Proper Sleep

Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds.
~ JoJo Jensen, Dirt Farmer Wisdom, 2002

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Yesterday Afternoon

New Year’s may seem so long ago, but it’s only been 23 days since I promised myself I’d get eight hours of sleep every night. Over winter break I met that goal, Fall semester was horrible for my sleep cycle, especially since I slept 8-9 hours every day. Coe sent out an email earlier this week about a sleep program that has come to campus to help willing students gain a full-night’s rest. I bought a Fitbit for the purpose of tracking my sleep, and now I can use it’s complete capabilities. Using the pack I received from in front of the caf, I will follow their plan this week and see if there’s been any improvement.

In the pack I received were: a stress ball, chamomile (herbal) tea, a sleep mask, earplugs, and a guide sheet. The guide sheet lists a ton of helpful ways to help you wind down and prepare for sleep hours ahead of time, which is what I need. At the bottom of the sheet are (outdated) links to Sleep Education and Center for Disease Control. By learning more about sleep, sleep issues, and methods to remedy a not-so-good situation, I hope to arm myself with motivational tools. I’ll be posting weekly updates on my progress and any new information I find. For now, I’m going to take a nap.

P.S. I did notice contradictions between the pamphlet I received and the guide sheet. The pamphlet says “when you nap, you get mostly deep, non-REM sleep. This helps pay off a sleep debt, without shortening the next night’s sleep”; while the sheet says “if you have trouble sleeping, avoid naps, especially in the afternoon”.

Today
Yesterday afternoon I took a 1.5 hour nap on my yoga mat, on the floor of my dorm. I don’t want to nap in my bed, because it’s too comfortable and I’d never get up on time, so I relaxed to the smell of peppermint and tea tree and fell asleep. I felt much better after this nap, refreshed, and ready to do my homework. The trick was to go to sleep for the evening. My Fitbit buzzed me to get ready for sleep at 10 pm, and by 11 I was ready, but not sleepy. I decided to watch one more episode of my show, and restart my knitting, and wound up going to bed at my usual midnight. It seems midnight is my new pattern for this semester, and according to the pamphlet I have to keep the same hours on the weekend...this is troublesome, but doable. I got great sleep last night, but unfortunately forgot to wear my Fitbit to bed so I don’t have the data…

I usually stay up a little later on the weekends, but for now midnight will be the standard until I can get in bed by 11:45, then 11:30, and so on until I make it to 11 on the dot. I’ll keep you posted.

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Sources

Jordan, Paul. 84 Famous Sleep Quotes. 2019. Web. 25 1 2019. <https://sleephabits.net/sleep-quotes#necessity>.
N/A. Healthy Sleep Habits. 9 2 2017. Web. 25 1 2019. <http://sleepeducation.org/essentials-in-sleep/healthy-sleep-habits>.
N/A. Sleep and Sleep Disorders. 5 2017 6. Web. 25 1 2019. <https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_us.html>.