Chasing the elusive sleep

Not how Only Child wants to sleep at night

One of my goals for 2019 is to get more sleep at night – more specifically get to bed at a more normal/earlier time than 2 a.m. My problem isn’t waking up and getting up at 8 a.m. – it is getting to bed early enough to get 7 to 8 hours sleep.

But I have identified the gremlins. And yes, I don’t need to fall asleep for 30 minutes watching the news on TV. As part of my hopeful new regime I can do half an hour of that plus 10 minutes of the Weather Network and still get to bed in good time. No, it is the real gremlins behind this that have to be taken to task. So, going through the layers, there is first my health issues and all the extra crap I have to do for them. But, the basic extras would be okay to fit in. It’s the extra extras caused by flare-ups in one or more of those health issues which steal my time. Another time-stealer is the daily evening chores like doing the dishes, etc. (much more etc.). Even they can be reigned in.

IF ONLY I CAN GET RID OF THE HOUSE, COMPUTER PROBLEMS, ETC.  THAT JUST COME AT ME OUT OF NOWHERE.

If I thought or even hoped that 2019 would be any different from 2018 in having to deal with problems “coming from outside” as I call it, I was wrong. I’m referring to problems I don’t cause; problems caused by others, other organizations, etc. But I am the one that has to deal with the aftermath problems. And all this is not helpful to getting to bed at a reasonable time and getting enough sleep.

I’m a Sagittarian and to those astrologers who said because my sign is in Jupiter for 2019, I will have a much better year than 2018, I say “Stop talking through your hat. Take off your damn hat and think. All Sagittrians are not alike.”

Having said that, I am still determined to get my sleep – and not in front of the TV. And woe to anybody or thing that gets in my way.

And that includes health issues over-reaction – no doubt thanks to the stress from the problem

So, I am pursuing one of my other 2019 goals – start meditating. And one of my friends is helping me find resources to get me started. Thank you to her. Meditating may not solve the problem, but it can help me calm down and get my much-needed sleep.

And I just remembered what another friend told me many years ago  and to paraphrase her – Picture in your mind the culprit responsible for your problem(s). But picture them wearing some outlandish outfit – like boxer shorts with well (this next part is my idea) pictures of daggers or a big hand ready to grab them and shove them somewhere. (Well, I do write mystery/suspense so that can get rather dark)..

Well whatever works – as long as it is not sleeping pill prescriptions, large quantities of booze or even cannabis, although I am in favour of the latter for medicinal purposes under the direction of a doctor, but not recreational. So would this constitute medicinal? For more info on the cannabis and its consequences, etc., go to the first episode of my TV show Crime Beat Confidential which I tape every other month at thatchannel.com where I interviewed James Wigmore, a forensic scientist who is an expert on what cannabis is all about, and not from personal experience,

Meantime, here are a couple of links on sleep and stress. Please note: I may not agree with all the information below. There  is much more info online about stress and sleep deprivation but consider the source for helpful info.

Tips to reduce stress and sleep better

Stress and insomnia

And the Mayo Clinic on sleep disorders

Happy zzzzzzzzzs  – at night in your bed.

Cheers.

Sharon

Only Child Writes

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Only Child says Sleep Sleep perchance to…just sleep

Pondering sleep and sleep deprivation

When I was a child, when I was a teenager, I slept at nights. Lots of sleep. When I was in my late 40s I would kill to get my sleep – anyone and anything that got in my way risked my wrath. Now in my senior years, I ask “What sleep?” If I am lucky I get  6 hours sleep and that’s counting the half hour or so when I fall asleep during the 11 p.m news on TV. I’m not sleeping in though; I keep to about the same time to get up each day – 7.45 a.m. even on weekends, but with it being gardening season and the light of day coming very early, I would like to get up and into the garden much earlier than I do.

And that might be my cue as to something is off. I’m trying to do too much – evenings, yes I sometime watch some TV, besides the aforementioned news. But not until I do some more gardening, weather permitting and I’m not out somewhere. No matter what, I have way too much to do and often some of that comes to mind after the news and so off I go, despite trying hard to get to bed somewhat earlier than 1.30 a.m. or 2 a.m.

Carrying around in  my mind all the guilt of stuff not done, particularly phone calls to friends I didn’t have time to make, doesn’t help. I don’t have time to call them until the gardening is done, so right now that could be 9.30 p.m. as that’s when it gets dark. If I’m out at an event, forget it. One friend has said to call her but she doesn’t do late evening phone calls as she goes to bed. That was a message on my voice mail when she tried to call me and I was out at an event. Not sure what late means – after 10 p.m.? After 9 p.m.? Unless it is an emergency I don’t call friends or family after 9.45 p.m. Fortunately two of my friends are night owls like me.

Is this another health bane of being a senior? Hey, I’m running out of fingers to count all the medical crap I have to deal with as a senior.

