More talk about sleep
Because today is an 8-hour workday for me, I took the 6:25 am train instead of the 5:23 am train.
Wow. What a difference an hour of sleep makes. I woke up with a bounce in my step, instead of feeling like zombie-woman.
It’s a reoccurring theme here – my struggle to get enough sleep. I fill my days too full and make my expectations too high. I set myself up for failure and exhaustion.
It makes me very disappointed in myself that I am still struggling with this. Being healthy is not just eating well and exercising. It’s a triad of eating well, exercising AND getting enough rest.
I tried to combat my exhaustion by taking naps the past two weekends. But a 2 or 3-hour nap in the middle of the day? Or two 1-hour naps in one day? That doesn’t seem right (even if it feels right).
I’ve been putting a lot of hope into this 3-day weekend at the river with my family – that it will be relaxing and easy-going. I imagine myself sleeping on the beach, closing my eyes and relaxing on the boat, having relaxing conversations with my (immediate) family, enjoying leisure activities… we’ll see. I’ve learned it’s best not to have my expectations too high (ever, really) when going somewhere where my imaginary schedule has to be coordinated with 9 others people’s.
And however the weekend turns out, what happens when I come back? I’ll still be skimping on sleep, I’m sure.
Themocracy
I always feel like I need more sleep. When I was sick and skipped running in the morning, I slept about 2 hours later (because I skipped showers too) and felt so much better even though I was sick. It’s amazing how much lack of sleep affects us and we don’t even realize until we get it.
Have a great weekend! I love that you have an imaginary schedule. That’s something I would do too. I’m sure you will have a great time even if things don’t go according to it.
I used to be a warrior and could get 5-6 hours of sleep a night, no problem…but then I was a. young and b. guzzling massive amounts of caffeine. I think I need 7 – 7.5 hours a night. But that’s so hard to do!
I love what you said about expectations when so many other people are involved. So true! It’s hard for me since I’m a planner, but I don’t want to be one of *those* people. (okay I probably am, but I’m workin’ on it). 🙂
Have fun on your trip!!
Sounds like heaven at the river. Hope you catch some zzzzz’s.
Sleep is so important. I know the feeling of always feeling behind and going through days trudging along.
Enjoy your weekend. It sounds like a lot of fun. I hope you get plenty of sunshine and a few winks. =)
Yes, you make a very good point here. Sometimes…when I know I should be exercising, I sleep, not out of laziness, but because I am so exhausted that I think pushing myself harder will do more harm than good. 🙁
And I hear you about the expectations on the weekend. This morning there was a huge computer glitch at United and the flights were all screwed up. I started to freak out about my flight tonight but I thought, you know what? Fretting about it all day will do nothing but make me feel crappy. We’ll get to North Carolina, it just might end up being in the morning. And that is OK, we’ll get there. 🙂
Oh, be careful…those vacation expectations are the worst…especially when those expectations are Relax. and Rest.
BUT, I hope yours come true!
I have problems with sleep too. Have a great weekend and I hope it is nice and relaxing and full of snoozing 🙂
When I switched jobs in August 2007, my commute time went down from an hour to just 20 minutes, AND I started work at 9:00 instead of 8:30, so I got an extra hour of sleep as well, and I could not BELIEVE the difference it made. Part of why I love working from home.
Relax and enjoy the long Holiday weekend. I know what a struggle it is with a long commute. I promise, it gets easier over the years.
Kim, you just described my life for the last *10 years* (although I didn’t start napping once in a while until about a year ago)! Scary…
Too much to do, and too little time to do it all. I’ve been searching for a solution for at least 10 years now, and the closest I’ve come is to prioritize and let less-important things slide… Which is why I haven’t cleaned my bathroom in at least a couple months and it’s kinda nasty. 😛 And it’s why my dozens of personal projects (and 3 “active” ones) rarely get any actual work done on them.
Not writing as much (in email, blogs, etc.) and using the phone and face-to-face communication more instead helps too. But for me, that happens at the expense of well-organized deep thought and mass-communication — the sort I haven’t had in 6 months, until basically yesterday morning when I took my first-ever vacation day from work since I started a year ago…
Forcefully carving-out quiet time helps too. I’ve been on PTO yesterday and today, will be on Monday, and have told all my co-workers that my access to phone and email, etc. will be “limited, especially approaching the July 4 weekend”. I’ve leisurely checked my work email a few times, just to avoid letting it pile-up, and have only (very briefly) replied to 2 of them (and only so I could start wheels turning on other work while I’m out).
