OT: Sleep

[misha_val]

Meh, you can sleep when you're dead.

[DJ_Animus]

The Marines fucked up my sleeping patterns, combine that with an addictive personality and the fact that night time is the best time to work on music and mixes, yeah I dont get shit for sleep. I justify by saying, Im young, blah blah blah. Its terrible. I try to deny the problem for as long as I can, hence I hate this thread =p

[mpetersen3]

last night I slept for three hours, and it was wonderful. When I was in 11th grade I started sleeping ~2-4 hours a night, every night. After the first few weeks you get used to it, although after several weeks I was riding my bike home one friday afternoon and fell asleep while riding (see nodded off momentarily). I crashed into the back of a car and broke my bike, chipped the top of every single tooth and was lucky that I didn't break my jaw (they thought I had initially). Unfortunately the car was a hatchback so instead of flying over the trunk, I flew into the rear glass (no helmet I was an idiot). Luckily there was a police officer about 10 feet away.

I am pretty sure that I am an insomniac, but not because I can't sleep, ie. chemically. But just because I choose not to so often, and most often when I do I am happy with that choice. Sometimes my efficiency and attention really start to drop off, also I noticed after a few weeks of not sleeping that your short term memory and attention span gets horrible. I even started hallucinating before once.

So yea hope you enjoyed my story and don't try to ride a bicycle while sleeping.

[rvltion909]

last night I slept for three hours, and it was wonderful. When I was in 11th grade I started sleeping ~2-4 hours a night, every night. After the first few weeks you get used to it, although after several weeks I was riding my bike home one friday afternoon and fell asleep while riding (see nodded off momentarily). I crashed into the back of a car and broke my bike, chipped the top of every single tooth and was lucky that I didn't break my jaw (they thought I had initially). Unfortunately the car was a hatchback so instead of flying over the trunk, I flew into the rear glass (no helmet I was an idiot). Luckily there was a police officer about 10 feet away.

I am pretty sure that I am an insomniac, but not because I can't sleep, ie. chemically. But just because I choose not to so often, and most often when I do I am happy with that choice. Sometimes my efficiency and attention really start to drop off, also I noticed after a few weeks of not sleeping that your short term memory and attention span gets horrible. I even started hallucinating before once.

So yea hope you enjoyed my story and don't try to ride a bicycle while sleeping.

Petersen...you are my anti-drug... :eek:

I will strive to NOT get there. Yea I am young...so now should be the time Im full of energy (sidenote: Ive NEVER been "full of energy").

Im going to try to get at LEAST 7 hrs a day. I have been sort of doing small things that have been mentioned here. Turning off all the lights and what not....although my room is always dark with only the monitor as a light.

I just hate being a zombie all the time. It actually sucks because the time I usually have on fridays is cut way back because I usually knock out for a couple hours due to being so tired...thus my practice scheduled gets pushed later and the next morning it is a vicious circle.

[cjs]

any addiction is a bad thing, to creativity or otherwise.

I feel the need to be creative for some people is an inborn urge like hunger or a sex drive. For myself the day job that does not give me a creative outlet is the addiction. I have always thought that if I was creative for those 40 hrs I could just come home and chill out and not need all the hobbies that I have. It has taken me a few years to figure out how to make enough money to support myself off the things I enjoy doing. A big part of that is reducing expenses that don't really contribute to my happiness. (No family to support. It would have been much harder if I did). A balance can be hard to find when making the transition.......

[Kaon]

any addiction is a bad thing, to creativity or otherwise.

im intrigued, tell me more

[JesC]

The Marines fucked up my sleeping patterns...

Tell me about it, when I was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, I used to work 24 hrs & was off 48hrs. If we had a Typhoon, I was on Typhoon watch and had to ride the sucker out for 3 to 6 days! No sleep until im six feet under!

[PIGLET]

Anybody here have the HORRIBLE habit of not getting any sleep...consistently?

I've got a 8:30-5:30 day job (plus a half day Saturday shift) and I usually end up asleep at around 12AM-1:30AM...daily. I have to be out of bed by 7AM.

Its starting to take it's tole (physically and mentally). So much so, I've found myself searching the net for control mechanisms.....something that would literally cut me off at a certain hour. The thing is that the night time is the time Im most active mentally and creatively overall. Ideas start to flow (and so does the wine) once darkness falls. I actually feel like Im missing something if I did not stay up searching the net for various bits of information or creating sounds in my room on the DAW.

One of my goals for 09 was getting sleep like the rest of the world does and it's not working out too well. At this point it is a bit of an addiction (in a bad way). The days my body has literally forced me to sleep at 8PM I've felt like literally a different person. I've seriously underrated clear thoughts, outlook and coherent consciousness.