So, I decided to put on the hat of my former profession – journalist – and do some research about sleep deprivation online. Here is some of iowhat I found:

If you go here you will find an interesting article covering many aspects of sleep deprivation, including summarizing some studies, how much sleep is necessary, and the effects of sleep deprivation. I have some of the latter, most notably: irritability (well, more than usual), immune system dysfunction (not good for someone who already has a compromised immune system), forgetfullness (mainly if I did something – although I don’t forget what I have to still do, but often forget where something got put. My mind hits a blank here). Yes, it affects my cognitive abilities and I seem to he slower doing things than my usual  modus operandi. The worse things were sleep depreviation could cause cancer and death.  I know we all got to die sometime but not yet please, and do I really want to drag cancer into it?

And look at my language “drag”.

So, I am now going to  make a bigger effort to get body and mind into bed earlier. Yes, I’ll still watch the news and weather report. But the TV goes off, right after that half hour. And before the 11 p.m. news, maybe even before 10 p.m. all the housework shit I have to do for the evening (gardening is never under that category) has to be done. And any phone calls – if I have time to make them.

I am also purging my “to do” lists of stuff and people who steal my time – some will be just on the back burner until next month; some permanently out the door. I am also learning (slowly) to pace myself with what I do – although I still get upset if something takes way too much longer than expected – no matter what the cause.

Do you have trouble getting enough sleep? Why or Why not?

 

Time to get more sleep

Cheers.

Sharon

Only Child Writes

Only Child on getting enough sleep

Time to sleep

When I was a child I slept like a child. When I am a senior – like now – I sleep like a senior. Most of the time that is not nearly enough. Most of the time I don’t sleep right through the night. And with an overflowing plate of “to do” things, I need to make some changes.

So, the other night I decided I would try getting up half an hour earlier to get all the morning ritual stuff out of the way earlier and get in front of my computer by 9 a.m.

That worked but I found I had way too many business emails I had to reply to. I didn’t have time for one thing on my to do list but did get to the big item and get it done. But by evening I was dragging myself and by bedtime I was sleepwalking.

Today I’m back to getting up at my normal time and struggling to get down to work at the computer at my usual time. Tonight I have to start working from the getting to bed earlier end. Not easy.

So, I decided to see if my friend Mr. Google could help me. Here are a few things I found.

The first one  was How to make yourself start to go to bed early (for real this time)

A lot of its suggestions I already do – such as darken the room, don’t eat close to going to bed, shower first, use moisture on your skin. And a few suggestions didn’t resonate with me – such as get new sheets, set up a pre-bed tea-time (doesn’t that one violate the do not eat part and do I really want to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom?). Spraying the room with lavender because it calms you I can try. The story also mentions setting an alarm clock – not for when I want to wake up as I do but to let you know it is bedtime.

I don’t need that. I have my “alarm” – the 11 p.m. News and a brief Weather Network report. The plan is the news until 11.20 p.m. when the network switches to sports which I’m not interested in and then switch channels to 10 minutes of The Weather Network and then TV off and get ready for bed.

It’s not that simple. If it were I would be in bed no later than midnight with 20 minutes to spare to read until I wind down and I would still get 7 to 7 1/2 hours of sleep – which is apparently sufficient according to some medical advice.

But I have two issues. I get tired and fall asleep during the news or even at the start of the weather. As a former journalist and a weather junkie I am not bored just tired.

The other issue is all the housework shit I still have to do. Just when I think I’m done, more daily housework that should have been done earlier (When do I have time?) pop into my mind and off I go to do do them.

So I will be trying a few other things to get these housework chores done earlier. If I get enough sleep at night I just might not be dragging myself around in the evening and falling asleep in front of the TV.

Oh yeah, I’m back to setting the timer for business emails. When it rings I just finish the email I’m replying to. The rest can just wait.

What do you do to get enough sleep?

What do you consider enough sleep?

Here are a few more sleep articles to read:

Aging and Sleep from the National Sleep Foundation

Do People Need Less Sleep as They Age?

And this one which makes the most sense to me:

How to Sleep Well as You Age

Cheers and lots of ZZZ each night.

Sharon

Only child Writes

Only Child on sleep deprivation

Only child nodding off?

“To sleep, perchance to dream -ay, there’s the rub” William Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet. I’m not too concerned about dreams, but have a more serious “rub.”

Getting enough sleep.

Many of us have that problem for whatever reason – too much to do, health issues keeping us awake, stress, noise, etc.

I guess my situation comes under the too much to do category. With

one of the others as a result of not getting enough sleep – health issues acting up.

At the top of my life goal list right now is getting more sleep at night. I need at least seven hours, preferable seven and a half hours, something I’m  not getting except sometimes on weekends. I’m reading Gretchen Rubin’s latest book Better than Before on how to change your habits. Some good points here and I like her narrative style instead of the “do this/do that” format.

What are the culprits here? Too much of what I call “housework shit” that drags out until late at night. That could include washing dishes (no dishwasher, no space for one in the kitchen and can’t afford one), refilling the portable humidifiers (a winter chore), moving the ice cream to the freezer downstairs (the fridge-top freezer like many of them – and this is not an old fridge – doesn’t freeze the ice cream enough), etc., etc. -the list goes on. Sometimes I see the pile of newspapers and magazines on the coffee table and decide I need to read a bit to catch up. Also one thing I enjoy doing, but not late at night – watering the plants.

