How do I get out of this sleep debt hole?
July 20, 2017 1:10 PM   Subscribe

I've slept poorly the last three nights and it's caught up with me. I've got a lot to do yet today because I'm traveling tomorrow, and I have to get a reasonable amount of sleep because I have to drive 8 hours.

My schedule is effed up generally from going to bed too late the past two months. Then the last 3 nights I slept extremely poorly - a combined process of staying up too late, being so tired that I didn't have a reasonable sense to stop internetting, and when I finally did sleep, waking up frequently. Then trying to make it up by sleeping late (but not too late). I'm not sure how much sleep I actually got, but I'm guessing 4 hrs, 3 hrs, 5 hrs (guesses) It's compounded and I'm feeling horrible. I have to get some tasks done for the pet sitter and just some general packing. I have to get to bed by midnight so I can be up by 8 and out the door by 9:30. I could maybe push that an hour (sleeping 1, up by 9, out the door by 10:30) but no more than that.

I also tend to struggle with last minute-itis, where I want to do everything because a deadline reminds me that I have all the things I put off to complete. And when I'm tired like this, it's so very very hard to focus and make smart decisions. Like being realistic what I can get done. And I get excited about events and that keeps me from sleeping. I've overslept more than one event because I was too excited for it for the next day that I couldn't sleep until veeeery late.

I'm so tired that I'm having trouble doing anything. But I laid down for a nap and my brain refused to shut down.

Suggestions for the best way to utilize the rest of the day efficiently. Would a nap help or hurt? Suggestions to plow through this crushing exhaustion to be functional?
posted by [insert clever name here] to Health & Fitness (10 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
I also tend to struggle with last minute-itis, where I want to do everything because a deadline reminds me that I have all the things I put off to complete.

Can you write these things down instead of actually doing them or worrying about them? The list will still be there when you wake up.

Also, when I need to sleep and my brain will shut down, I like to re-listen to podcasts or audiobooks. It's almost as restful as sleep and it occupies my mind and usually I do fall asleep anyway.
posted by mskyle at 1:27 PM on July 20, 2017 [2 favorites]


Sometimes having a physical alarm that *you trust* gives the underbrain enough reassurance to let go for a bit. So hunt the most distinct alarm tone on the phone, run it a few times to let the mind get familiar and nap. Do give yourself enough rest, that's a long time to be in a monotonous sleep inducing activity, pull over early if drifting.
posted by sammyo at 1:43 PM on July 20, 2017


Start with some basic sleep hygiene. No screens for at least an hour before you lay down to go to sleep. The light from the display is a similar wavelength to sunlight and tricks your brain into staying awake.

If you do choose to take a nap, no longer than 20 minutes, or it starts to disrupt your next sleep.

Even if you are not asleep, laying quietly with your eyes closed provides some of the same benefits. It's not as good, but at least partially restorative, so remind yourself of this and don't get caught in the circle of worrying you're not asleep and how tired you will be the next day.

When I'm having a hard time sleeping, I've found the podcast "Sleep with Me" to be a godsend. I don't know what the magic is, but the voice sends me straight to sleep.
posted by goggie at 2:19 PM on July 20, 2017 [2 favorites]


I think you should go to bed at, like, 9 p.m. tonight and wake up a little early to finish packing and stuff. Prioritize sleep and allow yourself to be a slap-dash, just-stuff-things-in-the-suitcase packer. Your health and safety are most important.
posted by delight at 2:26 PM on July 20, 2017 [2 favorites]


Also, the benefit of going to bed super early is that you don't have to freak out if you don't fall asleep right away. You can drift off with a "plenty of time!" mindset instead of a "look at the clock and calculate how much sleep I'm gonna get if I fall asleep RIGHT NOW" one.
posted by delight at 2:28 PM on July 20, 2017


Regardless of when you go to bed you should try to wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Sleeping in is only going to mess you up for the next night and the cycle will never end.
posted by blackzinfandel at 2:38 PM on July 20, 2017


No nap, go to bed like 9 pm, turn the lights off at 10 ...and at some point this evening, maybe at 7, just go to the drugstore and buy some generic Benadryl or melatonin - basically, some over the counter sleep aid (read the ingredients; the regular drugstore ones are mostly Benadryl, the hippie ones are mostly melatonin and/or valerian.) Take one when you go to bed at 9.

I know, I resisted taking anything to help me sleep for years. But you're in a crisis, here, and you're not going to OD or get addicted (can you even get addicted to Benadryl? ) and just the act of taking it might well be enough to trick your brain into giving into the sleep it so desperately needs. If you're driving all day tomorrow, you need to sleep tonight.
posted by mygothlaundry at 6:59 PM on July 20, 2017 [2 favorites]


I hate the I HAVE TO SLEEP NOW trap, every now and then I get into it. It seems like the less sleep you get the harder it is to sleep.

I'll second the above. Pop a benadryl. Then work on your sleep habits.
posted by ibakecake at 9:29 PM on July 20, 2017


ahh. sleep performance anxiety. i feel you. (must sleep! can't sleep!)

I use very low dose xanax for this, because benadryl gives me weird dreams.
posted by ananci at 11:46 PM on July 20, 2017 [1 favorite]


I agree that you should get to bed early, even if you don't get everything on your list done. You'll be more efficient and productive after you've slept, anyway. Just get up an hour or so earlier than you otherwise would have.

As for the mind-racing-can't-fall-asleep thing, this might sound weird, but hear me out... I've found that if I lie in bed and try to sleep, I'll just stress about not sleeping, which keeps me awake, and then I worry more, and it keeps spiraling from there. What I do instead, I lie in bed and try not to fall asleep. You remember how you'd struggle to stay awake in boring classes in high school? I try really hard to stay awake like that, but lying in my comfy bed in my dark quiet bedroom means I inevitably slip a couple of times (but it's okay! because that's the point!) and eventually actually drift off without stress. YMMV. This might be an awful suggestion and I'm weird. It's definitely possible.
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:50 AM on July 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


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