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Yeah, I have been trying to do that for many years, because obviously poor sleep has plenty of bad outcomes, not only long-term but also including immediately o
by Al-Khwarizmi 3y ago
Yeah, I have been trying to do that for many years, because obviously poor sleep has plenty of bad outcomes, not only long-term but also including immediately obvious ones.
But for some of us, it's hard. I have taken measures like exercising, having dinner earlier, trying to read for a while before going to bed, etc. and they do help somewhat, but the truth is I seem to be too sensitive to stress. When a backlog of tasks accumulates (which, in my job, is most of the time) I start ruminating about work in bed, sometimes this gets compounded by gas and reflux (I once thought this was about food, but no, I have long found out that it's totally about stress, if I'm on holiday I can eat like a horse and never get gas and if I'm stressed I can get it from pretty much anything) and there goes my night's sleep.
My work is pretty stressful (and hard to reduce the workload) but I don't think I can just blame the job, as this happens even when the backlog isn't such a huge deal objectively speaking, and I can handle it. But it seems that I'm just bad at disconnecting from things. In fact for example if I have a morning flight the next day I always sleep like crap, not because I have any fear of flying at all, but my mind is just not at rest thinking what if the alarm clocks fail (which never happens), etc. I know it won't happen, but the thought keeps me awake anyway.
- konschubert 3y agoThank for describing this so eloquently. For me, while it's true that work and other kinds of pressure are able to create the stress that causes bad sleep, I am perfectly capable of getting stressed for no reason at all. The good news is that this seems to be getting better as I age.
- hutzlibu 3y agoI can relate to that. I had some success with meditating and breathing exercises. But mostly really doing everything, I possible could do, to reduce "open problems". And developing a "don't care so much" attitude. The world likely won't burn, if I make misstakes. Shit happens. I do what I can. "if I have a morning flight the next day I always sleep like crap, not because I have any fear of flying at all, but my mind is just not at rest thinking what if the alarm clocks fail" And one time I actually forgot to set the alarm, but I still woke up exactly one minute before the alarm was supposed to wake me up ..
- globular-toast 3y agoSo work is killing you? And I suppose you've built a lifestyle that requires you to continue no matter what?
- jdkoeck 3y agoHi, I've had the same experiences (ruminating about job when I should be sleeping), and listening to SF/fantasy audiobooks in bed seems to help a lot. If you're invested in the story, it stimulates your imagination and crowds out all the everyday worries.
- dwaltrip 3y agoWhy can’t you get a different, less stressful job? Life is too short.