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So my best friend (also an insomniac) just sent me an info about a new iPhone app… It's a new type of alarm clock – that lets you compete with your friends who the best waker-upper is… Errrr, yes… I'm not rushing out to get this either… (which may have something to do with the fact that I do NOT have an iPhone…!!!)
Anway, if anyone is interested it's called “Wake-n-Shake Alarm Clock”…
I'll post the link to it here, but as I'm not sure what the forum rules are re links here (different in almost all forums!) you can obviously delete it Martin, if it's not appropriate to the site's policies…
Just thought it might be a fun way to get us insomniacs out of bed in the morings when we are bleary eyed…??
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/wake-n-shake-alarm-clock/id461785823?mt=8
Wooooow! I am so happy for you that your sleeping is basically back to normal!
You must be Martin's record for “quick fix insomnia cures”!!!
Well, then I will aim to be the fastest insomniac cured, who's had insomnia for nearly 3 decades… I'm sure there's some record-breaking to do in that category aswell!
Well, my deadline is not til this afternoon, so I've still got a bit of time and am well on track. On the home straight now and not expecting anymore hiccups…
Well done on doing so much walking! It's great excercise, huh? I'm always too lazy to do it – which is why we have that cute dog to stay as often as possible – cos her begging to be taken for a walk gets me up off the sofa every time!
Well, I didn't get any sleep at all last night – but I'm feeling surprisingly calm and collected, given that.
I'd better hurry up and try and finish my work tho, before major tiredness hits!!
Talk later!!
G
Hey – well done on sleeping through!! That is so brillian!!!
I feel like a parent being proud of their baby for sleeping through it's first night without nightly wake-ups…. haha….
Everything went fine last night in the end – I got out a relaxation CD and did that and fell asleep very nicely…
Don't worry about me too much – I'm fine writing here journal-style while you are merrily off in the land of nod 🙂
I think that's one of the great things about a forum – that you know that no one is having to “be there” for you – they are either there or they aren't…
Cos I could complain about my insomnia to my friends and boyfriend, as I have done in the past, but I don't like to burden them with the BORING details EVERY single day and night…
So I definitely don't want to be a burden on anyone here either – if you know what I mean…?
I totally love your posts, but if you're sleeping great then I have no issue with hearing from you only every 2nd or 3rd day… for example…
I can just go and keep Martin busy – and ask him all my sleep questions and tell him all my sleep worries… haha! 😆
Okay, I am going to try and get this work done now and don't worry about me if I write frazzled posts…. that's just me, being frazzled… AGAIN 😮
I am kind of used to it, I'm afraid… I think freaking out about things occasionally is part of my style and lack of sleep is definitely a freaky topic for me! :huh:
Hope you're having a looooovely Sunday!
G 🙂
Ah, nooo! After such an almost-good start, I fell asleep again and didn't hear the alarm clock and slept til noon! 😮
Well, at least I'm rested now, I guess….
Hey 🙂 Did you sleep through?
I'm so happy for you, at the thought that perhaps you did!!!
I got to sleep eventually too (no idea when, to be honest… couldn't even really guess… I assume it would have been somewhere between 2am and 3am??)
I didn't hear the first few alarm clocks going off here, but heard the one at 6:20am so I'm awake (tho not up yet – still under the covers, typing this).
But I feel fine – feel rested – so I will get up in a minute and make myself a coffee.
Seems silly now, to have been that worried last night! 😕
But I guess that's how it goes.
Have a lovely, easy Sunday and a nice sleep-in without an excess-sleep-headache….!
XXX
Groggy
Ah, poop, I didn't snooze off after all.
At the moment I'm having that anxiety of “If I don't sleep tonight then how will I manage tomorrow?”
I feel tense and worried that I won't get the work I need to do done, that I'll miss my deadline because I'm so groggy that I can't focus and concentrate on the tasks. I worry I'll feel so exhausted and miserable, that I won't be in a fit state to work…
Of course, from Martin's emails I know that being anxious about that is the best way to PREVENT sleep, as I am getting myself into a state where I feel upset and the opposite of sleepy.
