Monday, March 25, 2019

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I just woke up at 1 p.m. EDT, and the only reason I'm awake is because DH came in to get me up.

My sleep cycles were finally getting back into a "normal" pattern after Groundhog Day, then came the damn cold virus. I didn't worry about my sleep patterns because sleep and lots of fluids are what's needed in that situation.

But now, I reasonably healthy again. DH and I are back to walking every evening. And my sleep is still screwed up.

I haven't had to do a reset in five years, but it looks like it's time to consider it. What's a reset? I go to bed a little later each day until I'm back to going to bed at my normal time. I just have to make sure I have no daytime appointments over the couple of weeks I need to do it right.

I could do a hard reset over a weekend, but I'm getting too old to stay awake 36 hours straight. Often the stress leads to getting sick. That's unacceptable when I'm trying to finish my next two releases.

On the plus side, being self-employed makes a longer reset so much easier than when I was employed by a third party. I lost a bit vacation time by sleeping through it to rest my internal clock.

4 comments:

  1. Urgh. :/ Empathy.

    That happens to me regularly. My sleep period (mostly) inches forward a bit each day, except not always. I might go to bed at about the same time (whenever that is) for a few days, then the next day I'll be exhausted four hours earlier, or not get at all tired until six hours later, or whenever. When I woke up early this evening, I'd been asleep for about six hours, and before that I'd been up for about 38. [headdesk] This is just how the world works for me, and I've learned to live with it.

    If I'm going somewhere, like to a convention or a workshop, I can kind of "aim" myself at a normal bedtime over the course of a few days leading to the run to the airport. And adrenaline on the travel day will keep me going, and I can apply caffeine as necessary. (That's my version of a hard reset, I guess.)

    And yes, fighting to stay up significantly longer than my body wants to, with or without caffeine, can make me sick, so I have to be careful with that.

    At any rate, I hope you get back on track soon. {{}}

    Angie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe we need to start a Non-24 Sleepers group.

      Or Daughters of the Martian Order since their days are longer.

      Delete
  2. I have the same problem. Rhythms are all off. I have no solution.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okay, Daughter and SONS of the Martian Order...

      Delete