Instead of blogging about New Year’s resolutions, I’m thinking the better topic is New Year’s solutions. Solutions to the never ending question of “why can’t I sleep at night.” This question means something different to everyone. For some, it could be time to address those nagging pains and buy a new mattress. For others, those nagging pains are as sign that there’s a serious problem that needs medical attention. The truth is our inability to get a full 8 hours stems from the fact that as a society, we have no inner peace.

Inner peace is not just a Buddhist or Hindi sentiment. Inner peace can refer to peace of mind, or being at peace. This peace may come from a strong sense of self, or religious or spiritual faith. Being at peace is usually the opposite of being stressed or anxious. Therein lies the problem. When are we not stressed or anxious? Time is against us more often than it is for us. Our burdens are heavy and we feel compelled to keep them to ourselves.

Here are a few solutions; and I will be trying a few.

Ask for help. Stop trying to be everything to everyone. Pick your biggest stressor and focus on that. Reduce your to do list by one item per day (maybe pick the one you didn’t do the last few times it was on your list). Use all your resources (time, money, energy, technology, people, etc.) Create a bedtime routine, waking up routine, and a coming home routine. Procrastinate less.

We all procrastinate, whether it’s on the big things, or the little things. For me, I often say, I’ll do that later when it comes to simple tasks. For the last week if I hear my inner voice say “I’ll do X later”, I make sure and do it now. It’s worked so far. That’s probably because I’ve only been implementing it on small tasks, but I’m going to try to get to the bigger things soon. Baby steps.