Tuesday 29 December 2015

I can't sleep.





It's 5.30 in the morning and I haven't slept a wink all night, not for the want of trying, because my beloved has a bad knee and has spent the hours of darkness yelping with every movement. And yes, I've administered pain killers, bleary eyed advice & support before giving up and getting up.

Possibly too much information, but I'm a snuggler; I go to sleep with the duvet up round my ears, hunkered down into the pillows as snug & cosy as the proverbial. I can't sleep if my feet are cold, if you breathe on me, or bizarrely, if my hair's on my face - duvet yes, hair no.

If I dwell on the chill in my feet, the breathing on my cheek or the hair tickling my face then I reinforce my insomnia and that elusive sleep continues to evade me. I lay awake wishing I was warmer, that you wouldn't breathe so near to me, that my hair was shorter... If, however, I put some socks on, turn over to face away from you or sweep those stray tendrils away I can soon enter a blissful state of slumber.

As governors and leaders we must guard against getting caught up in thinking too much about the 'problem', wasting valuable and limited time and resources revisiting issues without identifying solutions and acting on them in a timely fashion. Tempting though it may be, dwelling on the problem itself doesn't resolve anything: identify it, find a solution and act.

I'm off to the spare room, make of that what you will.


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