Manic Sunday / Sleep Fixin’

I do tend to get awfully high-energy some Sundays.  Not always…but especially if there’s been a long weekend, by Sunday I’m fully charged and looking for something ridiculous to tackle.

This Sunday, it was going to be wrapping presents, but somehow all the old wrapping paper from last year has disappeared, so I have to retreat and reconnoiter on that one.  Can’t really afford new paper…but I have a ton of paper bags saved up.  Maybe I can just buy some kitchy-looking ribbon…?  Darnit, I’m not good at this sort of thing!

*sigh*  Anyway, having been stymied in my attempt at domesticity, I guess I’ll be a weirdo with the extra time instead.  When it doubt, stick with what you’re good at, eh?

So, today is Schedule Fixin’ Day.  The last few weeks having been unspeakably stressful and oddly-timed really did a number on me, and I’m hovering sloppily around 6h / 1 nap, with interrupted sleep at night and extra naps as depression dictates.  …I know, right?  EW.  I deserve better than that, darnit!  I wrote a book!

(…psst…did the pep talk work?  do I look perkier?)

Unsurprisingly perhaps, I’m not really worried about this, as I’ve been on this schedule so long that getting it back from a state of FUBAR isn’t really scary anymore.  Here’s how I do it:

• do something extra-special to get myself up stupid early one day (Sunday is great for this because I have an older relative who’ll go out to breakfast with me stupid early…yes, I am in the Old People Crowd most Sunday mornings)
• set up something to get myself up from every nap that day (i.e. take food out of the freezer, start something interesting right before bed, arrange for a phone call from a friend or for business, or even drink a lot of water about half an hour before a nap) ((note that I may not be able to sleep for all these naps, depending on how off-schedule I’ve gotten; that’s why waking up the following morning usually sucks))
• plan some chores I’ve been meaning to get done for late at night, so I don’t get sleepy from sitting and reading or whatever for too long
• hide my alarm somewhere weird the next "night" (core nap), so I have to get up to get it; and also drink lots of water before bed
• as long as I stick with my naps through this day and don’t miss any, that’s all it takes.

…And usually that’s enough; once I get two proper core-naps in and the naps between them, I slide right back into it.  I’ll be a little yawny tomorrow and waking up tomorrow morning at four will kinda suck, but it’ll be fine. 

Today, though, I want to do a little more.  I’ve never been as great at getting up with an alarm as I want to be, and I know it’s possible to train one’s brain to respond to an alarm by waking up quickly.  (Just to be facetious, I kinda dare someone to convince me that there’s something it isn’t possible to train the human brain to do. ;) 

I’ve never gotten around to doing that training…but by holy, today is the day.

Here’s what I’ll be doing:

• set alarm to go off in one minute
• lay down with eye-beanbag and blanket as per a usual nap
• breathe deeply, relax to sleep levels
• when the alarm goes off, LEAP out of bed, shut it off, and walk out of the room
  • walk with exaggerated movements, punch the air, lift knees, shake head, clear throat and cough — the idea is to get the body fully moving before slowing down at all to think

…And I’ll be doing that sequence 30 times, because you know how the brain is with repetition and the lunar month (or don’t you? should I write something on it?).  I’ll make sure a few of those times are right before my core-nap, because I’ve learned from martial arts that if you learn something by repetition during the day, then you should repeat it a few times before you go to sleep, and you’ll retain it much better. 

If it sticks, and I’m able to leap out of bed when my alarm goes off (with NO snooze-buttoning) all day Monday and Tuesday, I’ll call it finished and a success; and if I don’t, then I’ll do another round of 30 and see if it sticks then.  As with most things, I suspect getting right up for one’s alarms is something that’s easy once it’s a habit, so the trick is just to make it a habit, right?  Right!

Happy Sunday all — If you’re doing something manic with it, jump in and let me know!