Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.
by Dr. Basil Springer GCM
“When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.” – Proverbs 3:24
Guyanese Derrice Deane, a respected Caribbean-American Washington DC-based journalist, responded to a recent column, by commenting:
“Dear Basil: I agree with your prescription for ageing gracefully. I think we would all do better if more medical practitioners were committed to enthusiastically promoting that prescription as a lifestyle, rather than depending on prescriptions for drugs with the belief or acceptance that ageing means illness or decay.
I am curious about Dr. Ramnarine’s lecture series on Energy Medicine. Sounds interesting.
“I am also curious about your own sleep pattern. I have not heard of that before. Do those two-hour bouts of sleep happen naturally or are they programmed? Do they happen within a certain time frame, or spread out over 24 hours? I would like to understand the thinking behind the pattern. Cheers.”
My response: “Dear Derrice, thanks for endorsing my formula. My own medical practitioners tell me to keep on doing what I am doing, so I try my best not to backslide. I have known Dr. Harry Ramnarine for about 10 years, and I enjoy chatting with him as a fellow mathematician.
He loves to share his ideas and the results of his work in energy medicine. Please contact him at info@ishtara.com – (868) 665 8041.”
One of my MPE colleagues Sajeel Nisar, who hails from Pakistan, also wrote to me last week: “Basil, requesting you to do another one (column) on the hourly division of the day. The work, sleep and activity time schedule. Personally, I know a few people who will benefit, including myself.”
Let me give some background as to how I have managed my “24 hours” over the years. When I was at school, I was engaged in many extra-curricular activities and got home at dusk. After dinner with the family, I was tired and not in the mood to do homework at that time. I therefore went to sleep.
I would rise from sweet slumber about 5 a.m., as I recall, fresh as a daisy and ready do my homework. Then I would have breakfast, shower and head to school.
Towards the end of my secondary school days, I would adjust my wake-up time so that I could swim out to the boats at the Aquatic Club early in the morning with my uncle-in-law and his friends.
This pattern of sleeping continued when I went to university in Jamaica, Wales and London. I found it to be a very efficient system because I went to sleep when I was tired and worked the brain after resting the body.
When I got married and started to work “eight to four” the pattern continued but I was more conscious of the need to budget my 24-hour allocation to achieve what I thought was an acceptable balance – an average of eight hours’ sleep, 10 hours’ work, and six hours of personal time dedicated to my family, exercise, helping others, and myself.
I recall sneaking in a powernap at lunchtime to refresh me for the afternoon work session. Powernaps are not uncommon in the Springer family.
Now in the retirement phase of my life when I work virtually from home, my activities are writing, reading, playing computer games, keeping up with the news, managing emails, and engaging in a limited number of social media. I have introduced a further variant where I sleep four times a day to give me that greater flexibility and efficiency.
My typical day now is work 8-11 a.m. (3 hours); sleep 11 a.m.-12 noon (1 hour); personal 12-2 p.m. (2 hours); work 2-4 p.m. (2 hours); sleep 4-5 p.m. (1 hour); work 5-7 p.m.
(2 hours); personal 7- 10 p.m. (3 hours); sleep 10 p.m. – 2 a.m. (4 hours); work 2-5 a.m. (3 hours); sleep 5-6.30 a.m. (1.5 hours); and personal 6.30-8 a.m. (1.5 hours).
In summary, the daily distribution of my time averages
10 hours of work; 7.5 hours of sleep; and 6.5 hours of personal time. It works for me … perhaps posterity will benefit.
Dr. Basil Springer GCM is a Change-Engine Consultant. His email address is basilgf@marketplaceexcellence.com. His columns may be found at www.nothingbeatsbusiness.com
