Part 2Appointing Yourself in Charge

Armed with all the great stuff you learned in Part 1, undoubtedly you’re now ready to kick some derriere and stand up for yourself—first by lying down longer and more often, as in sleep. You’re not sleeping enough, bucko.

When you’re well-rested, you can better handle everything that everyone is asking you to do. Not just your boss, but also your family, friends, and neighbors may tend to ask more of you simply because you can do it. So you need some carefully considered excuses.

If you can reduce requests for your time, you’ll finally be able to tackle your office and desk. (A desk, you may recall, is not a filing cabinet; window sills and the corners of your room are not permanent storage locations.) Then you can learn to manage piles and trials with smiles, and investigate some low-cost technology that won’t drain your brain to use. When you make it to that point, you’ll learn clever ways to handle all the messages that have been bombarding you.

Let’s begin with an eye-opening look at why you’re hardly able to stay awake days and (too often) find yourself up all night.