Overrated or Underrated?
Who needs sleep, right? The answer is me. I need sleep.
I read a quote on Pinterest, although I didn't see an author, "Creative minds never sleep." There are times when I find it difficult to get to get to sleep thanks to a new book plot running through my mind. On the other hand, at some point doesn't the creativity simply become chaos?
I have never been a very sound sleeper. Growing up it would take me an hour to get to sleep and I would wake up every two hours almost like clockwork to roll over to the other side of the bed. Shortly after college, I started having major problems getting to sleep and staying asleep. One to two hours of sleep a night became my norm. Three to four hours was a good night. Then every few weeks the exhaustion would finally catch up with me, and I would sleep hard one good night. A lack of sleep can be a nightmare on migraines, and I've always had severe and frequent migraines. I struggled like this for more than a decade until my family doctor realized how out of control my migraines were and sent me to a neurologist. Thankfully I'm on medicine now to help me sleep.
My trouble sleeping is a direct effect of my ADD. I had a professor once who claimed that ADD/ADHD people didn't need much sleep; about three hours a night would do. Her claim wasn't backed up by anyone or any literature that I've ever seen, and I don't believe it for a second. People with ADD/ADHD might have learned to function with less sleep out of necessary, but that doesn't mean they don't need more sleep.
I continued to go to work everyday. My students were progressing. I was functioning just fine with little to no sleep, but I was miserable. I was tired all the time. I needed sleep!
It took my doctor several tries to find something that would help me sleep. Even Ambien CR couldn't turn my active mind off Maybe the creative minds never sleep, but at what point does it cease to be creativity and start to resemble more chaos?
I do miss sleep from time to time when the creative juices really start flowing, but it isn't something I would want to do on a regular basis. It isn't something I would recommend to others either. Get a good nights sleep, and even a creative mind can think more clearly. Your creativity is a gift from God, not a by product of lack of sleep.
