I started writing about sleep & now I don’t sleep anymore

Yes, you read that correctly. Since I started writing about sleep and all the benefits of why we should sleep more, I sleep a lot less.

Up until I quit my job in London, I thought I slept as well as I could. I used to go to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Which I now know was a sign that I wasn’t getting a decent sleep. I was in bed for 10pm every night and up at 6am every morning. That’s 8 hours sleep so that’s enough sleep and I’m doing great. Or so I thought.

It only occurred to me after I quit, because the love of my job was starting to be outweighed by the hate of the commute, that I never used to sleep well at all. Looking back, I used to fall asleep on the way to work on the train and on the way back too sometimes. Meditation helped me A LOT but not enough. I was a whirlwind of activity all the time, even at the weekends. I had a long list of things I wanted to achieve every week and most of the time I would. Little did I know then that if I had slept better, I would have achieved everything on that list more easily.

After I quit, I started to get quality sleep. This may have been because I had the time to wind down in the evenings and wind up slowly in the mornings. Perhaps because I wasn’t sat at a desk all day staring at a screen. Maybe because I was eating better and able to get a little more exercise throughout the day rather than in one quick 20-minute stint each morning. Perhaps because I was generally more physical each day than I had been or maybe because I was able to slow down and take my time with everything.

But now, although I’m not in the same situation as I was when I was working in the City, I’m not sleeping as well.

And this time I know it.

I don’t think it’s because I lay awake worrying about sleep per se as I know so much more about it now. More that I work too late, staring at a screen typing away & then lie awake thinking about a couple of changes I need to make to what I just wrote as I have ‘ping’ moments as I go to sleep.

Also, research shows that staring at a computer screen before bed affects your ability to sleep a lot more than staring at a tv screen. This is to do with how close the screen is to my face, plus the light emitted from my laptop screen.
I’ve also got in the habit of having a can of diet coke as I write. Sometimes with a shot of JD in it. These are all things I tell my readers over on the website not to do. I’m not practicing what I preach AT ALL! And it’s affecting my sleep.

So what am I doing about it? It’s been four months since I launched the digital magazine and I’m getting less sleep than I did when I was working and commuting to London every day. I know I need 7.5hours of sleep. Any less and I’m tired and any more than 8 hours, and I start to feel groggy. I’m getting between 6 and 7 right now. Our whole house gets up at 5:45am and believe me that half hour makes a big difference.

This is what I’ve put in place to try and get my sleep back;

I need to replace the diet coke. Especially the JD and coke. Nothing like a hit of caffeine, sugar and alcohol to upset the rhythm of your sleep. I’m slowly starting to drink PUKKA nighttime tea instead. I say slowly as I’m drinking a JD and coke as I write right now and it’s 9pm. Note to self, I must work harder at this.

I have an alarm set on my phone for 9:15pm to tell me to wrap up and shut my laptop. The snooze is set so the next time it goes off I know I need to have closed my laptop and be gathering myself together to get to bed. I need to stop working earlier than this really to make sure I sleep better and have time to wind down, but that’s not possible right now as I do most of my best work in the evening. This will come as I make other changes.

I’ve changed the publication of the digital magazine from every two months to quarterly. This gives me an extra month to get things together and do everything that needs to be done. It also means I don’t need to stay up late to get things done, especially when it’s close to the publication deadline.

I already have the primary interview for the next issue in the bag and everything feels a lot more manageable now, so this seems to be working. Hopefully, my subscribers will understand the need to change this. What’s the point in giving all the info everyone else needs to sleep well if I’m not doing it myself?

It doesn’t help that I’m currently a bit dehydrated too. We need to be hydrated to sleep well and less sleep can also cause dehydration. It’s a vicious circle which I’m slowly coming out of. I’ve started drinking a pint of water every morning as we get ready for the day. I’ve also got an app on my phone to tell me to have a drink as I usually forget, especially when I’m tired. See what’s happening there?

I’ve just done a mental check to see if there’s anything else I can do too. I write about sleep but I can’t remember all the nuggets of information for good sleep! Probably because I’m tired.

OK, I just checked back through some articles I’ve written before. Everything else is pretty much on point. I have a clean and tidy bedroom clear of clutter. We don’t have the heating on overnight. I’m going to bed at the same time each night and getting up at the same time. Most of the time. This could do with a bit of work.

I don’t use any nicotine products. I’m working on the alcohol, caffeine and sugar. We don’t have a TV in the bedroom or any pets and our bedroom is as dark and quiet as it can be. Apart from the Other Half snoring, but we’re working on that too. There are a few other points there, but they’re the main ones and I’m working on clearing my mind before sleeping.

So, if it’s another four months down the line and I’m still in the same situation, then something is very wrong and I need a real kick to jolt me into action before it becomes a life-altering thing. After all, I want to achieve big things and it’s only possible to see opportunity and have the energy to chase it when your eyes are wide awake and open.

Originally published at https://www.livedifferently.co.uk on August 29, 2019.