Anybody else have this problem (pathetic addiction)? Any solutions you've learned to use (besides the obvious self discipline and self control?) How do traveling DJs do it?

There are often several components affecting peoples sleep.

Sleep hygiene - IE your daily sleep routine.
Anxiety over sleep.
Lifestyle.
Physical sleep disorders.

Most often it is one of the top 3.

In your case it sounds to me like this:

1. You have bad sleep hygeine. You are stimulating your body in the evenings continuously before bed. What the body needs is to progressively wind down and with very low stimulation in the last 1-2 hours before bed. So only reading, baths, pottering about in this time. Also - it is very useful to jot down tasks for the next day on a piece of paper. I know this stuff sounds simplistic - but it is really powerful and works! What it does is send your brain a signal to STOP being concerned with the various things on your mind - and prepare for sleep.
Cut out Alcohol if you want to get good quality sleep that night. Although Alcohol can feel like it helps get to sleep - it greatly reduces the quality of the sleep as shown by much research. You get much less deep sleep having drunk alcohol.
Do a search on 'Sleep Hygiene' for more details.

2. Increased exhaustion breeds increased worries and anxieties about sleep. What happens is your nervous system becomes progressively wired and less able to switch off and relax as you become increasingly tired. When we have tension in our nervous systems we are more prone to anxious thoughts - so as time goes on - with bad/not enough sleep - you start to become more worried about 'am I gonna sleep tonight'. It is a negative cycle that creates tension around the topic of sleep. Sleep should be a time of relaxed surrender - not something to be feared. I sense a certain amount of this in your post. To combat this I would suggest relaxations such as meditations, gentle yoga, baths etc.

3. Lifestyle!
Ok so this one is a bit bigger but here goes:
Are you happy with what you are doing in life? What I experienced in my own case and others is that what can happen is that we lead a 'double life'. We grind out a 9-5 and then get to what we REALLY want to do and are passionate about in the evening. Hence your post about getting into music in the evening and starting to have fun etc. I used to do this big time. I would 'switch on' in the evening and start to make music, smoke etc and I basically wanted to spin this fun time in the evening out - and only went to bed when I 'had' to.
The reality is that this 'switched on fun time' should be during the day! Our bodies are built for that - not to live our lives after work in the evening! Of course if we do that - we start to drive our bodies into exhaustion and have sleep issues.
If you have a satisfying and fun day - you feel no need to stay up all night chasing some enjoyment - you have already had it and can allow yourself to contentedly go to sleep in preparation for another fun day of fulfillment.
Many people are cynical and believe it is not possible - that life is hard and we have no choice. However what is often happening is that that is simply 'their belief'. They believe that they have no choice - and therefore that belief dictates their life - rather than trying/exploring what is possible...

As someone pointed out - what may need to be looked at long term is a line of work/lifestyle that allows you to live a lifestyle where you get this fun out of the day - rather than the evening. Im not saying you have to do music as a living. You could do what I do and work a job which isnt 9-5 and is more dynamic hence allows time during the day/week to make music.

Its not always easy to sort out initially - but people often dont realise that although the body can be pushed occasionally - long term it will lead to unhappiness (depression / anxiety) or physical health problems. Unfortunately in our western culture we are taught to drive ourselves towards success and less to nurture the body and soul!

I am training at a London Health clinic which specialises in stress related disorders, psychology and nutrition called The Optimum health Clinic. Hope that was helpful.

[laurens]

Get a girlfriend, or get lose the one you have, na jokes. They are usually good for keeping time and activities in check...or not. I do freelance graphic design and today I needed go into my work to get a job down for the day. Got stressed out of my mind, ended up spending most of the night in bed because it felt like I was getting punched in the stomach for 5 hours straight (not because of food either). Bad news. Anyway, there are some good tips above, some of which I might try and follow. Take a bath and have a chamomile tea before you go to bed, a recipe FTW. Turn out lights and let your eyes relax before sleep. Try eat healthy too, you won't eat as much and you won't feel like crashing afterwards. Exercise is a must.

[rvltion909]

Thanks piglet. Lot of good points in there. I've got a mortgage and Laurens, I've got a wife so no major "life style change" coming anytime soon I fear.

I'm lucky to have her deal with me coming back from work at 1PM on Sat, sleeping until 6PM, going to the gym from 7-9PM and waking up around 1130ish on Sunday.

A doctor once told me about sleep hygiene(also asked me if I was "straight" in the same sitting ). I will have to research it.