the stuff that dreams are made of

How about How To Wednesday this week?  A few quick ramblings first:

• ZJ asked for grits for breakfast this morning!  Score!
• Carol's got baby chicks in her Kindergarten classroom.  One was born while we talked this morning.  I can't wait to take the kids over to see them.
• Yesterday, we saw Soul Surfer.  It's uplifting, inspiring, clean, wholesome entertainment for the family.  ZJ wants to find the book.  They loved it.  We'll buy the DVD, for sure.

Last weekend, on Friday night, Doug and I stayed up very late watching old clips of the 70s Saturday Night Life. On Saturday, we raced from activity to activity.  At one point, he stretched out in the Lazy-Boy for a nap, was just about asleep when the phone rang and I told him we had company on their way.  He barked, "I need a nap!"  I started laughing out loud so hard!  Doug doesn't bark.  Doug is gentle and kind.  But, he was tired.  He was not being rude, but it was just the way he said it and it was so out of character for him!  He never got the nap.

Then on Saturday night, I was tired because we'd been up so late the night before.  At 10:30, I was ready for bed.  Doug was working on a project at the computer.  I waited until midnight, kissed him goodnight and climbed into bed.  For the next hour and a half, I heard Doug on the computer.  He'd set a goal to complete the project and wasn't stopping until it was done.  (Remember, Doug is not a computer savvy, but he's learning.)  So.  For the next hour and a half, I heard Doug grunt and grown and "what the?" at the computer from our bedroom next door.  Finally, I fell asleep.  Mind you, I was getting a bit cranky because he was tired to begin with and I knew that he wasn't going to be alert in church.  (Don't ya hate it when your husband snores in Sacrament Meeting?)  ANYWAY.  Doug finally came to bed after the project was complete, his shower and his 20 minute flossing ritual at almost 2.

At 2:3o, the phone rang.  We were both dead to the world.  It rang.  And rang.  And finally we both realized that it was ringing.  We answer the phone in our bedroom about three times a year, so Doug was pushing unfamiliar buttons in the dark trying to answer it.  By now, I was wide awake and starting to panic because the only two middle of the night phone calls we've ever received were when our nephew David was killed in a car accident and when my Granddaddy died.  So, Doug gives up and hands me the phone to answer it.  I finally push the right button and it starts that scratchy nasty FAX machine sound.  Doug had sent a fax just after 1AM and this was the receipt call.  At 2:30 in the morning!!!  I was C-R-A-N-K-Y!  I barked! I had imagined all sorts of bad news during that nine rings!  Doug was so exhausted that he'd forgotten he'd even sent the text.  NOT. AMUSED.

Now, by Sunday afternoon, we were laughing at the fact that we were both so dang tired and that the scene the night before had to have been quite humorous to the dust mites in our room.  But, the point is, we needed more rest because neither of us were functioning on what little sleep we'd had.  I've laughed and teased Doug about his barking and the FAX all week.

And so... without further ado... here's my How To Tuesday, on Wednesday, because yesterday, I was too tired to think about it.  How to improve on your sleep, thus making yourself healthier, happier and less likely to bark or snap!

I've been reading about the importance of getting a good nights sleep.  Facts appear that getting 8 hours of sleep regularly helps you live longer and healthier.  It's not something that I've ever been able to do on a regular basis, but when I do, I am in heaven!  You'd think that I'd try to do it more often!  One study shows that getting one more hour of sleep a night can do more for a person's daily happiness than getting a $60,000 raise.  Another great benefit to getting sleep, according to some studies, is that it affects your mood.  A well rested person doesn't bark. ;)

