The battle to reclaim the body clock rages on. If the bouts of sleeplessness last week brought misery and turmoil not only to my job performance but also to my everyday relationship with people, this week, I turned things around by accommodating my highly unusual sleeping pattern.
You see, what's done is done and if I'm not mistaken, it takes 21 days to start a habit. Since I cannot afford to give up three weeks to follow a routine, (for I will always have to break my cycle every Friday for hedonistic reasons) my choice is to accept the pattern already in place.
Imagine getting sleepy at 7 in the evening, only to be forced into a wakeful cycle a minute before midnight. Since you spent your entire evening unconsciously living your fantasies and nightmares in dreamland, you will catch up with real life by doing your errands when people are about to sleep. Nocturnal invitations would not come until three or four in morning, which you have to cut short for your work at 9. Sleep kicks in again at noon which slows your work performance. Power naps will cut deep into your shift until you realize that you have barely 2 hours to finish your work. And so the cycle begins again when you arrive home. Coping up with the pattern will be hard in the beginning, but some lessons in practicality will see you through.
Here are ten ways that enable me to get around my sleeping trouble.
10. Acceptance.
Mister Sandman ignores you no matter how many sheep you count. Not even glasses of warm milk would relax your senses and encourage your brain functions to slow down - in fact, it sometimes backfires when you have to get up to take a leak in the toilet. If you can't sleep, then accept it. There is no use waiting for eternity lying like a drugged Snow White in bed.
9. Say Hello To Mister Brains.
Information overload will keep you alert but deny you of all the possible avenues to fall asleep. At least, you learn many things in the middle of the night. Lucky are those whose television and dvd player are inside their room. You can get to watch highly profound art films when your brain processing function is at its maximum. Luckier are those who have access to cable channels at anytime of the night. You are tuned-in to the world like everyone in the planet hardly sleeps.
CNN, National Geographic, Animax and Discovery Channel - these are my companions when my sleeping pattern would not give me a break. No wonder, I'm turning geek these days.
8. Write Life.
Based from experience, people are more open to expressing their thoughts, feelings and ideas when there is a soft light illuminating the bedroom while silence whispers in their ears.
Most of my better and more compelling entries were published at past 2 in the morning.
7. Become The Earpleaser.
Listen to different music genres when sleep evades you. Surely the neighbors won't complain if they hear Chopin or Mozart hum sweet melodies from your speakers. Of course, you're not crazy enough to play techno or rock music at high volume at past midnight Enrich your auditory experience by exposing yourself to the varied kind of light acoustics.
6. Release Your Sensual Demons.
Better done with a bed companion. However, when a person is not available, One can always avail the assistance of Mister Jack Palmer. Kinkiness has it's appeal when one is desperate to fall asleep.
5. Cheat.
If it's totally impossible to get some sleep before work begins, end your misery by moving the bulk of your after-shift activities early in the morning.
There are gyms which are open 24 hours. Since my sleeping trouble is tampering with my fixed waking pattern, I changed my gym routine from late in the afternoon to early in the morning. They say it's difficult to lift weights in such condition. I say when the mind is awake, everything is possible.
4. Distancia Amigo.
Finally, it's time to sync your personal schedule with the rest of humanity. Often, the merging is not easy. By 8 in the morning, an insomniac would most likely feel tired, exhausted and a little cranky after enduring a night of wakefulness. To warn the people around of your potentials to get very intense and grumpy saves not only a few bones and muscles but also a friendship unjustly broken because of a nasty fight that started as a harmless joke.
3. Power Naps.
Avoid committing career-threatening lapses by allowing the body to recuperate. There is nothing wrong in shutting down one's mental functions when the mind is idle and lacks stimulation. Lunch breaks are ideal for power naps, but if you're working in an industry where breaks are intertwined with work, stealing company time to boost one's personal efficiency is justifiable.
Just don't follow my example where an intermittent power nap could last an entire movie run.
2. Do What The Koboys Do.
Yes, try to learn how to sleep anywhere. I can fall asleep in my office chair, on a toilet cubicle, inside an FX going to work, on a slow-moving bus from Cubao to Shaw, inside a jeep by leaning my head over the soft cushion just above the open window. Desperate times require desperate measures. As long as my head is comfortably secured on a surface, then it's off to dreamland for me.
1. Find Joy Exploring New Worlds.
Astig maging iba. The slogan of a carbonated beverage drink bannered over print and tv ads a few years ago. There is a grain of truth in it, really, especially when you're the kind of person who enjoys following the unconventional path. Being a nocturnal animal all my life, to embrace a morning schedule is like being condemned to the bowels of hell. Imagine where I am coming from, I can count with my fingers the number of times I was able to enjoy a glimpse of sunrise. Even to see little children going to school has become a rare spectacle for me.
Since I learned to adjust my movements based from my sleeping pattern, these rare joys has become a regular treat. I can now observe the early-risers go with their business whenever I leave the house at 5 in the morning. I can now even attend early morning masses (to which I'm not entirely thrilled to claim) in Katipunan, which I haven't done before.
---
These are my ways of coping up with insomnia. Not everything I've written works for people, but there is no harm in trying. What really matters is that one should never see a prolonged wakefulness as a problem but instead, a different way of seeing life unfold. There is no denial that having a fucked-up body clock could sometimes be a burden. How many day-offs did I waste when I spent it sleeping all day? Those precious hours could be used to do other things but instead I used it to lay claim to sleep that was denied to me.
An aunt doctor said that insomnia is a temporary affliction. Many people who suffers from it are still able to get their normal sleeping patterns back. As for my own troubles, I'd just let things take its course. Sooner or later, my body would get used to my new shift.
