Sorry to hear about it. That's a lot of questions, I'll be brief in just sharing some of my own experiences that may be relevant.
First, it helped me to consider that people may need to find their own ideal sleep circumstances by analyzing data about themselves. There's only so much others can tell you about what will work for you.
Personally I created a measurement system for scoring my daily outcomes; analyzing the numbers helped me figure out what kind of sleep worked best for me.
I sleep about 8-10 hours a day if you include naps. I try to aim for at least 6 full sleep cycles at night if possible. This means I go to bed earlier than I used to.
I have had experience with oversleep as well, and 11 hours is about where that line is for me.
If I get at least 8 hours of sleep I consider myself "weapons free" for daily intake of up to 800mg caffeine for productivity and creativity. Less than that and I try not to take more than 100mg for a variety of reasons I measured over the years.
I also started using supplements to help me get this kind of rest at night and would not go back. They are really, really effective.
When I wake up in the middle of the night, which isn't too often, I find it helps to go into executive mode immediately rather than laying around, or worse, waiting for the next sleep cycle.
I usually get out of bed immediately and get into what probably looks like a normal pre-bedtime routine. I use the bathroom, get a bit of water to drink, take an anti-inflammatory (I find that these work well alongside sleep supplements for me) or similar supplement and also a sleep supplement that I didn't already take earlier.
I also eat a tiny bit of mixed nuts and then go back to bed and read from something I've already read before, like a favorite book. This is both for establishing a known feeling of comfort and also to prevent a dopaminergic response to new information.
This early waking by itself is almost never the same as a poor night of sleep, because the process gets it back on the rails and I let myself sleep in if I need to. I try not to use an alarm clock.
Sleep got really difficult for me in my 20s and 30s for a variety of reasons. I consider this part and parcel with chronic depression and anxiety of that time which is no longer an issue.
I also developed a meditation system that is based on my personality dynamics and this almost always gets me to sleep at nap time without much trouble.
If this all seems fancy, it kind of is. And it works really well. I can still take off and go out camping with the family and get terrible sleep laying on the ground for a couple nights when needed, but part of the new me is knowing how to take really good care of myself overall and setting those boundaries.
Thank you. I'd love to get that much sleep but if I push my sleep quantity up my sleep quality goes down. And so at this point I feel I need to readjust what my sleep quantity expectations are and accept that.
I've heard about when waking up going through your bedtime routine again. I haven't given that a chance, out of concerns that it will wake me up further, but that's something to try.
Comments
Sorry to hear about it. That's a lot of questions, I'll be brief in just sharing some of my own experiences that may be relevant.
First, it helped me to consider that people may need to find their own ideal sleep circumstances by analyzing data about themselves. There's only so much others can tell you about what will work for you.
Personally I created a measurement system for scoring my daily outcomes; analyzing the numbers helped me figure out what kind of sleep worked best for me.
I sleep about 8-10 hours a day if you include naps. I try to aim for at least 6 full sleep cycles at night if possible. This means I go to bed earlier than I used to.
I have had experience with oversleep as well, and 11 hours is about where that line is for me.
If I get at least 8 hours of sleep I consider myself "weapons free" for daily intake of up to 800mg caffeine for productivity and creativity. Less than that and I try not to take more than 100mg for a variety of reasons I measured over the years.
I also started using supplements to help me get this kind of rest at night and would not go back. They are really, really effective.
When I wake up in the middle of the night, which isn't too often, I find it helps to go into executive mode immediately rather than laying around, or worse, waiting for the next sleep cycle.
I usually get out of bed immediately and get into what probably looks like a normal pre-bedtime routine. I use the bathroom, get a bit of water to drink, take an anti-inflammatory (I find that these work well alongside sleep supplements for me) or similar supplement and also a sleep supplement that I didn't already take earlier.
I also eat a tiny bit of mixed nuts and then go back to bed and read from something I've already read before, like a favorite book. This is both for establishing a known feeling of comfort and also to prevent a dopaminergic response to new information.
This early waking by itself is almost never the same as a poor night of sleep, because the process gets it back on the rails and I let myself sleep in if I need to. I try not to use an alarm clock.
Sleep got really difficult for me in my 20s and 30s for a variety of reasons. I consider this part and parcel with chronic depression and anxiety of that time which is no longer an issue.
I also developed a meditation system that is based on my personality dynamics and this almost always gets me to sleep at nap time without much trouble.
If this all seems fancy, it kind of is. And it works really well. I can still take off and go out camping with the family and get terrible sleep laying on the ground for a couple nights when needed, but part of the new me is knowing how to take really good care of myself overall and setting those boundaries.
Good luck and I hope you make awesome progress.
Thank you. I'd love to get that much sleep but if I push my sleep quantity up my sleep quality goes down. And so at this point I feel I need to readjust what my sleep quantity expectations are and accept that.
I've heard about when waking up going through your bedtime routine again. I haven't given that a chance, out of concerns that it will wake me up further, but that's something to try.