I’m a mother of two young boys, I’m just about to move house and I work part time. Basically, I’ve got a lot going on.

I’ve had a uni degree partly finished and on the backburner for some years and I’ve always felt the pressure to finish. I just didn’t know how I would ever find the energy to get it done. I couldn’t even contemplate how that was going to happen.

So much reading.

Before I had children, I thought university was the right path for me. It was something that my parents would be proud of and it would enable me to get a good job (I know that’s not everything, but at the time I was offered a place in this degree, the look of pride on my mother’s face meant the world to me). At first, I enjoyed the study. I was working full time and studying at night. I was at uni until 10pm and completing assignments in all my free time.

But now, my heart’s just not in it. More than anything, it was something I felt I should do, not something I wanted to do. And it played on my mind often.

Finally, it all got too much, and so one night in particular, I found myself staying up late fretting about it, researching distance study options online.

Could I study at night on campus? Could I take intensive courses to get me through? And how would I ever manage this with work and children?

I mulled over ways that I could manage the workload and my head became so muddy that I just couldn’t see straight. You know those times when it all seems to pile on top of you and the stress is just so intense that you can no longer separate the small things from the large? I was in that mind state. Looking back now I know how silly I sound, but stress has a funny way of making things seem a lot more urgent and important than they are.

So I went to bed.

I would’ve ended up like this.

I wasn’t going to achieve anything in the state of mind I was in. I was confused, I was under pressure and I wasn’t happy. I couldn’t find a solution even though I’d been around and around searching for one.

I slept well that night surprisingly, and awoke with a much clearer mind. It’s funny how a good night’s sleep will do that for you.

And all of a sudden, all of the things that clouded my thinking only hours before had settled and I could see the situation for what it was. There really wasn’t a need for me to be as stressed as I was about it.

The next morning, I had seemingly had an epiphany in my sleep. I had a brand new attitude – sleep had given me the clarity that I needed. And I had decided to give myself a break and stop being my own harshest critic. For the first time in a long while, I let go of the guilt and the worry. I let go of the stress. And I let go of the burden weighing me down.

You know this feeling – I had it.

I will finish my course – one day, when the time is right. But I will no longer beat myself up about it. Finally I had realised that it’s ok that I want to devote my time and energy to a job that I adore and the children that I cherish, not spend my time engrossed in books that I’m not even sure I want to persevere with.

All I needed to realise this was a good night sleep, which as a mum can be pretty hard to come by.

When do you put unnecessary pressure on yourself?

Weird Sleeping Habits Of Successful People

Eminem puts tin foil on his windows to keep out the light.

Charles Dickens slept facing north to improve his creativity.

Mariah Carey surrounds her bed with 20 humidifiers and needs 15 hours of shut-eye per night.

Leonardo da Vinci's sleep schedule included 20-minute naps every four hours.

Michael Phelps sleeps in a chamber that's 8,500 to 9,000 feet above sea level to help increase his endurance performance.

Tom Cruise sleeps in a sound-proof 'snoratorium' because his snoring is so bad.