Then, an hour later... BEEP BEEP BEEP! Lights out Richard! Come on, stop what you're doing. Go to sleep. OK, alright, chill, I'll just finish this chapter.
The alarms have worked because they remind me to switch off. A few minutes later, I begrudgingly do what they tell me. The result? An earlier bedtime. More sleep. Can't argue with that.
But my goodness, those alarms aren't half annoying. Nag nag nag!
It's like being told to go to bed by your Mum. No! Why should I? I'm an adult, I'll go to bed when I feel like it! Every time the alarm goes off, I have to remind myself that I set the alarm. The only person telling me to go to bed is me.
So I lose the Kevin & Perry attitude quicksmart and get on with it.
It's only gone wrong twice this week:
The first time, somebody else that I live with (who shall not be named) woke me up at midnight by shouting, and then at 3:30am by moving around the house and operating machinery. Needless to say I was a bit tired and irritable in the morning.
However, instead of staying silent on the matter and stewing with unresolved anger (like I normally would), I confronted the person about it. To my surprise it wasn't awkward at all, and I felt better for saying something. Result!
The second time, I had some fizzy alcoholic drinks and a large meal just before bedtime. I felt so stuffed that I had to prop myself up on pillows like the fattest man in the world so I didn't suffocate on undigested hamburgers.
Not my finest hour.
Then I woke up several times during the night with tummy aches and sweats. Nice. At least I can add another thing to my list of things not to do before bedtime.
I checked out a couple of websites about sleep this week. One was The Sleep Council. New tips I picked up from them included:
- 16-18 degrees celsius is an ideal temperature for a bedroom.
- Write down any worries you have in a diary before you go to bed.
- Practise breathing exercises and visualise the muscles in your body relaxing.
The Sleep Council also stressed the importance of buying a comfortable bed. Not surprising when you realise it's funded by the National Bed Federation, the trade association for British bed manufacturers!
The other website was goodlife*sleep, which aims to join up the dots between sleep, health and personal development. It's a new venture co-founded by a friend I met recently, Mag Secretario, who doesn't sell beds, so I signed up for the newsletter.
Crikey, is that the time? Night night.
What do you do to unwind before bed? And what do you definitely not do?
Good to hear that you're doing well (most nights). I've never felt too full to sleep which prob tells you how used to it I am & what a pig I am lol. Seriously, though I don't pig out, I do notice that when I'm on me hols and eating all the "fun foods" that I wake up with those "sicky burps" and need to munch on a handful of Rennies before I can even think of shutting my eyes again.. Usually happens by about day 2 and then I rein myself in. And if I have trouble sleeping, which I normally don't, I listen to a sleep meditation track on my headphones (like Paul McKennas "I can make you sleep" which comes with his book). They don't do it for everyone but it does it overtime for me. Or check out Jeff Bridges audio MP3s here http://www.squarespace.com/home/dreamingwithjeff/ They are suitably obscure enough that I think they'd work for you :) Night night P xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Paul, yeah a slightly earlier night is working out well. Urgh, I can imagine those morning "sicky burps"! :-D
DeleteThat night I had been to a friend's BBQ but I'd forgotten to tell my Mum so she had cooked a meal for me too (meat and two veg variety). I was too polite to tell her I'd eaten already so I said thank you and ate a second dinner. Trough trough trough! I couldn't eat any breakfast the next day.
Thanks for the link to the Jeff Bridges sleep tapes. Weird! I'm listening to it now. If I drop off at work, It's your fault! ;-) xx
Haha Told you they were weird. Reading about your Mum cooking for you reminded me of a time my Dad & I went to London when I was in my twenties. We dropped in on my great Aunt & Uncle late afternoon and given how rarely she saw us, said Aunt had made sandwiches and a massive cake which she insisted we eat huge platefuls of. As it gave her so much joy and she was in her nineties, we politely stuffed ourselves. We said our goodbyes and headed straight to family friends who were putting us up for the night. And once we had placed our bags in our room and settled down in the dining room, we were presented with a huge dinner followed by more cake for dessert. Out of politeness, Dad & I, though already stuffed, smiled weakly and ate what felt like a second dinner. I have never before nor since ate so much in such a short space of time. All to be polite!!!! And that was back when I looked like a beanpole lol.
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