A Sleep Lockdown
As someone with sleep disorder, I depend on a busy schedule to keep up a proper sleep pattern. When I say busy schedule, I mean something that exhausts me physically and mentally to the point that both my body and mind need rest. On a normal day, I stretch, walk and work out to keep my body engaged. To add to that, the hassle of travelling from home to college and college to office drains me to a certain extent. Having such a proper routine everyday has been really healthy for my sleep pattern.
Recently, I have been home a lot (like us all). And my physical activity has become extremely less. To add to that, there’s no proper routine. And there is not much struggle to get from my bed to my work desk. Things are simpler, right? And I’m not complaining – I’ve been super productive. I’ve been more active at work and I’ve been eating healthy. But this lockdown has definitely affected my sleep pattern the most.
So, I wanted to trick my mind. I made a routine one night. I set up an alarm. And no matter what time I had slept, I decided I’m going to wake at 7. Have breakfast, do just stretches, get dressed for work and pretend like it’s a normal day even at home. I did everything to follow the routine. Not going to lie, that was my most productive day. But the bottom line? I still could not sleep! I kept tossing and turning until it was 4 am and my mind was so drained, I started getting a headache! But I was determined. I decided I’m going to wake up at 7 again that day.
And I woke up. At 7! With extreme headache and in need of a lot of rest. I followed the same routine again. Stretches – Breakfast – Dress up for work. That day, I couldn’t work at all. Simply because my mind needed rest. So, I decided to cut it loose a little bit and take a nap. After the nap, I felt so much better. The headache was gone. I didn’t feel like I was going to throw up all the time and most of all, I could feel my mind and body become happier. Since then, I’ve become more forgiving of my sleep pattern. I’ve decided to not be so harsh on myself during this lockdown.
Having suffered from insomnia for so long, sometimes I tend to battle with my sleep disorder. Most of the time, it wins. Because the point is not to battle with it. The point is to figure it out. Insomnia is like a tenant in your house who gives a really hard time but doesn’t pay you on time. And the right way to deal with such tenants is not to battle them – but to figure them out.
In this lockdown, my sleep pattern has suffered the most. I tried making a routine, but it didn’t work out for me. So, what did I do? I decided to take a nap and be a little chilled out about it. Because stress and battle doesn’t work for everyone, but a nap does!