Hopefully my new apartment will help too. My commute will be cut from about 40-55 min/day each way to about 15-20 min/day each way, hopefully saving me at least 100 minutes/week to do whatever I want (which theoretically could include sleep. Let’s see if I have the discipline to do it!)…
arrghhh i SO struggle with getting enough sleep. and the worst part is it is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT my own fault – i just putter at night instead of going to bed! and i don’t know how to make myself stop!
You’re right – getting enough sleep makes a huge difference. I try to go to bed by 11ish every night, even though that doesn’t always happen. I also try to not watch TV or stare at the computer for at least 30 minutes before bedtime. Instead, I like to lay in bed with a book and read til I get super sleepy…I think it definitely helps!
I totally agree with you on the importance of sleep, but it is a constant struggle for me too. I have a hard time making myself go to bed at night, but then wind up paying for it in the morning. I get in bed at a decent time, but then lay there and watch TV for an hour or more. Have a great weekend, and get some rest:)
Truthfully, I can’t say I totally understand because I’m one of those blessed with the ability to sleep anytime I want, anywhere I want…but I really do know how painful it is to lose sleep, so I feel for you.
I heard that drinking a glass of milk before bed helps. And also reading, or watching TV. If everything does not work, maybe talk to your doctor about it? As you already know, sleep IS very very important. Best of luck!
I’m 100% with you on this but I think it’s a symptom of our world that we feel that we need to FILL our days to the top and that sleep is considered an extra. I’m struggling at the moment b/c due to time zones, I end up talking to my Boy either early in the morning or late at night and my body is suffering. Right now, all I want is to nap.
Good luck with it. I wish I had the solution 🙁
I’ve had a sleep problem ever since I hit menopause and that was 10 years ago. My problem is it takes 2 or 3 hours to fall asleep. Fortubately
I have been able to sleep late in the morning but now that the baby is here sleeping late won’t be an option once Sarah goes back to work. I guess I’ll just have to grab sleep when I can.
I won’t take sleeping pilss either. Well, I hope you have a great weekend and get some rest.
I think we all over look the importance of sleep…that extra hour can make such a difference. I can’t believe you take such an early train! When I had to be at the hospital before 7am for clinicals in nursing school, I had to get on the 5:15 train which meant leaving my house no later than 5am. You would think that people would try to sleep or something, but all the workers (painters, construction workers) who commuted in were on there and very used to be up at that hour. They would talk all the way into Chicago! It drove me crazy…I loved the silence of the 6:30-7:30 trains.
tori – It seems like we get sick because of lack of sleep, then we have to use that time to catch up! It’s a bad cycle to get caught in. The weekend went pretty well 😉
Holly – I am a total planner. So it’s hard for me to accept when my plans aren’t seen through. I am bad with change!
Beth – I did! I took a nap on the beach on Friday, a small nap on Saturday, and laid in the sun on Sunday!
Jo – That is what I hate – that feeling of always being behind! It makes me crazy.
diane – I think that is the smart thing to do at times! You have to listen to your body. I hope you made it to NC okay 🙂
Hotch Potchery – I know 😉 It went okay, surprisingly.
Jamie – I hope you had a relaxing weekend too. I had to take the day off today to see the doc, so now I am realaxing a bit more 🙂
Jess – I wish I could do that!
Tony – I hope it does! Sometimes, I wonder how much more I can take!
E – I hope your new apartment helps! I think I do need to cut back and re-prioritize. I just have so much I want to do.
Alice – I always have the goal to go to bed and end up doing small things as well. It is entirely our own fault! 😉
Shaina – I should try that agai . Books always make me fall asleep!
Amanda – That is why we have to get the TVs out of the bedroom! 😛 Riiiiight… 😉
Sophia – I don’t have problems falling asleep at night (anymore), just getting to bed on time 🙁
Gemfit – Maybe the solution is to quit expecting so much from ourselves! 😉
joanharvest – Wow. A few hours every night? That is hard 🙁 I hope it gets better for you!
Susan – Ugh! I hate it when people are so chatty SO early! YUCK!