ToughButterCup Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 @Clareandharry, one of our newest members run a blog; interesting always to read of others experience. Of the many perceptive comments they make - 'Hmmmm, its not just me then'- one sentence jumped out at me this morning '... Getting it (a caravan) safely onsite has certainly increased our confidence regarding what’s to come, but gave me awful sleepless nights in the run up...' Dare I guess, many of us are of an age where our normal circadian rhythm is 'enhanced' by internal pressures (Or as I like to think of it my very own @Onoff -read his signature line) . And waking up these days throws a switch in me. The Always On switch. And off I go wheedling deeper into this or that, growling about [....insert your topic here...], and soon you're bright awake. The resident killer senses it, and soon demands feeding (too wet outside, mice in their holes) and if you refuse your bladder gets a vibro massage. Sleeplessness. How do you deal with yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney12 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 LOL. Funny how the bloody cat always knows your awake! I guess its the breathing change. I suffer from the exact same 'always on' switch. I've learnt not to fight it anymore, if I'm awake I get up, make a cup of tea and read*. Normally after a couple of hours I go back to bed, frustratingly though it can often be an hour before the alarm goes off for work. There are are a couple of 'distraction' techniques I use which can work (but not always!). Probably the most effective is A-Z; pick a subject (obscure is good) and then list (in your mind) things related to that subject from 'A to Z'. It sounds very simple but genuinely does work, by distracting your mind from the current swirl that has triggered the always on switch! Its a very effective technique to use with a partner too if you happen to both be awake or both can't get to sleep. You simply take turns to answer each letter. *I only tend to read on my iPad. Plenty of studies suggest the (blue?) light of screens is not good for sleep patterns but having extensively tried going back to paper I've found absolutely no difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crofter Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 We went for the old trick of having a baby half way through the build. Now I grab every chance going for a bit of shut eye. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 My experience is the sleepless nights start when you move into the caravan, especially in winter when cold and particularly condensation is your enemy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 While I tend to sleep lightly (the kids' feet on the carpet in the hall wakes me up if they get out of bed) and briefly wake up every time I turn over, I've never really had trouble sleeping until we did a self build. At times when things were going wrong, if I chanced to start thinking about it during my turn-over wake-up, I could be awake for a couple of hours in panic mode. I eventually trained myself to just think blank thoughts when I woke up. Worked reasonably well. One thing about self-building is that you need to deal with issues and problems face to face with people. If, like me, you dislike confrontation and telling people how you want things done, the process can be incredibly stressful. It's worse if, again like me, you have trouble letting things go. I can analyse and worry about a stressful interaction for months if left to my own devices! One thing is to cut out all caffeine after the middle of the day, and to limit the number of caffeinated drinks you have in general. Personally, I have two coffees before midday, and that's it. I know I'm more caffeine sensitive than most but there are a lot of studies showing links between caffeine consumption, poor sleep, stress and anxiety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 I feel a list coming on....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triassic Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 20 minutes ago, jack said: One thing is to cut out all caffeine after the middle of the day, and to limit the number of caffeinated drinks you have in general. We've cut out caffeine altogether and we sleep a lot better. If I did wake up during the night it's always at 4am! I'm one of those lucky people who can switch off at night and not think about work or self build problems. My old boss, rather than do lists, would fire off emails if he woke up worrying. It was a regular thing to get an email at 2am! