Sleep...

[fajrdrako]

I've been feeling exceptionally good this week.

Why? Well, being on holidays is part of it.

I think the most important thing is: I've been getting 9 to 10 hours of sleep a night. Normally I get 7 to 8. It just doesn't seem to be enough. I feel clear-headed and unstressed for the first time in ages.

There's a moral to the story, but I know that once I'm back to work, getting that much sleep is going to be very difficult.

Resolution to try.

Comments

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

Remember my review of the book _Sleep Thieves_? Methinks this is another (albeit anecdotal) item of evidence for the book's claim: we need 9-10 hours of sleep a day.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think I do. I just made a pact with two friends that we will all make an effort to go to bed early and get enough sleep on weekdays.

I can't believe the difference it makes to how I feel.

It really is worth sacrificing the time, but I wish it didn't have to be so.

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

Agreed. This is why I am often not up till 11 am or later, even if I could get up before that.

IMNSHO, Thomas Edison and his hostility towards sleep has a lot to answer for ... it seems to have inspired the general hostility towards "wasting" time on sleep so often heard nowadays.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I know a lot of people who suffer from insomnia - I don't know how they cope. I know other people who find six hours of sleep per night (or less) adequate. No doubt Edison was lucky enough to cope jsut fine - doesn't mean other people could.

I remember the very-prolific author Peter David telling me that he managed to write as much as he has done (to deadline) by living for years on 5 hours sleep per night; then he burned out, lost his wife, and had to rebuild pretty much is whole life as the price of it. Scary thought. I hope he gets enough sleep now!

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

Frankly, I'm not sure. It sounds as though he did manage to rebuild his life, however. At least, that's what the Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_David) seems to say.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Oh, he did rebuild his life, very well, too. The point is that he had that point of crisis - always a good thing to avoid if we can.

[bright-lilim.livejournal.com]

I'm the same way; I usually need more than 8 hours of sleep a day. I can function with less but not happily.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I've been functioning with less (sometimes much less) and coping - with a price paid in stress and low spirits and reduced brain-power. I'm not even really aware of it most of the time, except perhaps in vaguely guilty way. Having been sleeping more this week, I can really, really see a huge difference. In many ways.

It's worth taking the time for the sake of increased energy. If I repeat this often enough I may believe it well enough to actually get the sleep I need.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

Me too. Problem is -- if I wake up any time after 5:30 a.m. (say, from the sun peeping in), I generally cannot go back to sleep. And I have great difficulty getting B-- to go to bed early. I feel constantly sleep-deprived, and it really affects my ability to write etc.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I have more than enough problems getting myself to bed early. When I have a reason to get up, I'm good at it, but it becomes all too easy (when my schedule is loose) to start going to bed late and getting up late. And I'd rather not do that.

As it is, I've had no time for exercise lately.

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

Getting up before I've slept 9 or 10 hours I am seriously wonky, seeing double, walking unsteady. But I blame it on the drugs :-)
Before I was so medicated I needed at least 8 hours and lets say 2 nights a week of 10. If I get to sleep much more, 12, 13 or 14 hours a night (plus perhaps a nap) this is a sign my mood is going the wrong way. Sleeping less is not a good idea either. (It will either make me depressed or hyper)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

When I was both depressed and ill, I was often sleeping 12 hours or more per day. It was quite horrible. As my health improved, I was able to sleep less. I don't know what would be best for me - I'll see how I'm faring after a week of 9 hours per night.

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

I remember reading about a method to find out how much sleep you personally need (assuming that people's sleeping need can vary between the 5 and the 10 hour). The thing is, reserve two weeks (or was it 4?) of no obligations. For you need to sleep whenever you are tired. Normally we are inclined to push tiredness away and to set alarms and such. The idea is that you get into you natural personal pattern, so you have to let all normal cues for bedtime go.

I never tried it. To worried that that I would just start sleeping whole days and stimulate my ever looming depressive tendencies.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I fear I might do that - and when would I ever get 2 or 4 weeks without obligations? Sounds unrealistic to me.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

Omg, I am lucky to get 8 hours. I know I need 10. But I am the type of person that really pushes myself to get as much done as possible in a day, and the idea of getting in bed earlier than 11 and SLEEPING inwardly appalls me, even when I know it would be great to do.

Tonight I felt so sleepy reading, I almost took a nap, but then I started watching something and then I went back to the computer, now I feel less sleepy. That's my biggest downfall, not listening to my body when I should, and I miss the moment. Then I almost have to force myself to bed a few hours later, can't believe I ever felt EXHAUSTED, and am unable to sleep then. :(

But this all goes with my recent guilt of not writing too. And then I feel guilty for not exercising enough, not getting out, AND not getting enough sleep. And at the library, I see books and movies and feel guilty for not having read / seen them yet, cause I want to! Ahhhh.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You sound just like me. Trying to cram things into a day. Or even just... reluctant to stop.

"Listen to your body" is the first important lesson. And yes, writing guilt is related (at least with me). The cure? (a) get enough sleep - even just forcing yourself to it for a few days will make a difference - and (b) writing.

See? I have all these good intentions!

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

haha. Sounds so simple, you'd think I'd have it by now.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes. We all should have caught on by now. It must be the hardest lesson in the world, because nobody learns it. At least - not easily!

But if it's the route to happiness and success and a lack of frustration, it's worth it.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I've been sleep-deprived for the last week and a half, and guess what? I've got a cold.

I never get sick unless I'm sleep-deprived...

Which is why I push myself hard to get enough sleep. It ain't worth it.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I've been sleep-deprived for the last week and a half, and guess what? I've got a cold.

A prevailing pattern at the theatre where I work is for the director and actors to go without much sleep for the three weeks the play is running, and then collapse into illness right after closing night.

I'm hoping that getting enough sleep will stop me from getting sick. I've no idea whether it will work - we can hope! Meanwhile I seem to have an almost infinite capacity for sleep, which is ... boring.

But necessary. It really does make such a difference - not just to my physical health but my outlook and capabilities as well.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I don't know whether it will prevent you from getting sick altogether, but I bet it lowers the amount and severity a lot.

Your brain will work better, too.