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Sunday 11 December 2016

Letter #36 - Sleep is precious

Dear readers, 

When thinking about self care for this week, I got to thinking about one of my favourite pastimes: sleep. Given how busy this time of year is for most people, I wanted to focus on an area that I feel most people skimp on and neglect.

When we're all so focused on getting tasks done and being as productive as possible in our waking hours, we tend to allow our waking hours to go on too long. Now I say "we" but I very rarely do this myself unless I absolutely have to. I love my sleep too much and I think it isn't valued enough when it comes to health and well being. A good night's rest can solve all manner of problems.

One phrase that bugs me to no end is "you can sleep when you're dead". Yes, you absolutely can! But guess what? You'll reach that point a lot sooner if you keep sacrificing your sleep. It's ridiculous and an empty effort at productivity when you're too tired to think straight. At least I think so.

For me, sleeping is my favourite part of the day because it means that my thoughts stop for a time and it gives me a chance to breathe. I say this, but really I'm someone who has many dreams and I know that I'm dreaming but when I wake, I cannot remember what I was dreaming about. It's strange but I like that fact. I only ever remember how I felt while I was asleep. So I can gauge how well I slept but remember how I felt at the time.


Even today, it's a Sunday so I had a lie in and woke up at 11am. For me, that's a big deal since I'm usually up at 6am but I had such a good sleep, I cannot put it into words. I don't think many people think about their sleep, other than a fleeting thought into how well or badly they slept.

Since it's getting to the end of the year, and people try to start fresh and set goals for the year ahead, getting good quality sleep into your lifestyle is my suggestion to you all. 

First, use the holidays to figure out how much sleep you feel that you need. It's wildly different for everyone. Personally, I need around 9-10 hours to feel completely refreshed and functioning. But I know others who can just about manage 5-6 hours before their eyes flick open. They cannot sleep for longer than that without it being that they have overslept and are now too tired. 

Our sleep cycles are an interesting thing. I've found that there is such a fine line between a good amount of sleep and way too much sleep. Even an extra half an hour in bed can mess with your entire day. 

Also, I remember reading somewhere that how tired you feel related to the sleep you got two nights ago. So if you woke up this Sunday morning refreshed, you must have had a good amount of sleep on Friday night. This is why we can sometimes feel so rough on a Monday morning, even if we got to bed early on Sunday night, but we forget how late we were up on Saturday night! So take the holidays as a time to figure it out.


Work out how many hours you need to feel refreshed and awake. And happy. For me, I feel much happier when I've slept well.

Figure out what type of sleeper you are
Are you a light sleeper, stirring at the slightest sound or are you dead to the world the moment your head hits a pillow? If you're a light sleeper, get some thick opaque curtain that won't let light through and sleep in total darkness so that the sunrise or street lamps cannot disturb you. If you're a deep sleeper, maybe invest in a good loud alarm so that you can actually wake on time and not oversleep. Finding what works for you is he most important thing.

Have a bedtime figured out
Once you know how many hours you need, work backwards from the time that you know you need to wake up until you've figured out the best time for you to sleep at. And then go back an extra hour so that you can use that time to get a night time routine sorted. This will ensure that you won't forget when you do to sleep and you can do whatever you need to, to complete your day. So if you need to lay out clothes for the next morning, do it. If you need you make sure you've prepped lunch, do it. And then as soon as you get to the time that you need to be in bed, make sure that you are. 

Absolute darkness is the best
If you want a good sleep, then make sure your bedroom is pitch black because your eyes won't have to adjust to the darkness under your eyelids as much. Because I've found that that time of adjustment can be really disruptive to my sleep when I've maybe been looking at my phone moments beforehand. You know those dancing lights that you can get when you've been blinded by the flash from a camera, and then every time you blink, you can see the light? It's like that and if you know how annoying that light is, you know how disruptive it must be just before you knock out.

If all else fails, take a nap!
If you're still shattered during the day, just take a quick nap if you can fit it in. But beware of how naps make you feel. For me, naps make everything better. Even if I take a nap at 6pm and wake up at 7pm, I can still manage to fall asleep again at 10pm. It's a gift.

But I do know that not everyone shares my love of naps. My mum would always tell me off for napping saying that "you'll never get to sleep tonight!" While that's not the case for me, I know plenty of people who will get stuck wide awake at 2 in the morning because they took a nap in the afternoon. So find out what you need and cater your patterns to those needs.

 Normally, I love writing for this blog but I always feel as though I have no place to actually be offering my opinions. But when it comes to sleep, I'm an absolute pro. I wish sleeping for a living was actually a thing. I'd be brilliant at it.

Let me know if you found any of this helpful and what are your feeling about sleep?

Until next time, be inspired...

Love, Z

5 comments:

  1. Great post! Sleep is also one of my favourite things to do!

    Jeff. | NAMELESSJEFF

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  2. That's so interesting about that 2-days-later you feel tired thing. I had no idea! I'm definitely going to start paying attention to that. A great post, and I agree with you 100% about sleep. More than anything, it really affects my mood and how I feel about myself during the day :o)

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    1. Yeah the 2 day thing is a fun conversation starter. If I ever find the article again, I'll be sure to link it up. Sleep really is more important than people give it credit for!

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  3. I honestly don't think I get enough sleep ever because I'm a night owl by nature yet work an 8-6 job. I view as I will sleep endlessly when I'm dead.

    S .x ramblingsofayoungprgirl.blogspot.com

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    1. Aww, a lot of my friends are like that but then they crash and knock out every couple of weeks and it ruins the routine. It can be tough finding time but even a quick power nap is better than nothing!

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