Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine The Poor Sleepers' Support Thread

Sleep is one of the most important components of health, yet many people never get enough of it. I am one of those people.

Sometimes I'll stay up late (at work or even at home) thinking, "I have so many things to do, let's see if I can finish some more!" Sometimes I'll force myself to sneak in a quick workout before bed, but I'll never finish. And sometimes I go, "OK I'll take a quick nap..." and end up spending the night on the couch or in my clothes.

I've been doing better lately, but one late night (read: midnight or later) at work is enough to mess me up. Last Tuesday I stayed until the wee hours of the morning, and my sleeping patterns the rest of the week were irreparably messed up.

I especially hate the feeling of sitting on the couch and waking up again at 7am, just in time to leave for work, and realize I didn't even brush my teeth!

My goal is to realign my sleeping patterns. In bed by 11am at the latest, with my face and hair washed, teeth brushed and flossed, and in my sleeping clothes. Up at 6am every day, which gives me a comfy 7 hours of sleep at night. For the most part I've been able to stick to this, but it still annoys me that occasionally I will mess up and slip into bad patterns of behavior again.

The clock is ticking... let's see how well I can do!

I should be asleep right now, since its 2 AM here, but instead I'm browsing LW....

Shall I enlist you on my journey to better sleep, Indy?

I'm totally like that, though. I know I should be going to bed, but I can't resist one... more... click....

I like looking at the older LW threads from before I joined. It's fun to see all the threads about new Legion books coming out when viewed in retrospect.

I've also had a problem of sleeping through my alarm on occasion. Last Wednesday, I slept through my 10 AM class!

I would sometimes sleep through classes, but usually only after exhausting all-nighters. Bad habit to shake...

I went to bed relatively early last night, 11.30, still not my target. And now I find myself awake at 4am. Not cool. Heading back to bed after a drink of water and a gargle.

I'm looking at my sleep patterns too. I was more disciplined years ago than I am now. So, I've set a simple set of night habits that will get me away from any distractions and into bed.

It's not that I turn into a pumpkin at midnight, but I sure feel like one the next day at work if I've been up late.

I feel like one now. Sigh. I hate that when I go to bed early, I also tend to wake up too early to start my day.

Perhaps I should also make it a point to disconnect from my devices earlier in the evening.

But if you disconnect earlier, then how will you talk to all of us here on LW?

Delayed messaging?

That's what I find works. After a while a routine will fall into place. At that point, I stay up late to show I'm the one in control and not the routine. Then I fall into the routine again.

I need to get back into the routine...

So disappointed in myself. Got home late. I knew I should make a beeline for the bathroom to do what I have to do. But my body is so tired I say, oh I will just have a nap on the couch...

Next thing I know it is 6am. Ugh!!!

As sad as it sounds, I found an evening over overcompensating worked for me. Have nothing planned with the exception of getting to bed. Then the following night get closer to the routine I want. It seems easier that way.

The downside of this is that it probably stopped me watching TV. I used to turn it on at around 10 if I was going to. Once I got out of that habit, that was it.

I would love to try that, it sounds like a good tactic. Problem is those days where I leave the office late and get home after midnight. I'm just so exhausted sometimes I don't make it to bed.

I need to stop making pit stops at the couch on my way up.

Yeah, late office nights are a pain. Assuming you're not also taking work home, some ideas...

- move the bed to where your couch is. Simple solution!
- Prep things the day before, so you don't have to go near the couch. Depending on the layout of your home, avoid the room where the couch is. Kitchen then to bed. If you stray to the couch while food is being prepared, prepare it the in the am/ night before in batches so it's a quick reheat and stay in the kitchen/dining area.
- if you watch TV, put a TV in the bedroom. At least you'll be used to being in bed and you can then wean yourself of any TV so you don't stay up late watching that. Ideally just read a book/ Legion comic instead.

#2 is extremely helpful. I actually made it to my bed last night, yay! Thanks thothy!

I also regularly manage to prepare the things I need the next day - that is, the night before, all my work clothes are laid out and so on.

Now I need to make sure I do everything else - wash my hair, for example.

Slept right the last couple of nights! I'm feeling great

In the Karmic balance of things, I woke up at silly o'clock the very night I posted advice here. Since, The Cat of Terror/Cuteness has been waking me up lots.

No good deed goes unpunished. But thanks again for the advice, thothy.

I read that sleeping with pets does tend to lead to poor sleep quality. I used to keep our dog in my room. A little noise and he would bark and wake me up in the wee hours of the morning to help darken the circles under my eyes...

I'd close the doors, but she just launches herself at the handles until they open. So it's an extra 10 minutes of disturbance listening to that, and then I get pestered anyway.

Kind of like what my folks go through. They keep the dog out, dog scratches on the door all night.

Utterly pestered last night. Now with a growing trend of getting pawed in the face when she's bored.

I still have had tons of work this week, but for 3 nights out of 4 I brought some home. Which means I was able to work out twice, wash my face, etc. I am feeling good about that.

I've been pretty bad about keeping a good sleeping schedule this week since I had three midterms within the span of two days. Hopefully I can catch up on rest when I go home this weekend for spring break.

Hope you have an enjoyable (and restful ;)) spring break, Indy!

Last night I was sitting on the couch when I felt sleep come on. I managed to pull myself off the couch and head up to my room. I know it's silly but I am quite happy about that.

well done on breaking out of that habit, Ibby.