Hello,

I’m a professional that had been doing side work for a few years and decided to quit my full-time job a few months back. My workload is fairly similar-- I traded complicated work to simpler work with the added business responsibilities, and I no longer have to do work at night. It’s all at home, on my own schedule except for managing toddlers.

I noticed that despite not having to wake up early, commute 3 hours a day, or be “on” all the time that I was still tired. Then I had a really bad month where I had to work every weekend, and then capped it off with getting sick. When I was sick I went to bed earlier and didn’t drink.

I’m not even a heavy drinker-- maybe a drink with my wife in front of the TV after dinner more often than not. But once I got better I continued this and definitely noticed that on nights that I had nothing to drink, I woke up feeling much better-- even my back didn’t hurt as much (which it usually does at night).

So I’ve been getting 8-9 hours of sleep for the past month, and aside from Thanksgiving and other one-time events, have been doing no alcohol in front of the TV.

I’m suddenly completely awake and aware when I sit at my desk. Yesterday the day ended, the kids came home, and I had energy and didn’t feel like death.

I know most of the people here embrace the grind, but IMO the grind is a means to an end. Now that I’m through it, I’m just blown away at how much sleep and alcohol have to do with quality of life.
Anyway, if you’re feeling burnt out and tired, I highly recommend not having a night cap, putting down your phone, getting 8-9 hours of sleep,and doing it consistently for a few weeks until you make up your sleep debt. Easier said than done, but it’s insane how much better I feel.