Sunday 24 March 2019

Circadian rythyms

In my younger days I could happily stay up until 1am and then bounce out of bed feeling completely normal only a few hours later. Things have changed, and not for the better. I find that I now need at least eight hours a night in order to wake up feeling normal. This has required going to bed at around 10pm. Raging gales aside, this gives me a solid 8-9 hours. The last few weeks have been rather busy, and rather than being all tucked up nice and early I find myself going to bed a little later than I would like. The trouble is that I appear to be pre-programmed to wake up at about 6am no matter what time I actually go to bed, and without that eight hour sleep I am absolutely shattered. I was hoping that I could force myself to cope with less sleep and that after a while I would get used to it. Nope.

Saturday night this week was a case in point. I couldn't sleep as I had an annoying cough. Instead I lay in bed watching Marvel's Agent's of Shield - pathetic but addictive american guff. Probably a mistake but there you go. Once I put that down I had a full hour of still not being able to sleep and the last time I looked at the clock it was about 1am. Excellent. At least it was the weekend. I awoke at 6am with five hours under my belt and feeling dreadul, snuck another hour in to see if that helped (not really) and finally dragged myself up and out onto the patch by about 8am thereby missing finding the year's first Wheatear. Sunday night was more or less a repeat, and so I started the week feeling less than tip top by some margin.

I am assuming it is an age-related thing. As I approach my 45th year on this planet, am I finally slowing down? Or is this a message to slow down? I mean, it's a bit early isn't it? Imagine when I'm 50. Or 60? Or even older! I'll be sleeping 18 hours a day, at which point, well, what's the point?

Anyway, I clearly need to get back to the 10pms, even if this means that I basically get in from work, grab a bite to eat, crack through the to-do list for an hour or so and then retire. There is just so little time, and I really need those extra hours to do all sorts of things that will otherwise not get done. Blogging is one of them - that was traditionally a late evening activity once all the important stuff like watering plants and organising holidays got done. Now that I think about it my increased sleep needs have probably contributed to my dearth of posts. Now if I didn't have to go to work it would be a whole different story, but sadly and in the absence of miracles that appears to be a very long way off!

10 comments:

  1. No need to fear 50 Jono. Or 60. You might, however, find it more difficult to put on your socks...

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    1. Good to hear Steve. The involuntary groans have already started.

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  2. I find a 20 minute afternoon nap helps me through make it through the day these days (at 53, no longer just enough to allow the brain to rest. I'm becoming adept at napping wherever I may be and sod the image.

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    1. I very much like the idea of a nap Alan, in fact I had one on Sunday afternoon after doing all the weeding and planting the bananas back into the ground and it did me the world of good. Need to work out how I can build this into my working day….

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  3. After years of getting up early to empty a mothtrap, and then going back to bed to try and sneak another hour or so before work, I've always felt tired and crap so turning 50 was a non-event in that respect. I can vouch for the nap method though.

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    1. I’ve restricted the moth trap to just a few nights a year, it is a killer as you say

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  4. So that's another bonus event to look forward to when I hit 50, feeling like crap. Cool, I shall add it to the list of needing to wee three times each night then dribbling it down my leg once I think I've finished, farting every time I cough and following through on the occasional aforementioned fart. Gee..I really can't wait.

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    1. I had some very unenjoyable plumbing issues a couple of years ago Seth. In many ways the diagnostics were worse than the actual issue….. All I can say is look after yourself and drink lots of water. I can still make it through the night at this stage though, presumably that will all change in the coming years.

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  5. 70 is the new 50 they tell me - believe that and you'll believe anything! Can still manage red wine and G&Ts though you'll be pleased to know, without dribbling as well!

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