So no surprise, Day 2 didn’t go so well. I made it to bed at 11:15, but half an hour later, I was in my familiar insomnia spot on the family room couch. Two steps forward, three steps back.
But it wasn’t a total loss. Like a team after a loss, I’m looking back over what happened and figuring out what could have contributed to my less-than-successful result. It wasn’t hard to find some telltale signs:
Like I said in yesterday’s post, I didn’t use a nighttime ritual to prepare myself for a good night’s sleep. I went back to my old habits of typing away at the computer until bedtime, not getting into my pjs or brushing my teeth beforehand. I tried to BOOM, SLEEP! approach again, and surprise, surprise…it failed just like it did before. So next time, try to start my ritual 30 minutes before bedtime like I did on the night I did sleep well.
But the ritual was not the only culprit. I had a lovely dinner (actually, breakfast for dinner), but it was definitely not one conducive to a good night’s sleep. Loads of sugar, loads of fat, and way too much food. Then I added a sugary dessert on top. Needless to say, my stomach was not prepared for a good night’s sleep after that. While I laid in bed, I just felt like I had this big leaden ball in my stomach and could not get comfortable for sleep.
And then there’s the beverage of choice. Good ol’ Southern girl that I am, I had my lovely sweet tea. More sugar. Add to it the caffeine. And then add the refills the pleasant servers gave me anytime they walked by with their pitchers and saw my glass not completely full. I’ve read various advice on when to stop drinking caffeine if you’re having trouble sleeping, and some of the articles have said to stop by mid-afternoon. Whatever the right cutoff point is for me, I do know that caffeine with dinner is definitely too late.
So, do I waste this experience, or do I learn from it? Only I can answer that question.