While I gain new grounds by reaping the rewards of being awake at times when others are still rolling and twisting in their desperate sleep.
You see, what's done is done and if I'm not mistaken, it takes 21 days to start a habit. Since I cannot afford to give up three weeks to follow a routine, (for I will always have to break my cycle every Friday for hedonistic reasons) my choice is to accept the pattern already in place.
Imagine getting sleepy at 7 in the evening, only to be forced into a wakeful cycle a minute before midnight. Since you spent your entire evening unconsciously living your fantasies and nightmares in dreamland, you will catch up with real life by doing your errands when people are about to sleep. Nocturnal invitations would not come until three or four in morning, which you have to cut short for your work at 9. Sleep kicks in again at noon which slows your work performance. Power naps will cut deep into your shift until you realize that you have barely 2 hours to finish your work. And so the cycle begins again when you arrive home. Coping up with the pattern will be hard in the beginning, but some lessons in practicality will see you through.
Here are ten ways that enable me to get around my sleeping trouble.
10. Acceptance.
Mister Sandman ignores you no matter how many sheep you count. Not even glasses of warm milk would relax your senses and encourage your brain functions to slow down - in fact, it sometimes backfires when you have to get up to take a leak in the toilet. If you can't sleep, then accept it. There is no use waiting for eternity lying like a drugged Snow White in bed.
9. Say Hello To Mister Brains.
Information overload will keep you alert but deny you of all the possible avenues to fall asleep. At least, you learn many things in the middle of the night. Lucky are those whose television and dvd player are inside their room. You can get to watch highly profound art films when your brain processing function is at its maximum. Luckier are those who have access to cable channels at anytime of the night. You are tuned-in to the world like everyone in the planet hardly sleeps.
CNN, National Geographic, Animax and Discovery Channel - these are my companions when my sleeping pattern would not give me a break. No wonder, I'm turning geek these days.
8. Write Life.
Based from experience, people are more open to expressing their thoughts, feelings and ideas when there is a soft light illuminating the bedroom while silence whispers in their ears.
Most of my better and more compelling entries were published at past 2 in the morning.
7. Become The Earpleaser.
Listen to different music genres when sleep evades you. Surely the neighbors won't complain if they hear Chopin or Mozart hum sweet melodies from your speakers. Of course, you're not crazy enough to play techno or rock music at high volume at past midnight Enrich your auditory experience by exposing yourself to the varied kind of light acoustics.
6. Release Your Sensual Demons.Better done with a bed companion. However, when a person is not available, One can always avail the assistance of Mister Jack Palmer. Kinkiness has it's appeal when one is desperate to fall asleep.
5. Cheat.
If it's totally impossible to get some sleep before work begins, end your misery by moving the bulk of your after-shift activities early in the morning.
There are gyms which are open 24 hours. Since my sleeping trouble is tampering with my fixed waking pattern, I changed my gym routine from late in the afternoon to early in the morning. They say it's difficult to lift weights in such condition. I say when the mind is awake, everything is possible.
4. Distancia Amigo.
Finally, it's time to sync your personal schedule with the rest of humanity. Often, the merging is not easy. By 8 in the morning, an insomniac would most likely feel tired, exhausted and a little cranky after enduring a night of wakefulness. To warn the people around of your potentials to get very intense and grumpy saves not only a few bones and muscles but also a friendship unjustly broken because of a nasty fight that started as a harmless joke.
3. Power Naps.
Avoid committing career-threatening lapses by allowing the body to recuperate. There is nothing wrong in shutting down one's mental functions when the mind is idle and lacks stimulation. Lunch breaks are ideal for power naps, but if you're working in an industry where breaks are intertwined with work, stealing company time to boost one's personal efficiency is justifiable.
Just don't follow my example where an intermittent power nap could last an entire movie run.
2. Do What The Koboys Do.
Yes, try to learn how to sleep anywhere. I can fall asleep in my office chair, on a toilet cubicle, inside an FX going to work, on a slow-moving bus from Cubao to Shaw, inside a jeep by leaning my head over the soft cushion just above the open window. Desperate times require desperate measures. As long as my head is comfortably secured on a surface, then it's off to dreamland for me.
1. Find Joy Exploring New Worlds.
Astig maging iba. The slogan of a carbonated beverage drink bannered over print and tv ads a few years ago. There is a grain of truth in it, really, especially when you're the kind of person who enjoys following the unconventional path. Being a nocturnal animal all my life, to embrace a morning schedule is like being condemned to the bowels of hell. Imagine where I am coming from, I can count with my fingers the number of times I was able to enjoy a glimpse of sunrise. Even to see little children going to school has become a rare spectacle for me.
Since I learned to adjust my movements based from my sleeping pattern, these rare joys has become a regular treat. I can now observe the early-risers go with their business whenever I leave the house at 5 in the morning. I can now even attend early morning masses (to which I'm not entirely thrilled to claim) in Katipunan, which I haven't done before.
---
These are my ways of coping up with insomnia. Not everything I've written works for people, but there is no harm in trying. What really matters is that one should never see a prolonged wakefulness as a problem but instead, a different way of seeing life unfold. There is no denial that having a fucked-up body clock could sometimes be a burden. How many day-offs did I waste when I spent it sleeping all day? Those precious hours could be used to do other things but instead I used it to lay claim to sleep that was denied to me.
An aunt doctor said that insomnia is a temporary affliction. Many people who suffers from it are still able to get their normal sleeping patterns back. As for my own troubles, I'd just let things take its course. Sooner or later, my body would get used to my new shift.
While I gain new grounds by reaping the rewards of being awake at times when others are still rolling and twisting in their desperate sleep.
photos acquired from
ponzi.com