As for that hustle mentality, Dr. Naiman believes the issue is societal. “I think there’s a subtle hypomania that’s crept into common culture,” he muses. “People aren’t just awake, they’re excessively awake. It’s not just that we ascend into the atmosphere and fly through the day—we’re in the upper atmosphere. What that means is it’s harder to come down.”
If a concerted effort to come down isn’t made by choice, the human body will simply shut down. “It’s been established with creative people that you burn the candle at both ends and eventually you crash,” Ostrovsky confirms. “You either go psychotic, or you break down, or you have a depressive or manic episode.”
To that point, Dr. Naiman stresses we can’t circumvent sleep: “We have to be willing to come down. I personally think that not only does that promote our health, but it promotes a different kind of creativity, a creativity that’s relevant to life.”
More importantly, both doctors debunk the notion that being productive requires a 24/7 workflow. “It’s a myth that you need to not sleep to actually grind,” Ostrovsky contends. “If you sleep and you exercise, then when you’re awake you’re much more productive than when you’re sleep deprived. You can get more done in a shorter period time if you’re sleeping well and you’re in good health.”
For anyone concerned that coming down and taking a break will somehow undo their work or undercut their passion, Naiman assuredly tells me: “People confuse the hustle mentality with true passion. If they take a moment and check in, they’ll realize that a lot of motivation is not inspiration, it’s fear.
“We move for two basic reasons: because there’s something behind us chasing us, or there’s something in front of us that inspires us. We would love to live a life informed more by inspiration. I think people need to slow down and actually feel and trust their gut. It’s about placing creativity over profit, and I know that’s not such a simple thing, but that helps people stay in touch with who they are and what they need.”
The moral of the story: whether or not you use sleep deprivation as a creative tool or a measure of your worth, if you don’t come down eventually, your work and your life will suffer.