5 ms·

About an hour less than I'd like to.

• dkarl 17y ago
  Through chronic undersleeping I've trained myself to undersleep, which leaves me groggy and vulnerable to minor colds and such. Some days I'm so tired I avoid talking to people because I know I sound mentally defective. Every once in a while this culminates in sleeping until noon, and having to call in sick and apologize to my boss. I'm developing the discipline to avoid caffeine after 6pm and go to bed "early" (which right now means midnight or 1am) but sometimes it's just impossible to get enough sleep. Last night I set my alarm for 8:30 and went to bed at 1am, but I woke up at 7:30. Tired. ARRRGH! This happens more often than not. It looks like regaining my ability to sleep is going to require a long period of diet-level discipline. My recommendation to anyone who doesn't get enough sleep: fix your lifestyle before it becomes ingrained in your psychology and physiology.
  • johnm 17y ago
    If you want to sleep better, cut out caffeine after noon. It's got a much longer half-life than you think. Also, rather than forcing yourself to try to sleep at a certain time, create consistency in when you wake up.
    • dkarl 17y ago
      I did have to moderate my caffeine intake to avoid lying awake at night. I still drink several strong cups of coffee before noon, but after that I limit myself to three diet sodas. If I drink the last before 6pm, I don't have any problem going to sleep. When I was younger I'd drink caffeine all day and then be too wired to sleep, but when I finally went to sleep, I'd sleep as long as I needed to. My biggest problem was that if I drank coffee I would stay up late and then sleep through my alarm in the morning. Now my problem is not sleeping long enough even when I have the chance.
      • kirubakaran 17y ago
        Why not switch to decaf?
        • dkarl 17y ago
          Mostly because I like caffeine. I've thought about kicking it entirely, but I hope that isn't necessary. Also, the decaf selection is pretty limited where I shop, and none of my favorite kinds of coffee are ever available as decaf. Usually the only light-roast decafs available are Central American coffees, which aren't my cup of tea, so to speak.