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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Stress and Strategies: Sleep


I recently admitted here that I'm not the greatest sleeper. The thing is, I love to sleep. I'm just not very good at it.

A complete eight hours is a rarity for me, and I'm probably the poster child for doing all the wrong things. I get too hot, too cold, too stiff. My blood sugar isn't perfect, so I end up going to the bathroom (too high) or needing a snack (too low). I can't fall back asleep, so I look at my phone. And check my work email, which tends to roll in at all hours due to my international client base. And then I start thinking about work. Or figure out how little time I have left to sleep, and get anxious about how tired I'll be if I don't get back to sleep soon. I know these are all bad habits, and a cycle I need to break.

I'm usually up by 5:45 am to get ready for work. I try to be in bed by 10 most nights. I've never been good at taking naps either, but sometimes the stars align on a weekend and I'll catch a little rest then. But I should get more sleep than I actually do.

What about you? How do you get enough sleep? Share your stress and strategies in the comments!

4 comments:

  1. I've really been struggling with this lately. No matter what time I go to bed, I automatically wake up 5 hrs later. My body is set to get just that amount of sleep and I have no idea why. It's not enough sleep and I'm struggling with how to "re-set" this pattern. Would love to hear any tips/advice.

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  2. I'm also plagued with this. Cannot turn my head off. Some nights I lie awake till 5am and then finally fall asleep until the first child awakes at 6.30. And it's a vicious cycle. I've used melatonin a lot but my doc recently said I've prob built up an immunity to it. Ugh. He recommended I use an OTC sleep aid, just like once a week before a big work day. For me SUnday nights are usually the worst. I've tried all kinds of tactics - white noise, listening to meditation, hot bath before bed, wearing socks - some work sometimes, not always. I just accept that it is what it is and know that I'll always fall asleep .... eventually. But it's no fun.

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  3. I've finally given up and started treating sleep like exercise (one other thing I hate doing). Has helped a lot, but it feels like Yet. One. More. Thing. To. Do. I found http://www.precisionnutrition.com/hacking-sleep helpful, especially the making the room as dark as possible (I now use http://amzn.com/B000CCI4YU/ which is dorky but effective).

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  4. Josh, that is hardcore. I'm not sure I could do a face mask, since I tend to be claustrophobic, but there are some great tips in that article. Thanks!

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