Insomnia is probably one of the big things that makes me who I am. I cannot remember the last time I didn't stay up past eleven o clock. It's just my nature, really, I can't make myself get to sleep early. There's just so much to do before I go to sleep. Things like feeding pets, making my bed, preparing coffee for tomorrow, tidying my room... All get blown off until at least eleven o' clock, when I begin to think about going to bed. Another good example is writing blog posts. You can be assured that I'm not writing this in broad daylight!
Keep in mind that by insomnia, I don't mean the actual condition. If I wanted to, I could lay my head on a pillow at 9 p.m. and be asleep without any trouble. What I mean by insomnia is that I choose not to sleep early, or very long. It's not even out of necessity, either! On nights where I've done everything I need to do before getting to sleep, I still find myself lingering awake, occupying myself with random things for no apparent reason.
One thing that makes me different from some people, I suppose, is which end I cut into my sleep on. Most people, when confronted with a lot of homework to do, or any task that needs doing before they begin their regular day in the morning, will probably just go to sleep at their usual time and wake up early. I, however, am the opposite. I will frequently stay up until past midnight just to get a homework assignment done, or anything along those lines. I guess that this has a lot to do with how my energy changes throughout the day. I don't know if most people are morning people, but I am definitely not. When I first roll out of bed, I am exhausted, half asleep, and utterly useless. By 10 o clock, though, no matter how tired I was all day, I am suddenly alive with energy. I find myself motivated to take on any task, and I am never at a loss for the energy to stay awake. Sure, I get tired by around 2, but I'm never collapsing. My mind is also never too wiped-out to do things properly, even if it does get sluggish by 1 or 2 a.m.
For those of you fellow insomniacs out there, here is a brief guide to losing sleep. I hope that you find it useful!
1. Know your limit. If you are the type of person who only feels truly rested after 10 hours of sleep, then you probably shouldn't get any less than 8. Just make sure that you know exactly how much sleep you are going to need at a bare minimum.
2. Keep track of time. When you're staying up late, and have given up on getting an ideal amount of sleep, it's very easy to disregard the time, and lose more sleep than you intended.
3. Don't waste your time. If you're going to stay up, do something productive. You don't have to do homework, or work on a personal project or anything, just get something done. As long as you have something to show for the time you spent that is in some way helpful to you, then that's all you need. The point is to not use the time drooling onto your lap and doing nothing.
4. Wake up! Some people, like myself, are deep sleepers, and it's easy for them to get carried away and sleep in on accident. If you know that you'll have trouble with this, take every possible precaution to ensure that you won't be late for anything in the morning.
5. Coffee is good. Although it won't propel everybody through the entire day, coffee is good for a jump-start. I'm only a mild coffee drinker, so I only have one cup a day. For those of you out there who also only drink coffee in small amounts, here's my recommendation: Make yourself 1-2 cups in the morning. Drink half of whatever you made before you leave the house, if possible, and take the other half with you. Drink this next half over at least an hour or 2, (I recommend using a thermos to keep it hot) so that you might prolong the buzz you'll get. If you aren't very tolerant of caffeine yet, then a little goes a long way. If you only drink a large amount at once to wake up, and then spread the rest out over time, you should be pretty energetic for at least first few hours of your day. Personally, it keeps me going until 5 o'clock, on a good day.
6. Try to avoid all-nighters. Those of you who can pull all-nighters without breaking a sweat, respect. But for the human beings in my audience I would advise against it. While getting only 6 hours of sleep can make one really drowsy, getting no sleep can be hell. Picture getting a car up a hill by blowing on it through a straw. You'll be sluggish, get tired easily, be unable to maintain focus, get hot very easily, and feel like crap all day. If you have to pull an all-nighter, or if you can handle them better than I can, then go on... But just please be prepared to deal with some pretty sever consequences the next day. Oh, and also: If you pull an all-nighter, be sure to go outside and watch the sunrise. It's a sight that we don't get to see very often, and it can be very beautiful and relaxing, so don't pass up the opportunity!
So that's my take on insomnia and sleep-loss. Keep in mind that I'm talking from experience, not from expertise, or years of study in the field. I hope you found this a helpful (or at least entertaining) post, and if you didn't, feel free to keep that to yourself.
Sincerely,
The Ellipsis
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