Sleep: A Struggle And A Joy

Sleep isn't something that's very hard for me to come by.  Even after the smallest bit of contact with cold air I can come inside where it's warm and conk out in no time.  Some people I know sleep for about ten hours a night or more, and while I think that's healthy from time to time I most certainly can't do it all the time, as it will leave me feeling rather sluggish versus well-rested.

While it has been noted in several different studies that the average amount of sleep needed each night for someone around my age is 6-8 hours, a study found here notes that it doesn't matter how much I'm sleeping, but rather I need to ensure I'm getting a good quality sleep in each night, meaning that when I blackout and start dreaming I should be sleeping well, not almost waking up several times, having trouble breathing, and constantly shifting positions.  This study almost seems too good to be true....

During the week my sleep varies from night to night.  On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I will sleep between seven and nine hours a night, usually between the hours of 2:00 and 11:00am, but on the other four nights of the week, I will only sleep about five or six hours a night between 1:00 and 8:30am.  While I still sleep roughly within the same timeframe each night, the amount of sleep, and as a consequence my tiredness the next day, vary from day to day.  I often find myself either needing coffee to finally get a jump start, or to lie in bed for almost an hour until I wake up.  While I should probably get a bit more on track with sleep I seem to be doing fine with this schedule now.

There are exceptions to this schedule, one of them being SBL in the Summer, where there's a daily counselor's meeting at 7:00am, which prompts me to be up at 6:00am to get ready for the day by the time the meeting starts.  Some other outlying examples would be staying in hotels (breakfast ends at 9:30 or 10:30 depending on what day of the week you're there), and sleeping on the road where I have a deadline to be somewhere the next day.

You might ask, why do I stay up so late in the first place?  The first reason is to try and match my bedtime throughout the week so that I can fall asleep at the same time each night and to create a steady routine, which according to my mother, who has a great background in healthcare, helps to decrease the level of tiredness one might experience in the morning.  When I go to Bemidji to do On The River, I usually get back to Fargo around 1:00 in the morning, and I also work until 1:00am on some days, most often Saturday, which is something I do to maximize the number of hours I can get.  This is what makes it easiest for me to stay up until this time.  The benefit of doing this is that you'll develop a likeliness of being tired at the same time each day.

Back to the quality of sleep, it's worth noting that on some days I'll wake up with a pulsing headache, and other days with a sore body in general or even a headcold.  While I'm certain the headcold comes from lying on my back and losing air, I wasn't quite sure where the other things were coming from, so naturally I consulted the internet, and found this information for headache causes in the night, and took a gander at this site for the reason my body aches.  No, I don't think I have a major disease after reading these, as some people might all too often assume when looking the reason for something up online.  I did though, look into improving some of my sleep quality by buying a new cool-air pillow that wicks up sweat and never gets so warm that I have to start awkwardly folding it in the middle of the night because I'm too hot to conk out.  After three nights with that thing I can say it's working wonders.  I also have a body pillow that I use from time to time to ensure I'm not getting sore on my back or stomach.

For someone who encounters problems like these regularly, they might think that sleep is a pain in the butt and something that's a struggle to get, but in my opinion, sleep is one of the best things out there.  It helps to recharge your batteries, and you feel all warm inside when you do finally conk out, except you might also feel like you just took a trip to the North Pole upon waking up in the morning due to the loss of body temperature.

Lastly, here are some sleep tips from me to you.  If you've encountered these before, feel free to add your voice and thoughts to the discussion in the comments below.

• Never pull an all-nighter.  It might look and sound attractive, but it will really throw your sleep schedule off track and you'll be zoning out and blacking out for the entire next day.  Always try to get at least some sleep in a night, even if it's only a few hours.
• Never eat heavy meals or drink soda and/or energy drinks before bed.  They keep you wired and are the reason for me being up until somewhere between 5:00 and 8:00am on several occasions last semester.  Water is the best thing for you during these hours.
• A good way to fall asleep is to read a really good book or try watching that new great show you've been trying to watch.  You'll conk out without knowing it and wake up with the show another two or three episodes from the one you were on or the book will be in some random spot on the bed or floor.  Be careful when taking expensive technology to bed though, especially laptops and small cellphones.  iPads seem to be more durable in this case.
• Don't roll over in the morning and try to just lie there for a few minutes because you will fall back asleep.  If you're like me and this is a problem you face, make sure to set two alarms to ensure wakeup at a good time.  For instance, when I have work study I set an alarm for 7:00 and one for 7:30 in case I fall back to sleep.  This way I prevent things like waking up ten minutes before I'm supposed to be on the other end of campus or waking up at 9:00 and having to do an awkward call-in. 
• Sometimes sleeping on a couch or softening/firming up your bed is something you should do.  If the couch isn't too hard you'll have a peaceful night of sleep and wake up feeling refreshed.

How do you conk out at night?  Drop ideas and tips in the comments below!