I also fall asleep in front of the TV, usually during the 11 p.m. news and that could be a result from not enough sleep the previous night. It finally catches up.

Interestingly, there is an article  posted on the Bell Loop page today. The title alone This is what you should eat to guarantee a good night’s sleep (science says so) is enough to put you to sleep. Maybe say it mentally instead of counting sheep when trying to enter the land of nod? The article references a recent study where 26 people for five nights followed separate diets – if they ate lots of fibre they fell asleep on average in 17 minutes and if they ate what they wanted, i.e., foods high in sugar and saturated fats and maybe some low fibre, it took them an average of 29 minutes to get to sleep.

Hmm. I have a few bones to pick (not eating them, of course) with that. First, the number of participants and time-line of the study are both low. Most studies have more people and go on for a longer period of time. Also, did these people fall asleep in bed or in front of the TV? And I question the sugar content in part. Depends on what the sugar is in. Candy, cakes, donuts – yes, will probably give you a sugar high and keep you awake.

But the food I eat some evenings containing sugar is ice cream. And that makes me sleepy. Ice cream contains milk, which I learned long ago acts like a sedative. No, I’m not going to heat up plain milk – I would just want to add chocolate powder anyway.

And what about caffeine? That sure keeps you awake. Study doesn’t address that one.

Me, I’m going to stick to my ice cream (albeit maybe I should eat it at 11 p.m. just when the news starts instead of a few hours earlier in the evening). I need to reduce some of these evening chores or get them done way before 11 p.m. – even when I go out in the evening. Then I might stay awake for 20- 30 minutes of news and weather from 11 p.m.. I like to watch 20 minutes of news and the long weather report on one channel and when they start into the long sportscast (remember I am not a sports fan). I switch over to the weather network for their longer up-to-date forecast on the 10s. And try not to keep watching all the weather news. I am a weather freak.

The study was conducted by Columbia University Medical Center and you can read a summary about that here.

What do you think?

Please comment. Any tips on getting more sleep?

Cheers.

Sharon

Only Child Writes

 

 

 

 

Only Child Looks at Sleep Deprivation and Daytime Overload

I need more sleep. Six hours or less a night is just not enough. I am not alone in this nightmare turned daymare. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention has declared not getting sufficient sleep an epidemic. The results, it says, include depression, skin aging, weight gain. And 61 per cent of people crave sleep more than they do sex. Although sex (or lack of it) factors into the CDC information on it. See http://bettersleep.org/better-sleep/the-science-of-sleep/sleep-statistics-research/infographic-lack-of-sleep-a-public-health-epidemic/

What is interesting about this posting is what isn’t there. True, it is geared more towards individuals in a relationship. But relationship or not, people seem to have a common denominator about lack of sleep.

We are just too damn busy to get enough sleep. Sleep is way down on the priority list even if we say we must get more sleep. And the results are more than the CDC says. Sleep deprivation makes me stupid and slow on the uptake, not to mention getting around in the morning. I may then last okay until late afternoon, then I just don’t get it in a lot of areas. Areas I am normally sharp in. Not dementia…yet.

Take it from me, a sleep-deprived senior. I just have too much to do each day, much of it late-at- night stuff. Most is routine but often a few one-time extras. The past week I had stabs at trying to finish up all this routine nightly housework shit earlier. But it doesn’t always work. Often I’m out at a meeting or doing grocery shopping. For the latter, because of some store closing times, I go out directly from work and eat supper on my return. Even if I do eat before I go out, I’m still left with dishes, coffee pot preparation for the next morning, refilling the humidifiers, etc. etc. when I get home. It drags on.

True, when home I watch TV but there is before TV and during commercials to do all this stuff. My goal is to stop watching TV after part of the 11 p.m. news – right after the full weather report. Trouble is I often nod off during that time and miss the weather report, then I have to get it elsewhere.

And therein lies the problem – too much to do and when to do it.

I’ve been keeping track (mentally, no time to write it down) what exactly is consuming my time. Besides the late night chore shift, two other things stand out – too much email and too much time spent on it – and this is just the business email. And too much client work all at once– although some of that is suffering because of the email situation, and some of that email is from clients – some necessary of course.

So, starting Dec. 15, I am taking three weeks off for the holiday season. During that time I will do no client work. I bcc emailed all current and recent clients about this decision and basically said (but diplomatically) to leave me alone during that time. If they need to email me, including sending me work, please do it this week or wait until January 5, 2015 week.

I intend to spend more time with family and friends (including emailing them), working on the next novel in my Beyond mystery series and of course keeping up with social media (that is suffering too with this time thing) and any Beyond Blood book promo  to set up for 2015 that comes up. And figuring what in my life I can streamline more and even eliminate. I have already figured out what I want to do in my writing, editing and writing instructing business – and some things have been discontinued. Now, I have to spread out what’s left.

It’s the meetings, organizations I belong to (and what I do there), plus some personal stuff that needs a pruner, maybe even a shovel.

And more sleep. If I don’t get my required 7 1/2 hours sleep each night next year, the culprits will be sorry.

I am serious. My health and sanity depend on it.

 

Cheers.

Only Child Writes

Sharon A. Crawford