Dark Nights, Dark Thoughts: Never Make Big Decisions in the Dark Hours

I remember a comment a colleague made to his team right before Yahoo!’s infamous annual Sales Conference as a warning against the drunken debauchery the event was known for. (It is a media sales organization after all). He said “Nothing good can happen to your career after midnight.” Incredible advice. But it’s more than just about your career and work life. It’s relevant to most life decisions.

I am a night owl so I naturally stay up later. I tend to get a lot of work and reading done late at night. You are alone with your thoughts which in normal times is a good thing.

But the time when this is not good is when you are facing trouble or some big setback in life. Work trouble, family trouble, health or whatever crisis. You are tired and really stressed. I find my thoughts veers to pure crazy. And usually to some extreme form of despair or anger. You have some really dangerous and dark thoughts.

This is the absolutely worst time to be making decisions. So I force myself to meditate for at least 20 minutes and try to go back to sleep. And surprisingly you just feel better in the morning. You have a clearer head as the crazy late night fugue state is gone.

Why do I write about this? It’s been a really rough time for many of us since 2020 and it’s only getting worse not better. Don’t make big decisions in the wee hours after midnight. Try to get some sleep and I guarantee the situation will look much better in the morning.