Ach, I was doing so well with this the past week – not freaking out about the potential lack of sleep at all. I don't know why it's suddenly reappeared tonight. I guess maybe because my deadline is coming closer?
With the work that I do, it's always very tight schedules – not much room for anything to go wrong, for getting sick or feeling unwell due to a lack of sleep. I get to balance that out by taking the breaks I need/ want, in between contracts – and that's a dynamic I quite enjoy. It keeps things interesting – I don't think I'm someone who likes life to be monotonous – the same pattern, day in and day out.
Having said that, I think that work just before a deadline can be pretty adrenaline fuelled. Sometimes that's nice – it can kind of make you feel alive, all that adrenaline… But sometimes it's really annoying – sometimes you don't feel up to so much pressure…
On the whole, I'm happy with it – I chose this line of work and I don't want to swap it, or anything. I'm just trying to explain the background of what my “average” working week is like…
I guess what I wanted to say is that seeing as adrenaline is a big factor in the days before a deadline, maybe I need to expect sleep to be more elusive on those days – and also for sleep to be sorely missed, as its restorative power is something I crave in those times of stress.
In fact, maybe that's something we insomniacs all have in common – that during times of stress, we NEED sleep more than ever, but it's also the exact time when the experience of stress and the stress hormones involved make sleep so difficult to get?? (Mental note: ask Martin about that…)
If so, then that's a quite horrible paradox, isn't it?! That sleep is available only when you “don't really need it” – ie during calm and easy times. And it's not available uring the tims it's needed most desparately. Maybe that's why insomniacs the world over freak out when they can't sleep. Not so much because it's “just” a lack of sleep – but because the missing sleep is the last thing they need as an additional stressor on top of the stuff they're already dealing with…
Well, anyway, I think it's certainly true of myself….
So I guess, judging from Martin's emails, that I will have to try to get the stress levels/ hormones down tonight, so be able to have a chance of having “restorative” sleep. Which means forgetting all about the stress involved with my deadline.
Letting it go – which feels very counter-intuitive… I think I'm someone who likes to have a “firm grip” on my stressors – keeping a watchful eye on the at all times… But yeah – getting “shut eye” is hard, when you have a watchful eye open!!
Okay, I'm game… I will try anything once 😮
First step is to STOP thinking about work at all. Think about anything but work.
And then take it from there, in steps, getting my brain to shift down until I get to “sleep level”….
Okay, sorry this has been such a rambling journal entry post… Just need to make sure I keep on top of this insomnia business!!!
Thanks for hearing me
XXX Groggy
Oh my goodness me, it's only 9:30pm and I'm already struggling to stay awake! I guess the early-morning sleep deprivation is starting to work somewhat?!
Hm, seeing as I have a deadline to meet Monday, I was actually counting on working while insomnia was around… Hmmm…
I guess I'll just have to make it a really busy day tomorrow then…
😮 Haha – so now I'm COMPLAINING about evening tiredness?! My how times change…
Groggy
Oh dear, Mr. Napsy strikes again… Uh, think I was “out” for about an hour…
Not quite according to plan, but never mind, all is well…
Just put the shepherds pie in the oven and am doing the dishes…
Dunno about giving you this peanut butter recipe…! It's turned out a bit strange…
Not necessarily in a bad way! :huh:
Just not sure if I would “recommend” it as a recipe yet…
I think I may have to wait til we have a blender, so that I can refine the recipe a bit, before passing it on…
I even added a shot of rum to it earlier! 😮
Right – catch you later – unless Mr. Napsy catches me first… d'oh!
G
Hey Tired Teddy,
I am making vegetarian Shepherds Pie. I have just cooked special lentils for it and they are sooo yummy! They taste even better than meat! (And I'm not even really a vegetarian – I think it's called flexi-tarian… When you just reduce your meat consumption as far as you are able/ willing and hence go without meat on many/ most days.)
