Rich was finally given the chance at work he has been waiting for. His ideas were handpicked and will shape the direction of the company’s new marketing campaign. He has always been a hard worker and excitedly welcomed the new challenge.

The campaign started off well, and Rich was pleased with the progress. He vigorously worked to reconcile deadlines early. Each meeting was meticulously scripted, down to the minute. Most days, he was the last to leave the office. Outside of work, he spent a great deal of time with his mind on the project.

Nonetheless, Rich took pride in the fact he did not let his new role conflict with his family life. He has been in the stands for every one of his son Tyler’s baseball games, and despite logging extra hours, home in time to help with dinner. What he has noticed, however, is a change in the quality of his sleep.

Rich has never considered himself a “deep sleeper”, but now notices he almost never wakes up feeling rested. In fact, he is typically up well before his alarm goes off  at 6:00a.m. He initially welcomed the extra time….he could get Tyler up for breakfast and ready for school, allowing him to get into the office a little earlier. Now, he realizes he feels tired most of the day. At the office, he often has to concentrate more on keeping his eyes open than on his work.

After 3 consecutive nights spent with his mind racing in bed and unable to clear thoughts of the following day’s tasks, Rich mentioned his dilemma to his co-worker Brian while taking the elevator to the 12th floor. Brian expressed empathy as he had dealt with a similar issue in the past. He told Rich that he found some success keeping a notebook on his nightstand. If thoughts seemed to keep him awake, he’d jot them down in the notebook.

Rich initially laughed the idea off and thanked Brian for his input. After spending that night tossing and turning with no sleep in sight, he went into the living room and wrote down his thoughts on an old receipt he found on the kitchen table. The next 2 nights, he wrote down his thoughts on the same receipt. On the way home from work Friday evening, Rich stopped at the convenience store 2 blocks from the house to pick up a notebook to replace the one he “borrowed” from Tyler’s room the night before. He continues to sleep well, even with the launch of the marketing campaign on the horizon.

This is a great example of using a simple notebook to transfer the thoughts that keep you restless from your mind to a piece of paper, ready to be tackled the following day.