Okay, I have a few test coming up..papers due and a career change coming very soon. Anyway, i'm a bit stressed.
Sometimes when I try to sleep I can't help but think about everything I need to do. I can't stop. ...it's a cycle, when I swim, i'm less stressed, but when it does creeps up on me I don't swim in he morning because i'm too tired in the morning to go, and I need to be rested for work which just makes me antsy the next day and so on. Well, I end up skipping days and days at the pool. Frustrating.
Swimming in the morning is usually the only time to go to be sure I can get a spot. How can I get myself to go in the morning, how can I sleep better at night? Have any of you come up with any strategies for this?
Cheers, :coffee:
Eric
As a talented insomniac myself, I suggest doing a search for a thread called "Sleepless in Lawrenceville" started by Beth McGee/Swimr4Life.
Thanks Fortress, that looks like a great thread. Gonna finish reading it now.
Eric
Yikes! That's not encouraging! I can't even take any kind of hormones because of a bad reaction to birth control. Oh life in the 40's is getting more and more fun by the minute...:afraid:
Pretty soon, when you see those commercials on TV where the smiley 40 something women are going on and on about how amazing it is to be in their 40s, how much more confident they are, blah blah, you'll just want to throw something hard and pointed at the TV. Please, give me my 30s any day.
Sounds as if this might be more a matter of letting go of work stress than a sleep related thing. As you said, one thing has an affect on the other.
By letting go of your work worries, you can stay better relaxed. There are so many hours in a day and not everything gets done no matter how hard we try.
I think that's what can keep one up at night time, and start the cycle of no sleep, no pool, and more stress.
Getting in recreation (workout) time should be a priority in that the better of we feel, the better we can handle our day.
An outlet for stress is very important.
Sounds as if this might be more a matter of letting go of work stress than a sleep related thing. As you said, one thing has an affect on the other.
Getting in recreation (workout) time should be a priority in that the better of we feel, the better we can handle our day.
An outlet for stress is very important.
I totally agree with you, and swimming is that outlet for me ... I get stretched a bit thin at times. I probably just need to get up and go, but then I worry that i'll be too tired to do well the rest of the day.
On a lighter note though. When I don't sleep as well, I can remember my dreams more vividly. the other night I was having battles with life sized transformer toys through some abandoned mansion and the sewers underneath. It was awesome.
Same things happen to me. Work stress is a killer, especially (I think) if you are in a creative field and/or have leadership roles that rarely have sure answers. And the economic news is not helping anyone, either.
Often I will pop up at 11-12-1-2, whatever, raring to go. Even if I had a hard pool or gym workout that morning and a good dinner. If there was a 24 hr pool, I'd be there poping out fast repeats. I will typically not lay there and be miserable, I will get up and answer emails, write text for work, or look for a familiar movie on cable. The feeling passes after about 2 hours and then I can sleep, but getting up after 3 hours of sleep usually means I won't go swimming at 5:30 am.......
But a day off from the usual schedule helps, too. I'm not 15 any more, but many more of these episodes and my IQ might be.
DV
I FINALLY remembered an old trick I used to use on myself the night before a big swim if I couldn't sleep. I went and got my walkman (yes, I still have a Walkman) and I found some talk show to listen to in bed. It was a somewhat boring show playing at a very low level but it allowed my mind to get off of the anxious cycle. Took half an hour or so, but I finally fell asleep. Then, once I've slept awhile I wake up and take off the walkman and am relaxed enough to sleep normally.
Yea, talking is way different than music, it may works for me because when i'm in class being lectured at I seem to get very sleepy. I'll try to download some really boring podcast or something.
i wonder if it's a maslows heirchy of needs thing. you can't focus on anything else until your physical needs are met.
Ha! Maslow, nice! I think it definitely fits though. My anxiety is coming from the safety (finance) and esteem (tests etc...) tiers, which is bad because they're pretty basic needs .. ugh. As the Wicked Witch said: "Oh What a world, what a world!"
IAs to getting up in the morning, I totally rely on the sweet drug of double espresso. My rule of thumb, though, for skipping AM workouts is if I'm getting less than 5 hours of sleep. I've done workouts on 3 and 4 hours of sleep and the result is a crappy workout, a crappy day and a crappy mood.
Yes ... I set that 5 hr rule as well, but I cheat. I really like sleep, and in the morning i'm so weak willed. Tonight i'll fight the crowd and swim, tomorrow morning I'll make my best effort to go swim, that will probably help the most. Ha, and I do love my espresso in the morning also! First thing I do in the morning is crawl over to the machine and start it up.
