Oh, Sleep, Where Art Thou?

Ever have a stretch of poor sleep?  I do not mean just one night of tossing and turning and the mind forever racing over some salient point, or the times in our lives where we go to bed worrying about something.  I am talking (or, in my case, writing) about a string of night or weeks, where you wake up as tired as when you went to sleep?

This past week, I was in Stamford, Connecticut to train new users on the OneStream application.  The class went well and I was able to help adult professionals on their journey working with a product that will be beneficial to their company and their work lives.  I knew the material, I knew the information that I had to cover, and this was by no means the first time that I was in front of a class (or audience for that matter).  After eight hours of being “on,” where you are training, reacting to facial expressions (clues to understanding the material), answering questions and making the information relevant to each person, I am very tired.  Each night, I went to bed exhausted and passed out.  Great!  Except that when I opened my eyes feeling refreshed, it was only 11:30 ☹.  Each night I was up multiple times, sometimes not able to fall right back to sleep.  

Was I anxious?  Was I nervous?  Was I not used to being away from home?  All of these questions rattled around my brain (which probably made me more anxious the next night).  The truth is, I was not sleeping great prior to Stamford, nor once I got home.  Yes, I am sleeping more comfortably at home but still not the sleep I want.  Or some mornings it is a struggle getting out of bed and I would rather sleep in.  If I do, there is no exercise for that day and then I feel bad that I did not do that healthy activity for my body. 

I remember my mother’s father telling us that one hour of sleep before midnight equals two hours after.  So, I did a little web research.  There were a few articles that mention our best restorative sleep comes in the first third of sleeping; This easily leads to 1 hour before (1/3) midnight equals 2 hours after (2/3).  If I fall asleep at 10:00 and wake up at 11:30, does this mean that I only need four and a half hours of sleep?  There are also plenty of articles stating that we need less sleep the older we get.  

Either way, by the time that I have woken up, exercised, showered and eaten breakfast, I am more than ready for the day ahead.  I am full of energy waiting to take on the various adventures and challenges in front of me.  The good news, if I tire, there is always the opportunity to close my eyes for 15 minutes and take a catnap (or longer on weekends) to refresh myself.  At least I know, that at the end of my full day, there will always be my comfortable, inviting bed waiting for me.

Changing Sleeping Habits

Monday, I called in sick.  This is a rarity for me.  Ends up my body said, “Wayne, you need sleep.”  You see, I have this habit of going and going, waking up early, staying up late and not taking much down time.  Every so often, my body will hit the proverbial wall and cause me to become “sick” so that I take the time to let my body catch up.  Sometimes, I can see the signs of this coming, other times, like this past week, I did not.

When I was a teen – I remember sleeping a lot.  My dad used to come into my room and wake me up saying it was 2:00 in the afternoon on the weekends and that I was wasting my day.  I had nothing happening, so I was not sure what time I was wasting.  As an adult, I was not excited to see my kids sleep that late, but understood and never woke them up, unless they actually needed to be up.  This continued through college.  And, even with the sleeping, I was a big fan of the nap.  On a hot summers day, I would curl up into a ball under the A/C wall unit in my parents dining room and sleep.  Napping was good and no one knew where I was, also good!

When I was a young adult – I started to believe that time gets wasted by sleeping too much.  I also began to realize that I really did not need 8 – 12 hours of sleep.  If done correctly, I found that 5 – 6 hours of good, high quality sleep occurred, I was all set.  However, the all-important nap was still great!  At this point in my life, nap time, when it is possible, is out in the open and with no hiding necessary.

When I am an adult – I have little time to accomplish so many things.  When we first got married, I remember us having plenty of free time.  Then the girls popped into our lives.  I worked long hours and began to travel for work.  We became involved in different activities, some for the kids, some for us.   We do have some social life.  Sleep can sometimes be less than 5 – 6 hours.  The nature of napping has completely changed.  I can sleep anywhere in any position (except standing, though I have tried).  Catching 10 minutes sitting in a chair is sometimes all I can sneak in.  A full nap that is a planned event.  For example, as I am writing this, if our afternoon outside activities get rained out, I might be able to get in a nap. 

I know, the body needs to sleep, regenerate and recover from the daily activity of life.  It has become a balancing act.  My maternal grandfather used to say 1 hour of sleep before midnight was worth 2 after.  I am not sure what that means, but have gotten to the point where getting to bed an hour before midnight is a good thing, because no matter what time I go to sleep, I know that come 5:00 (during the week), my clock radio (yes, I still have one) will be waking me up.