Sleep, Balance, and the Freedom to Work on My Own Terms

My whole life, I heard my mom saying I didn’t sleep well. One exception happened when I was still a baby in Rio de Janeiro, where I was born. I slept so much that my mom panicked and asked for help, thinking something was wrong with me. She had closed the curtains, creating a dark cave, and the quiet, pitch-black room invited me to sleep for too many hours. The moment she opened the curtains and daylight crept in, I woke up.

I don’t have any memory of being a bad sleeper. And funny enough, when my son was a newborn—when most mothers talk about sleep deprivation—I had nothing to complain about. Maybe nothing changed for me? I breastfed around the clock and never had maternity leave because I was just starting a new job as a contractor. But I worked from home, which made a huge difference.

Fast forward to about three or four months ago when I finally got a smartwatch. I had resisted for as long as I could while so many people swore by it. I didn’t get it to track my sleep, but now, checking my sleep data every morning has become a habit. It’s a two-way check: first, the watch, and second, my body—to see if they match. “Poor sleep, you might feel especially tired today” pops up a couple of times a week. My numbers fluctuate between 50% and 80%, most commonly landing around 75%.

This means my sleep quality is fair—not poor, not great, and definitely not excellent. But 80% is creeping into the “good” zone, so I’m not far off. I also learned that I don’t need over eight hours of sleep each night. Around 7 hours and 40 minutes is ideal, and I can function surprisingly well with about 6.5 hours.

For years now, my two main sleep aids have been earplugs (I use Loop not only for sleep but also while traveling) and a sleep mask (Nitehood is my favorite—the bamboo fabric is incredibly soft, and best of all, no annoying elastic around my head).

When occasional insomnia strikes, it’s not fun, but I have my go-to solutions: Insight Timer for meditation, breathing exercises, sleep sounds with binaural beats, and most recently, Yoga Nidra. I rely on these tools every night when going to bed. Sometimes, I meditate or do breathing exercises during the day, and lately, I’ve even tried some live yoga classes.

Being active helps me wind down at night, and I rarely nap anymore. Naps used to be restorative, but now they interfere with my nighttime sleep. I avoid them, especially on workdays. Instead, I take long afternoon breaks to go for a walk, then shower before diving back into a few more hours of work. My schedule is unique—ten-hour days, four days a week—and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Having three days off is a game-changer, and I recommend it to everyone.

This schedule removed a lot of mental pressure. I no longer have to cram groceries, cooking, cleaning, and laundry into one day just to leave the second day off for fun. Now, I can spread those tasks out over two or three days while still having time for enjoyment. I even adjust my schedule seasonally. In spring and summer, I take longer afternoon breaks to go for a bike ride, paddleboarding, or simply soak up the sun before finishing my workday.

The anxiety I used to feel working in an office—the rush to finish work and “go home”—doesn’t exist when you work from home in a distributed company that operates 24/7. It’s hard to explain to new hires that they are the masters of their own time. You decide when you want to work, and we respect it. That kind of freedom takes getting used to. But after 3.5 years of working this way, my body and mind have fully adjusted, and I embrace the seasons to structure my work life in a way that brings balance.

How about you? What does your sleep and work-life balance look like?