new ideas. And getting enough sleep can stimulate the vitality of the brain and make people more creative.
5. Improves mood: If a person does not get enough sleep, he may feel irritable, irritable, or depressed. And getting enough sleep can make people feel more happy and satisfied, which can lead to more motivation to complete tasks.
Ways to fall asleep in 2 minutes
In my more than 20-year battle with insomnia, I have discovered an extremely effective strategy: to practice "mindfulness" at bedtime after deeply understanding the value of sleep.
Derived from Buddhist meditation, "mindfulness" has been refined and sublimated by practices such as zazen, meditation, and meditation, and encourages us to focus on the present experience rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.
In our daily lives, mindfulness can help improve our ability to focus, relieve stress and anxiety, improve our emotional management skills, and enhance our self-awareness and self-regulation.
It's actually quite simple to put it into practice. When we lie down and get ready to sleep, simply focus on our breathing, focusing on the changes in airflow with each exhale and inhale. With consistent practice, you may be surprised to find that you can fall asleep in two minutes.
This is because breathing can only happen in the present moment, and by focusing on it, we can effectively relieve stress and focus, stabilize our thoughts, avoid distractions, and make it easier to fall asleep.
During this process, if the thought occasionally drifts away, there is no need to force it, just gently bring it back to breathe.
It is worth mentioning that mindfulness not only helps to promote sleep, but also allows us to recover quickly, stimulating inspiration and creativity.
For example, when we wash our hair or take a shower, we often experience walking into a barbershop exhausted, as if the whole world is shrouded in haze. However, when we open our eyes when we finish washing our hair, the world suddenly becomes bright and clear, as if we are reborn.
From a psychological point of view, this process from chaos to clarity is similar to the spiritual awakening that comes with meditative practice. When washing our hair, we focus on the right temperature of the water, the gentle massage of the hairdresser, and even the sound of the water flowing clearly. This focus on the present allows us to temporarily forget the pressures and troubles of life, and the soul has been given a short "baptism".
Similarly, when we focus our attention on feeling the temperature of the water, the flow of water, and the touch of the body while taking a bath, the brain becomes more relaxed and clear, and ideas and inspirations are more likely to emerge.
So, when you're feeling tired or lost, try focusing on washing your hair or showering once. Let the flow of water take away the tiredness, and let the focus bring clarity of thought and inspiration. Every little detail in life can become a "baptism" of the soul.
However, my personal observation is that while the practice of "mindfulness" helps you fall asleep quickly, it is more important to really let go of the "minds" that are affecting your sleep in order to maintain a good sleep condition.
Wrapping up
The causes of insomnia are varied, some such as environment, disease, etc., which we cannot control and can only accept. But there are many factors that we can change, such as daily habits, mobile phone use, mental stress, etc. We need to truly recognise the importance of sleep and proactively adjust to these controllable factors. When we are faced with a choice and hesitate to drop what we are doing to go to sleep, remember that a good night's sleep is often the most valuable investment.
Finally, I would like to conclude with a quote I saw in the card note writing group I formed:"If you want to be quick and sleep less, if you want to be sustainable, sleep more. ”May we all cherish sleep and have a state of mind that can fall asleep whenever we want.
All of the above is done through the card note writing method. If you're interested in using card notes for reading and writing, you can add me as a friend. In the future, I will share more valuable dry goods about reading and writing.
People who read a lot can have a lot of temperament- end -
Author: Lei Mo
Father of a child
Focus on card note writing
Read 100 books a year and organize 1 card pen every day.
Read consistently and effectively, and think deeply over a long period of time.
Stick to what you will win.
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