Imagine my surprise when my ode to the siesta, Siesta Your Way to Happiness, is out-trafficking the Manival articles simply through the search terms ‘tired’ and ‘anxious’.
My dear friends, I had no idea that you so yearned for sleep and release that you deeply desired something as simple as a nap?
What is going on?
Are you sleepy, beloveds? Too busy? Do you have too much to do in too little time? Is it children? Is it that you have children that only you care for? Do you have a sleep disorder? Sleep apnea? Restless leg syndrome???
Tell me, for I must know.
My heart goes out to you, sleepless ones. I can only imagine what it is like to go without sleep against your will. I can’t possibly imagine how bad it must be if the opportunity for a quick siesta sounds like paradise.
I absolutely nap.
Often I get home from work and nap from 7-10pm, waking up at 10pm feeling refreshed and better able to tackle my duties. After a good 4 hours of productivity, I go to sleep at 2am and wake at 7:30am feeling darn right perky.
I would never suggest this for everyone, especially those with children but I would urge you to consider an ‘alternative sleeping schedule’ if the one you are on isn’t working. Maybe you could stay at work an extra hour and use that hour for a nap?
Or, if you can’t sleep and you really want to may I suggest the extended director’s cut of Lord of The Rings? Sincerely, this suggestion is not in jest; many a sleepless night have I cured whilst resisting the urge to fast forward to the good stuff. I always seem to drop off in Rivendell.
Please tell me, why are you tired?
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May 13, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Siesta Your Way to Happiness « Persistent Illusion
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May 13, 2008 at 8:24 pm
marlajayne
Good question. I’m only tired if several days go by without enough sleep. I like to get a solid seven hours, but it doesn’t always happen.
About sleep, I think it’s kind of mind boggling to consider that if you sleep 7-8 hours per night, you end up sleeping four months a year. Why then do we somehow consider our nights as less significant than our days? Sure, we’re “out of it,” but some important stuff must be going on since we seem to crave it…and you know, hardly a day passes that someone doesn’t complain to me about insomnia, sleep deprivation because of babies or stress, loud snoring bedmates, etc.
persistentillusion says:
It’s funny you mention that we sleep 4 months a year…I work with someone who spent $4,000 on her tempur-pedic mattress for that exact reason.
May 14, 2008 at 1:21 am
curlywurlygurly
hmmm…i don’t have ankle biters either, so perhaps my sleep habits are a bit different from the rest of the population’s too.
i go to bed anywhere from 11:45pm to 2am…get up at 6:30 or 7am and have a JAM packed day. i’m always sleepy because i don’t sleep through the night. sometimes i just ‘hit the wall’ and fall asleep at 7 or 8pm, but most times i keep chugging.
i wake up about 3 times a night (ever since we had a small fire in our basement last august) and I’m very anxious. i prefer to stay up and make sure the house doesn’t burn down.
persistentillusion says:
NO KIDDING. I totally feel you on that one.
May 14, 2008 at 5:32 am
cory huff
I sleep like a baby most nights. I practice Alexander Technique in my day to day life. It releases tension and allows for relaxed sleep.
persistentillusion says:
I quickly wikipedia’d “Alexander technique” and I am pretty curious as to how you used it for sleep. Or is it that you live a more relaxed life and are therefore able to sleep better?
May 14, 2008 at 12:33 pm
thedailydish
When I was working full time, I used to go to bed early, but I always felt tired. It got worse when I become pregnant. I felt tired CONSTANTLY. I spent the first 6 mos of pregnancy sleeping when I wasn’t at work.
Now that I’m home full time, I feel more rested. Even though I’m getting comparable or maybe even less sleep, my days are different. I spend MUCH more time engaged in physical activity, which seems to energize me FAR more than sitting at a desk.
persistentillusion says:
Was your job, or your coworkers, in any way toxic?
May 14, 2008 at 1:29 pm
connie
I have suffered insomnia since I was about 11 years old. I have been know to clean bathrooms, do laundry and dishes, mop floors and read volumes of books. I tend to wake up from 2:00 – 4:00 a.m. most nights. I take naps whenever possible. Or as you say sleep from about 7 – 10 p.m., do some stuff, go back to bed. Sometimes, I just sit and watch ridiculous television, which is not so good. I think it makes me tired but not sleepy.
persistentillusion says:
Connie. That’s weird. I too used to wake up and “clean bathrooms, do laundry and dishes, mop floors and read volumes of books”. Especially in college…
May 14, 2008 at 10:58 pm
thedailydish
MAN. If I could only drag my sorry self out of bed in the middle of the night to clean, my house would be SPOTLESS instead of a filth pit!!! I wonder if I could convince my self to sleepclean???
As for my old job, No it wasn’t toxic in anyway, I loved it. But I know now that I was never intended to sit behind a desk 8 hours a day. That part of it was killing my soul. Each day when I left work, I felt like a trapped bird being released from its cage. I kid you not.
persistentillusion says:
Wow, that’s pretty bad.
May 16, 2008 at 10:55 pm
womanstrength
I had trouble sleeping for nearly a year…then couldn’t get anything done during the day because of being too tired. Turned out it was my blood pressure medication (Metoprolol). I’ve gone off it and have gone on the DASH diet for high blood pressure. Great results!! I sleep regularly now and my blood pressure is just fine. Too bad the doctors don’t seem to advise diet and exercise FIRST before prescribing drugs. Those stole a year of my life, I kid you not!–Barb
persistentillusion says:
That’s amazing your meds had that much of an effect on your sleeping cycle! It’s great that you figured it out, I just wonder how often others have the same problem without even knowing what causing it.
October 20, 2008 at 5:29 am
Just Jonny
My bed sucks. I let the saleswoman, and yes my mother, talk me into getting a firmer mattress than I wanted, because “[I] need the support,” so they said. It has affected my sleep, memory, attention, punctuality, circulation, and memory. Yes, the couch suits me fine for now, but it’s starting to get a permanent impression of my body in it.
hayden tompkins says:
I love a soft mattress, that makes me feel like I am on a cloud. If you can’t snuggle into it then who wants it! Maybe you could put a mattress pad on it or something?