Hi, my name is Nataly and I don’t get enough sleep.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, this is not news. Despite many attempts, including yes, the ever-cliche New Year’s resolution, I’ve failed to figure out how to get a decent amount of sleep on a regular basis.

I will be the first to tell you that not getting enough sleep is bad for me: I’m tired a lot, more stressed, and much, much less productive than I would be if I were well-slept. But however much I try to prioritize sleep, “stuff” gets in the way.

I noticed something the other day. Whenever I talk to friends or colleagues about what now has become my fairly widely-known lack of sleep issue, one of the first things I say is “Oh, you know, with a kiddo, work, and everything else, I just don’t see where I can find the time.” In other words, I use my overly-busy-working-mother status as an excuse. And while there is absolutely truth to it — c’mon, no mom I know, working outside the home, at home or not working, says that she gets all the sleep that she needs — I think I’m full of it.

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I’ve always been a bit suspicious of the idea that money can’t buy happiness. My take on it is a bit different: Money ALONE can’t buy happiness, but it can help buy experiences that make you happier.

For example, going on vacation absolutely positively makes me happier. I’d go further and say that getting away from the day-to-day routine and traveling to a destination away from our home is almost as essential to my well-being as eating or sleeping. Do we need a ton of money for this? No, we can always hop in a car and spend the weekend at a little cottage by the beach or even stay with friends in a different city. But being able to spend some money on vacations means being able to visit new and amazing places, eat awesome food, see new art, enjoy new culture and music and yes, be more happy.

I’ve had a life motto for a while that goes something like this:

Life is short. Collect experiences.

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 I stress a lot. It’s an unfortunate tendency and trust me, if I could give it up, I would, but we seem to be united for life. In some ways, I feel like I’ve learned to deal with stress a bit better as I’ve gotten older. I think this is mostly due to the fact that as a working mom there is a LOT of stuff to stress about and if I didn’t figure out how to deal with some of it, I — and my family — would be in big trouble.

Here are some of the ways I deal with stress:

I plan. This might sound odd but when I am really stressed out about something in the present I plan for the future. And by plan I mean I literally take out a piece of paper and start writing out plans or future to-do lists. Two years ago we were in a really stressful housing situation — trying to sell one house, buy another, with lots of complications in between — and I was starting to lose it. So I’d plan for what I’d need to do at the new house, make to-do lists for contractors, write and re-write shopping lists. I was future-escaping the situation, you could say.

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Do you think you’re sleep deprived?

Most parents I know would answer yes, myself very much included. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that getting more sleep is constantly at the top of my to-do list and consistently the one thing I don’t do well. This year I went as far as to make it my one and only New Year’s resolution and what I can report so far is that I’ve failed at it and quite miserably.

On a good night, I sleep 6 hours. On an average night, 5. Often, it’s less than that. And while some of my friends (sans kids) marvel at how “well I function” on so little sleep, the truth is, I need more sleep and I would function much better if I got more. I know for a fact that I am less irritable when I get enough sleep, I am less prone to endlessly snack to keep up my energy and I can get more done because I am not dragging myself around and my brain is sharper.
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