It is SO important!
There are some people who can function really well with less than the required 7-8 hours per night, and there are others (myself included) who turn into blubbering, dysfunctional loonies when they are behind on sleep. My husband is one of those lucky beings that is gifted in the area of sleep. He can lie down on the couch and be snoozing within minutes at any time of day, and every night I eventually fall asleep to the sound of his breathing or (grrrrrrr) snoring.
There are so many interesting articles out there about how important sleep is for our bodies including cell repair, release of hormones and recharging your brain. I think most people are aware of the obvious physical consequences of lack of sleep, such as trouble concentrating or remembering things, and impaired capacity to work or drive.
Most would agree that it is crucial to our health and wellbeing, but some of those who find sleeping easy could do with learning a little bit about how real a problem sleep can be for people. For instance, my husband finds it completely frustrating that I can't fall asleep like him. It is largely for these people that I write this post, and then for those on the other side who can relate with me.
Sleep can be a REALLY BIG DEAL. You don't know how crucial it is until you struggle with it.
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| Peaceful sleeping baby. Awwwww. |
Here are the sleep activities of a crap-sleeper:
5:30am: Husband's alarm goes off. He stifles it quickly, but you heard it. You lie there and pretend to be asleep, to both husband and self. If you are lucky you end up dozing. Otherwise you lie there calculating how much sleep you likely got: fell asleep maybe "this time" and woke to husband snoring at XXpm then baby chatting at Xam, so take off an hour... until...
6:07am (or 6:37am if you're lucky): Baby starts saying "bah bah bah", "ada ada ada". You wait a couple of minutes to be sure that she's really awake, then get up and the day begins.
9:30am: Baby is napping. I'm still in my pyjamas. I could have a nap too. Let's be realistic, I SUCK at sleeping in the day. Make difficult decision whether to lie horizontal for an hour and rest or to be productive with your time in the hope that it might mean a slightly earlier bedtime at the end of it all.
11:00am: Drink cup of coffee. DECAF, I can't afford to drink stimulants... might not get to sleep tonight.
1:00pm: Husband calls, says he is going to be home late tonight, save some dinner etc. Uh oh, I want to spend some time with him: does this mean that I might need to go to bed later and hence lose some of those precious hours of potential sleep?!!
2:00pm: Baby asleep again. She falls asleep so effortlessly, I wish I could do that - I guess there must be far too much in my mind when I'm lying in bed-SHUTUPKATE
Could really do with a nap right now. Make another difficult decision, usually going the direction of starting dinner prep. This will help with getting to bed earlier.
4:00pm: Oh no, I haven't done any exercise today - I probably won't be able to sleep properly argh. Do quick body-weight interval set. Probably doesn't count, not high enough intensity.
5:00pm: Feeding baby dinner. Come ON Georgia, you need to eat the whole bowl of mush so that you'll sleep through the night!!!!! Then I might have another crack at doing it myself (Even though she doesn't wake up, I still do).
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| Yes, they are BOTH asleep, but I'm awake |
7:00pm: Husband home, baby asleep, let's have dinner together. Oh and I'll have that magnesium supplement, helps with sleep.
7:30pm: Sorry babe, I can't watch a movie with you, I'll never sleep!
9:00pm: Get into bed, rub magnesium lotion on random part of body. I'm gonna absorb magnesium one way or another. I don't want to get back to taking melatonin. Close eyes. Sleeeeeeeeeeep.
9:07pm: Husband breathing heavily. He's asleep. Lucky egg. No, it's good, he needs to sleep so that he can work! Shift to other side, will be more comfortable, I reckon.
Just relax, okay, picturing a really relaxing place...
9:25pm: Husband's breathing verging on snoring. ARGH I'll never get to sleep now that he's being noisy!
Yes, you will, slow your breathing. Shift back to other side, pull covers up to ears. Think of all the words starting with A that you can think of.
Fall asleep AT SOME POINT.
11:25pm: Stir. It must be early in the morning, I've been sleeping for ages. Check clock. Why do I do that? I know I shouldn't do that.
1:25am: Repeat.
3:00am: Hear shriek from baby's room. Eek, is it just a random one or is she actually awake?!!! Whole body tense, waiting.
No more noise, okay, back to sleep.
Eventually.
Realistically, I don't have much of a problem. Things are just fine, and I know what works for me. I can see how this would be a totally consuming battle for those who get deeper into the pattern. It is a crazy mind game.
So, if you care about someone who struggles with sleep, give them a bit more love. It can be a bit of a long road.
