On sleepless nights

Questioning basic assumptions doesn't always need to be too formal. Especially when we do it in our personal lives. If the assumption is as simple as "I need to run with padded running shoes" or "I need a comfortable bed to sleep", testing could actually be insightful without requiring a dissertation.

In the light of this, in early January this year, I decided to see what would happen if I completely removed beds from my (sleeping) life. What's the worst that can happen?

[Note: I had already tested my first assumption mentioned above - I am already on my second pair of Vibram Fivefingers and don't see myself going back to "conventional running shoes" anytime soon]

After some research on bedless living (here, here, and here), I noticed that the idea might not be as silly as I initially thought. Many Japanese folk, given their general lack of space where they live, sleep on Japanese futons (not to be confused with the Americanised versions). The futon is set up every night before they go to sleep, and is packed away every morning. This very minimalistic set-up seems to have many benefits, some of which I will describe later.

I couldn't easily find a Japanese futon supplier in South Africa, so decided to wing it with the items I had handy. First off, I had a padded floor mat, initially bought for a home gym, which functions as a base layer. On top of this I needed another layer which would be more easily cleaned, and which has some extra padding. A yoga mat seemed perfect. Next up would be a washable sheet - a cheap throw from Mr Price looked like it would do the job.

Sounds good on paper, but how did it work out in practice? Well, take a look below:

Photo 1: Yoga mat on top of padded floor. 

Photo 2: Ready to sleep - just add blanket.

In fact, it worked out rather well. It has now been two months since I started sleeping on the floor, and I have a few observations to make:

1. It ain't all that bad. Sleeping on the floor will never be as comfortable as a Sealy Posturepedic with individual foam cells, but I didn't lose much sleep either.
2. The space I freed up in my room was amazing. In fact, that was one of the first things people noticed when they saw my setup. A smallish room now feels like a very spacious spot.
3. The ritual of setting up my bed at night and packing it away in the morning has turned out to be a fantastic. It allows me to "switch off" at night, and "switch on" in the mornings. (Also discussed here)
4. The relative lack of comfort is not an issue at night when I am resting, even though it took a couple of nights to adapt to the harder surface. And, surprisingly, it actually helps in the morning when I need to get out of bed!
5. I had some small issues with straining my back early on, but I'm not sure whether it was due to exercise or sleep. Adding a good back stretch to my daily stretch ritual sorted that out quickly though. I also had to play around with pillow configurations, since that made a big difference in my sleeping "posture".

So, on the whole, this has been a very positive experience! I don't know if this will be a permanent solution to my sleeping habits, or whether I will get bored with it 3 months down the line. The only thing I know is that I have been able to show in a very basic way that a "bed" as we know it is not really a "requirement" for getting good sleep.

With that settled, perhaps I will test a couple of more interesting assumptions next. I have already debunked the requirement of having a gym to exercise, and am steadily weaning myself from social media and non-essential technologies. Maybe a good next step will be going full vegan, and see whether my incessant need for meat is really warranted?

Okay, wait - there is a limit to this stuff.

Some assumptions are not to be messed with!



PS. A complete list of untouchable assumptions is given below:

1. Good steak always increases happiness. Steak-induced happiness increases health.
2. Bacon - ditto. I also don't care that eating pig flesh could be weird in some awkward pseudo cannibalistic way.
3. Bicep curls are the only worthwhile exercise (for men).
4. Prawn cocktail chips and speckled eggs contain all the vital nutrients needed for massive bicep growth - see point 3.
5. This assumption is not testable.
6. Hashtags are a direct link to the underworld. #askEurydice

#END