1. Turn off the light!  Our eyes rest much better when we have total darkness.  Our rooms are lit up with LEDs everywhere... iPods and iPhones charging, laptops, routers, printers, TVs, battery chargers... all of those little things that have one or two little green dots make a difference.   Cover them, turn them off, Make the room as dark as possible!
2. Doug's number one rule for getting a good night's sleep... Do not have a TV or computer in the bedroom! Nothing further to say about that.
3. Go to bed when your tired.  Don't wait for the second wind.  If your body says it's tired at 9:30, go to bed at 9:30.  Listen to your body!!
4. Get ready for bed earlier.  Sometimes, we'll watch TV and be so exhausted that we can't get up and get ready for bed.  We stay there in front of the TV just because getting up to wash our face and do our teeth and nighttime routines just seems like work, so we sit "like a zombie" (Doug calls it) and just prolong our agony.  Just do it!  Get ready early, and when you're tired, it's not such a demanding task to "get ready for bed".
5. Before bedtime, don't do anything that requires deep thought.  Don't discuss or work on finances, work projects, anything that requires your brain to wake up.  Think relaxing thoughts.
6. Just do it. Never lie in bed and stay half awake because you have to "go potty" so bad that you can't relax.  If you're cold, force yourself to get up and get on a pair of socks or cover up with an extra blanket.  Don't miss out on sleep because you're uncomfortable.  Force yourself to get comfortable so that you can sleep better immediately! Oh, and if you have an important thought in the night, rather than fighting the fear of forgetting it, keep a pen and paper by your bedside.  Write it down and forget about it for the night.
7. Don't look at the clock!  Cover the clock.  People with insomnia sleep much better when they don't have a clock to keep checking all night long.  If you have no idea that you woke up four minutes ago, you won't increase the frustration level.  You don't know that it wasn't four hours ago.
8. Try to set a sleep schedule so that your body clock works better.  While I was in NC, my body woke up every morning at 7:55, which was 5:55 Mountain Standard time.  I tried to stay on that body clock's schedule so that I felt rested and had the energy to do all that I needed while there visiting Dad.  It worked.  I think that the time change took more of a toll a few days after I got home.  Don't throw your body out of whack (like Doug and I did last weekend) by killing it on the weekends and then trying to be regular during the week.
9. Decide whether your body needs white noise or not.  Doug hates any sound in the night.  I like white noise to diffuse the sounds of the furnace kicking off and on, the occasional growl from Go-Go or the kids coughing.  It complicates things when we both like the opposite, so I keep the headphones to my iPod under my pillow and let it run with Sleep sounds (ocean waves or thunderstorms) soft enough that I can hear them and Doug can't.
10. Don't eat late at night.  I've read over and over that it's healthiest to not eat for 3-4 hours before your bedtime... better for diet control and for getting a good night's sleep.
11. Don't watch things on TV before bedtime that will stimulate your senses.  I can't watch the latenight news, other than the weather.  Watching violence before bedtime gives me nightmares and makes my blood pressure go up because I get angry over senseless crimes.  We forward through the headlines and watch the weather then head to bed.
12. Once you're in bed, take a few deep breaths and imagine every muscle in your body relaxing starting from your toes and working all the way up to your head.
13. Let your mind take you to someplace relaxing. When we were younger and I couldn't sleep, Doug would talk softly and gently and take me places all over the world to help me unwind.  We'd go from the ranch in a hot air balloon one night to lyingon the beaches in Zijuatanejo the next night.  Today, when I can't sleep in the middle of the night, to keep my thoughts off of worries or trouble, I decorate homes and plan tablescapes until I fall asleep.
14. If you can't sleep, stop worrying about sleeping and focus on relaxing.  Soft music, visualization, prayer.  All of these can help you focus on relaxing rather than the frustration that keeps you awake.
15. Exercise is a great thing during the day to help you sleep better at night.  I'm sure that there are plenty more, but these are the things that have stuck in my mind as I've read about sleeping better this past year.

I'm one of the world's worst sleepers.  Anyone who knows me, knows that.  For years while I worked for the magazine, bedtime was 3-4 in the morning.  Wake-up was at 6.  As I get older, I am slowing down and my body needsat least 5-6 hours of sleep to function well.  So, I'm making a more concentrated effort to get more rest.  When I do, I'm ever so glad.  When I don't, I may be known to bark too.  Enough said about that.

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.

Comments

[Nancy Thomson]

I have struggled (really struggled) with insomnia all my life - your tips are very helpful. I think I heard many of them before but I love that you've compiled them into a nice list. I will copy it and print it out and put it somewhere I can read & review it regularly.

A big Thank-you because I really am 'Sleepless in Seattle"

N

[Nicole]

I have noticed you accomplished so much in a day because you don't really need 8 hours of sleep. I wish I was more like Sophia... If I don't have at least 6 or 7 hours of sleep, I often wake up in a bad mood which luckily wears off as the day goes on.