Sleep?

[Sam From the Midwest]

I just finished the Extreme Ownership book via Audible, mostly utilizing it while commuting, doing chores, etc. 

The book mentioned SEALs that got more done by getting up early. Is this after a full night of sleep or sacrificing sleep to accomplish more? This may seem like an odd thing for someone to focus on after completing the book. I know someone who can get by with 4-5 hours of sleep while I require about 8 or my mental focus and/or physical performance start to suffer. I suppose it's worth noting that I'm about 40 and used to be able to get away with staying up late, drinking, etc. 


I wish I were in a position to bring Jocko and Leif to my pharmacy department. Many bosses, virtually no leaders, and many employees who do not operate as a team. I started to notice some flaws when I began working more closely with surgeons. The surgeons know how to lead and inspire. The book did not help my view of my superiors. 

[mynewunit]

The sleep concept has 2 important directions.  
  First, getting up early is a way to take action. That in an action over reaction.  Reactive people back load their days, stay up till failure, then wake up when they get to it. People who set the start time and end time of their day are more likely to be happy, have control over their lives, and get more done. 

  Second, the hours of sleep are not the important part. The important part is to steal from sleep, not let sleep steal from life.  8 hours is fine.  Set your wake up time.  Try 6 AM every morning.  Build your first 2 hours of the day. Get up. Maybe build up a sweat. Read a chapter. Write a page. Hit the shower then go to work.  Then build you lead up to bed. Call a friend. Pack a lunch. Foam Roll. Pay bills. Do the books. Hit your knees. Get in bed. Once you do this 10 times you will know how long they take. The hard part is doing it on weekends.

 Once you are locked in on the same wake-up time everyday. You will be able to steal from sleep to get a little more life. Not everyday, but once or twice a week you will steal an extra hour to make a little more progress. If you can keep the routine you may be able to seal more from sleep.

 Start small at the work place.  Lead up the chain of command. You can be a leader without being a boss. Be humble. Correct out of love. Cast vision. Know your team. Find out their dreams and help them down their paths.

If you are willing to have the B-team show up, we might be able to find a trooper who can come by and chat to your team. Obviously the culture has to come from within, but sometimes a fresh face is more easily heard.

[Sam again]

Thanks for the insightful response.

I should have probably clarified that I used to be an insomniac and life changed for the better when I began getting good REM sleep. Being an endurance athlete, they drill it into our skulls that sleep equates to improved recovery. I also agree that I could probably cut an hour of sleep here and there to get more stuff done. I am reasonably productive with my time away from work. I'm able to work out 25-30 hours a month, which isn't bad for a pharmacist with 2 kids. I consistently wake up at 6am with or without my alarm, even on weekends.

I'll see if I can plant a seed with leadership or coworkers who have better rapport with management. Very fragile egos and any suggestions that our leadership is less than perfect could lead my own termination. I spent a lot of time saying "we don't do that" when listening to Extreme Ownership via Audible. I honestly didn't notice the problem was so bad until I started spending more time with my surgeons.

Large academic hospital pharmacies could be a goldmine for you guys! Leadership is often tyrannical with no real input from staff. It would seem that newer pharmacists are obsessed with credentials and letters behind their name. Teamwork is modest at best and it would seem that they want to do everything but the job they're being paid to do! Pharmacy is transitioning to more females than males (I say this delicately and diligently), although some of it could be due differences of a new generation. I grew up with teachers telling us that we were nothing until we proved ourselves, as did our parents. I am thankful for this upbringing. My "gut" tells me that many of the new pharmacists assume they are great and don't need to prove themselves.

I would pay money to watch pharmacists attempt the Hell Week routine for more than an hour.

Nonetheless, thanks for the reply. I plan on getting Jocko's Warrior Kid soon.

[mynewunit]

Glad you are aware of your own status on sleep.

Situations like pharmacies have certain standard levels to maintain.  While Jocko would say that every problem is created and solved by leadership, people are not rewarded for a lack of discipline. 
It takes time to understand and appreciate the art of a job that is based in science or mathematics.  I have this in my industry where the guys who are over a decade in, they see the stumbling blocks and the possible complications.  I know you understand how grapefruit and vitamin K can reek havoc on medication regiment. Help the early pharmacists understand that their job has many level of art. The chemistry and accounting of the lab and pills. The interaction between medications. The Holistic view of treatment. And finally the art of manipulating the patient response. Invite them to see these when you talk to the "cutters". Show them that their team extends beyond the rX.

Rest well. Sam.

[Sam again (again)]

Sorry about the large pause.

I would agree that the first problem is that discipline is not rewarded. Being efficient often means being "punished" with more work. Being inefficient is "rewarded" with less work. Obviously, this exists on many job fronts. You can probably guess which camp I'm in. Giving less than one's best isn't how I'm wired.

Unique to academic hospital pharmacy is a focus on credentials with modest focus on actual job duties. I'm very fortunate that my very small team is more "old school" and focuses on getting tasks done. We don't constantly pass work off to the next shift. Another team constantly doesn't get work done and constantly passes it to the next shift. This often snowballs.

With specific regards to leadership, I hear a lot of "it was decided" if a decision isn't popular. Zero ownership. Occasionally I'll hear "we decided.....", which loosely translates to one person decided. Perhaps due to a lack of respect, word often gets out. I'd imagine this might not happen if everyone were on board. We also like to brag about being the best without ever looking at how other departments might operate. Managers don't like to listen to the worker bees.

What's your e-mail address?

[mynewunit]

[e-mail] but don't tell anyone, there are crazy people on the internet.

[yidwithglock]

Looking for some feedback about sleep.  I get up every day at 4:20 (4:30 was just a little too tight getting everything done; the extra ten minutes made the difference); run the dogs for an hour, workout for an hour, time with the wife, etc.  I'm averaging about 5 1/2 hours/night.  Now that i have a Garmin, i can break that down into: 2-2 1/2 hours light sleep, 2-2 1/2 hours REM, 30-45 min deep sleep.  I've been on basically that schedule for 6 years.  It didn't come naturally; i had to bust my butt to learn it.  But now it feels normal.  I feel good, i function well, i'm healthy, i think i'm getting decent progress on my lifts.  And during that time, my career has taken off.  Should i worry about the 30-45 minutes of deep sleep?  I've tried CBD oil and gaba to improve it, but all it does is move my deep sleep to the beginning of my sleep cycle; i don't get more of it.  My only real concern is whether it is impacting my workout recovery.  

[mynewunit]

The real answer would come from Dr. Kirk Parsley
Our pediatrician told us that it is easier to test and see if your body wants to sleep more, than to determine if you are getting enough sleep. They gave us a few tests for the kids. If they are over tired, they fall asleep on short drives in the car. Also, if you can go to bed an hour early and fall asleep quickly, you might be short on sleep. 
Do you get the dip in the middle of the day where you are tired, typed as I yawn? 
Consistent sleep tends to be healthier than generically more sleep. Early bedtime often found to be healthier, physical health. Early riser also found to be healthier, personality and stress.  Also, check your stimulant use. Can you go a day without coffee, pre-workout, tea, energy drink? If it takes a bunch of caffeine you might need more sleep. 

Talking about workout recovery, that is more interesting to me than the sleep question. What are you having for recovery issues? You might want to try this. Firas and Rogan talking about RPE, you could just start around 6 minutes in to save some time.