At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work—as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for—the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?’

…But it’s nicer here…

So you were born to feel ‘nice’? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don’t you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you’re not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren’t you running to do what your nature demands? (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations V.1)

Like almost everything else in life, more than enough sleep is too much. Studies show that sleeping more than an average of 7-8 hours a day can lead to diabetes, obesity, headaches, back pain, and heart disease. What’s worse, and more immediate, is that any hour spent sleeping beyond what your body actually needs to recuperate or repair itself is an hour you have lost forever.

An hour lost to sleep will not be available to you for meditation. That hour cannot be used to make you stronger and more resilient. It cannot be used to make the world a better place. In that hour, you will not test yourself and grow. You will do no great deeds in that hour. You will not even remember it happened. It is simply buried, eternally, beneath the sands of time. An irreplaceable treasure lost to the ages.

Better to take back the hour and use it as your nature demands. You’ve rested enough. Time now to take a deep breath and get on with living your life.

If you are interested in learning more about Practical Stoicism, you can visit the parent post here.