We spend about a third of our lives asleep. I’m a medical novice, but know that sleep is an important aspect of maintaining good health. There are however many types of sleep, some better for you than others, and I’ll stick to some business layman’s explanations below:
Day dreaming – thinking one will get paid for simply showing up at work.
Night Mares – having debts that exceed the value of the corresponding assets, made worse when cash flow will not sustain repayments.
Medicated sleep – having someone “help” you to get to sleep, for instance your lawyer telling you there is nothing to worry about. At best, waking up involves paying legal fees. At worst, symptoms are similar to “Night Mares”, but occur whilst still awake.
Asleep at the wheel – any business leader or manager who hasn’t realised that business that operates at highway speeds eventually reaches the end of highway conditions, and has failed to prepare for the sudden stop.
Sleeping with someone – built on creating a level of trust that will one day evaporate. An example is to form Parliament by making promises to your bed-fellow.
Bury-our-head-in-the-sand sleep – also known as Industrial Relations. The winds keep shifting the sands, burying us all deeper. People known to suffer from this come from all sides of politics: Unions who think companies have bottomless pits of money but haven’t made the connection with businesses failing and moving overseas at an increasing rate; The Liberals for not working towards a plan; and Labor who at a Federal level have no years of experience at ever running a company and thereby not understanding the implications of any of their decisions.
Head-under-the-pillow sleep – similar to, and easily confused with, the Head-in-the-Sand but here you are trying to cut out the noise to get to sleep in the first place. One example is the Debt problems in Europe. This type of sleep is becoming increasingly common in a wide range of places. Whilst not previously thought to be contagious, we are about to spend lots of money to research why this condition is arising with increasing frequency.
Snoring on our backs – it is caused by having too much fun (like having a big night on the town) when the inflow of money seemed good, without re-investing the profits for a rainy day. Leads to unsettled sleep, and frequently accompanied with a hang over.
Sleep walking – a confused state of seeming awake and even communicative, the sufferer really has no idea what’s going on. Examples include most states’ Public Services for the last 5-10 years, culminating in the current scary waking up process.
Cat nap – the shortest type of sleep but gives a surprising amount of relief. Some countries have developed this into a fine art and given it the fancy name Siesta (or Bailout). Australian Banks have called it a Line of Credit. Used wisely, if can help you through a tough time.
Wake up with a Fright – what many people are about to do.
Deep sleep – also known as Sound sleep, it’s the ultimate type of sleep where you are so far below a conscious level that you blissfully can’t hear a thing. Hopefully one day soon, we’ll all be free of life’s little worries, and be able to enjoy not having to hear all the complaints from all the other sleepers above.
Until next time, don’t hit the snooze button. Seize the day, as they say, and don’t be caught Just Sleeping.
As always, onwards and upwards!
Fred Carlsson
General Manager
