Sleep: Some Just Do It Better

I enjoy doing nothing.

If there were a contest to determine who could go the longest without actually doing anything, I would watch that.  That's how serious I am.  I can waste time with the best of them.  Doing absolutely nothing.

Call it procrastination.  Apathy.  Maybe full-blown laziness.  Call it whatever you want.  I call it wonderful.

This luxury will not be available forever, at least that's what I'm told, but since I've been nothing but a student for the better part of two decades, it's a luxury I've enjoyed.

I think it was Abraham Lincoln who once said "Why do something today you can put off until tomorrow."  Actually, now that I read that, there's no way Lincoln said that.  He oversaw the Civil War, freed the slaves and talked about four scores and some other stuff once at Gettysburg.  The dude was busy.

I, fortunately for everyone involved, don't run America.  I'm a full-time student and a full-time sleeper.  I love doing nothing so much that I sleep for at least 8 hours a night.

That's right.  I sleep for eight hours almost every night of the week.  Just last night I fell asleep before Jon Stewart got to the guest-interview portion of his 11 p.m. program and woke at 9:01 a.m. only because my alarm starting causing a ruckus.  That's a solid 10 hours.  On a Wednesday. 

A full-night's sleep is essential. Something about REM cycles, Circadian rhythms and science. I sleep so much that I've never actually put coffee in my mouth. I just don't need it. Natural energy trumps caffeine.  Every time.

While 10 hours is on the high side, even for me, it doesn't mean that a good night's sleep is unattainable.  It's very attainable.  You just have to want it.

And you have to be willing to sacrifice some things.  Not every 25-year-old can commit to an early bed time.  I haven't seen an episode of The Colbert Report in about a year, and I can't tell you the last time I made it past half time of the late NBA game on TNT, ESPN or NBATV.  But that's why Youtube and SportsCenter exist.  Sacrifices have to be made.

The right equipment is also a necessity.  I have two pillows, but never use them at the same time.  I happen to like the free range of motion in my neck.  I have a two-year-old pillow-top comforter that literally changed my life.  You have to like your bed to spend 10 consecutive hours laying in it.  That's just common sense.

I love sleep so much that I genuinely feel badly for those who have problems sleeping.  Insomnia is my nightmare.  And, no, the irony of that sentence is not lost on me.  Wanting to sleep and simply not being able to has to be one of the most agonizing feelings in the entire world.  I can't even imagine.

I've been mocked, ridiculed and even called "Grandpa" by an enterprising few for my sleeping habits.  To all the haters:  Don't knock the hustle.  Even if in this case, it's the opposite of hustle.  It's sleep.