Plus I am making 2 savoury dips/ spreads to have on rye bread… Also very yummy…
I'm quite surprised, cos I'm not usually such a good cook (I get too impatient and it bores me!!) but my boyfriend, who usually cooks spectacularly for us has asked to have a fortnight off from cooking duties, so I am left to my own devices 😉
In fact, I'd better get back to it… I am only half way through yet!!
I will try and figure out my peanut butter recipe for you – I kind of just kept bunging stuff in, til it tasted nice!
XXX
Groggy
Mmm, my peanut butter has turned into a peanut + almond + hazelnut + sesame + honey butter…
Not quite as smooth as the ones you buy, cos our blender died a few weeks ago, so I've gone stone-age and used a mortar and pestle…
But definitely yummy!
I was thinking of adding some of the other nuts anyway, but then I found I had to. Cos the recipes I had looked up all said to buy salted peanuts (I was a bit skeptical, but the shop didn't have any unsalted ones anyway) and that made the peanut butter way too salty. So I had bought ground almonds and hazelnut, just in case, which was a good thing, cos it definitely needed it.
I'll be looking forward to making it with a blender too, once we've gotten round to buying a new one…
Right – more work to do…
It's nice and sunny here today – a pretty combination with all the snow outside…
XXX
Groggy
Pfft… whenever I try listing a) b.) c) etc… the b.) turns into 😎 cos that's the code for that smiley… poop.
Guess I will have to add a fullstop to prevent it from happening?!
Ooh, well that was fun…
I am now installed snuggly on the sofa, with a comfy blanket and a heating pad under my feet to do half an hour's work on the laptop before I head outdoors to the shops to get what I need for the rest of tonight's cooking…
I have set a loud alarm clock for 45 mins, just to be sure I won't be having any naps… (Do you hear me, Mr Napsy!?!?!)
I've decided I'm making my own peanut butter today.
I've become such an addict of it lately, but I don't like the fact that the one from the shops has a) too much sugar and 😎 is made with palm oil, which is terrible for the environment and not particularly healthy.
I wonder how it will turn out??
I've mixed the sugar with some Tahini now, so that it will dissolve. And the Tahini should give it a slightly more bitter edge, which *could* be nice, but who knows?! I will keep you posted and let you know how it turns out!
Right – best get to work…
Cross your fingers for me that Mr Napsy doesn't win our battle for nap domination…
XXX
Groggy
Just need to post this here, so I have witnesses: I am going to do my exercise video – and seeing as I fell asleep 3 out of 4 times doing it recently, I'm setting a loud alarm clock for the end of it, just in case.
And I WILL get straight UP afterwards. And do…. what?
Um… I will do some of the cooking preparations for tonight. Yes, that's it!
Oh and I must watch out for bumbling fool Mr Napsy today… feels like just the kind of day that he would be a pesk… especially as he could argue “But Groggy, it's the WEEKEND!!”
Grrr Mr Napsy – BACK OFF!!
Hey Tedzzz,
well done on so much sleep!
And what a great day out shopping – that sounds so nice!!
Love the image of you and your mum in boots in a fancy restaurant 😆
Ah, that's a shame you can't conveniently add a 2nd comfy bed…!
I wonder whether an oversized single bed would be an option? 1,40m by 2,20m?
Ah, well…. I am sitting here in the kitchen at dawn on a Saturday… kind of hard to get up this early on the weekend!
I didn't end up falling asleep til somewhere between 2 and 3am, I'm estimating… my brain kept going over bothersome topics, which kept me awake.
I didn't really hear the alarm clocks til 7am and then was too lazy to actually get up until 7:40am but now I'm safely installed in the kitchen and about to make a coffee.
Rightio, I'd better add more later, cos my brain's not feeling very talkative yet, it says… 😮
Have a good start to your day!!
Groggy
