A common side effect of lockdowns and worry over COVID-19 is difficulty in getting the right quantity and quality of sleep. Increased home working has led to people losing touch with normal routines – not only work routines but bodily ones like eating and sleeping. Understandably, our bodies can become confused in the absence of the usual stimuli that tell us what time it is, how long it is till lunch, and when to switch off and hit the sack for a restful night’s sleep.

The World Health Organization recently added workplace burnout to its International Classification of Diseases as an occupational phenomenon. It isn’t classed as a disease but a ‘factor influencing health status’.   

It is no surprise that if the place where you spend most of your waking life is getting you down, then you are not going to be the happiest bunny on the block and eventually something will have to give. The WHO define burnout as follows:

Narcissists are particularly dangerous people. They can be charming, intelligent, and entertaining to be around. They can be colourful characters who are attractive because they see life differently. At first it can be like a breath of fresh air to meet a narcissist, because they do not conform to the way most of us think. They have big ideas, big plans, big goals – the very things we are told to strive for in all the success self-help books we read. This is why many narcissists are successful in work and business.

Americans consume twice as many material goods today as they did 50 years ago. As a result, most homes are full of junk. This has started to raise questions in the mind of the average consumer. How often do I actually use the arc welder I bought five years ago to do one job? Do I really need seven sets of wine glasses? Why is my shed full of plant pots when I haven’t planted anything for years?

It’s a new year, so how about a new you?

Most of us are free to move around and do what we like, but is that true for our minds? We tend to associate our thoughts with our sense of self, and according to mindfulness teachings, that is an illusion that leads to suffering.

What was Edison thinking when he invented the light bulb? Did it occur to him that his bright invention would deprive millions of healthy sleep patterns for the rest of time? Before electrification, we tended to go to bed when it got dark, to avoid the tedium of stumbling into furniture by the feeble light of oil lamps or candles. We pretty much went to sleep when most animals did. Sure, bedtime changed with sunset times throughout the year, but people practiced natural ‘sleep hygiene’. We evolved to function in this way, after all.