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?