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 I have the opposite problem now, although I always used to be awake at the crack of dawn, full of energy, now I have a real struggle to wake up at all! I'm pretty sure it's medication-related in my case though, and am going to try and see if I can get my GP to suggest something else for a long standing problem I've had. With regard to the thing about iPad screens, I think there's some truth in it. I've a friend who used an iPad as a book reader and had similar problems with disturbed sleep. I've used an old Sony Ebook reader for years, and never had the same problem, and mentioned this to her a while ago. She switched to an Ebook reader and the sleep disturbance went away. It could be coincidental, but there's a fair bit of evidence that our sleep patterns can be affected by the spectrum of light we're exposed to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clareandharry Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 1 hour ago, recoveringacademic said: @Clareandharry, one of our newest members run a blog; interesting always to read of others experience. Of the many perceptive comments they make - 'Hmmmm, its not just me then'- one sentence jumped out at me this morning '... Getting it (a caravan) safely onsite has certainly increased our confidence regarding what’s to come, but gave me awful sleepless nights in the run up...' Dare I guess, many of us are of an age where our normal circadian rhythm is 'enhanced' by internal pressures (Or as I like to think of it my very own @Onoff -read his signature line) . And waking up these days throws a switch in me. The Always On switch. And off I go wheedling deeper into this or that, growling about [....insert your topic here...], and soon you're bright awake. The resident killer senses it, and soon demands feeding (too wet outside, mice in their holes) and if you refuse your bladder gets a vibro massage. Sleeplessness. How do you deal with yours? Haha - lady in her 60s here - I find its far too easy to start a bit of small hours googling on the way back from the bathroom, and an hour later still there. I need the strength to turn the PC off completely (and at the wall) instead of just turning off the screen at night. And my blinking phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 24 minutes ago, JSHarris said: I have the opposite problem now, although I always used to be awake at the crack of dawn, full of energy, now I have a real struggle to wake up at all! I'm pretty sure it's medication-related in my case though, and am going to try and see if I can get my GP to suggest something else for a long standing problem I've had.[...] You put so much effort and energy into your build that a bit of me wonders whether you're also plain knackered, and at long last you have given yourself permission to rest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 23 minutes ago, JSHarris said: It could be coincidental, but there's a fair bit of evidence that our sleep patterns can be affected by the spectrum of light we're exposed to. I think some people don't realise that the studies are about a lot more than just falling asleep. The key findings relate to depth and quality of sleep, iirc. Having trouble falling asleep is something that's obvious to the person with the problem, but a night of poor quality sleep may be far less apparent. I'm convinced that my wife can have this problem at times, because she falls asleep very quickly every night, but sometimes is very tired after 9+ hours' sleep. 1 minute ago, Clareandharry said: And my blinking phone. Re: sleep and phones, for a time we had ours in our bedroom, because we used them as alarm clocks after my wife chucked out our alarm clock radio when we moved. Cue last minute checks of social media before going to sleep, and bleary-eyed first-thing checks. We've put them downstairs again now and it's definitely an improvement. Phones more generally are one of the biggest problems of the modern world, imo. I got off Facebook two months ago because I realised how much time it was taking up. Amazing what a positive difference it made in my life. I now need to cut down on online news sites and time spent on the UK's premier self-build forum (ahem). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogman Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 One bit of advise i have now followed is to stop all self build related work 2-3 hours before sleep. Apparently it takes this long for your "mind" to switch off. Can be hard as we all have lots to do especially here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 6 minutes ago, Clareandharry said: [...] I find its far too easy to start a bit of small hours googling on the way back from the bathroom, and an hour later still there. [...] My excuse for the same behaviour is the urgent need to light the route back to bed : or stand on a bit of unmentionable rodent anatomy so neatly excised by its killer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 1 hour ago, jack said: [...] I now need to cut down on online news sites and time spent on the UK's premier self-build forum (ahem). There's a lesson in there -somewhere. @MrsRAis fond of hinting that to me; fairly rich coming from someone who's in charge of some Online Learning programs at Lancaster University Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 27 minutes ago, jack said: Phones more generally are one of the biggest problems Try sleep apnea, after almost 3 minutes of not breathing, I am happy to wake up. The solution is to get an evening job and get home knackered. Now the full sentence for context 29 minutes ago, jack said: Phones more generally are one of the biggest problems of the modern world, imo. For so many reasons. The impossibility of teaching teenagers who have raging hormones (lucky sods) is part of the reason I don't teach the school drop outs any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 (edited) Brandy. Or Cocoa. Or a Fog Cutter. Edited January 31, 2017 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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