Insomnia is a b*tch

I don’t know what it is about the past few weeks, but I’ve been sleeping in very random and irregular patterns. I suppose it’s because I have little to no structure in my daily life right now, so I can sleep late and then go to bed way later. It’s all been pretty mixed up, and I’ll admit that I’m struggling to find motivation to do certain things.

Time is literally running away with me; there were so many things I planned to do this summer, and it’s almost August and I’ve barely done any of them.

And I know that’s ok. We generally don’t complete all the tasks we set out to do.

But as of today, I’ve decided to stop cutting myself so much slack. If I tighten up my schedule a bit, and fill it with positive tasks, I’ll hopefully start feeling a little more normal.

Either that, or I’ve just made myself yet another resolution that I won’t keep…

Sleep and your sleep patterns really effect your productivity. Seems logical I know, but actually if you’re getting the exact same amount of sleep but in a time frame that your body isn’t used to (i.e. you sleep from 12 – 9 instead of 10 – 7) , it has been proved that you won’t feel as rested.

Our bodies are incredible things, but essentially, they are creatures of habit. And when we can’t stick to good habits, particularly when it comes to sleep, it can have serious negative effects on our bodies and the function of our brains.

It is also a common thing that when we lack structure in our day-to-day lives, such as in the summer holidays or over some other large holiday, we allow our bodies to get too much sleep. I was always an advocate for the fact that it’s impossible to get too much sleep, but actually, it’s more common than you would think.

Especially, amongst young adults; teenagers require quite a lot of sleep to deal with the whole puberty thing and all the other drama they have to figure out, and when they mature into the physical state of young adulthood, many people find it hard to readjust their sleep habits. I will include myself in this category; I’m a big fan of sleep, and definitely sleep more than I should.

If you didn’t know, these are the guidelines for how much sleep you should be getting for your age group:

Pre-school children (ages 3-5) need 10-13 hours a day.

School-age children (ages 6-13) need 9-11 hours a day.

Teenagers (ages 14-17) need about 8-10 hours each day.

Most adults need 7 to 9 hours a day.

Older adults (ages 65 and older) need 7-8 hours of sleep each day

So, why am I throwing all these facts about sleep at you?

Pretty much since the beginning of my sixth form, I’ve struggled with insomnia. I’ve always been a bit of a night owl, but when I was particularly busy with my schoolwork in the day, my mind was overworking on a night with my writing work. I wasn’t able to shut my brain off in order to sleep, and if I’m honest, I still struggle with this.

Insomnia, for those who don’t really know what I’m talking about, is defined by Wikipedia (sue me for using this as a source) as “a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep as long as desired.

Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, irritability, and a depressed mood.”

Insomnia is supposed to be a short-term condition, but these days, many sufferers report that they have experienced it more consistently than previously thought normal.

It is estimated that 94% of teens/young adults suffer or have suffered with insomnia these days, mainly due to our excessive use of technology and the pressure to constantly be doing something which makes up a great part of our day-to-day lives.

We don’t really talk about insomnia much, and so for quite a while, I didn’t realise that my ability to get to sleep on a night wasn’t normal. This is the main reason I’m sharing this information – if you think you might be suffering / might have suffered from insomnia, I wanted to shed a bit of light on it to help you out a bit.

Here’s the usual course of events for me on an insomnia night : - I think of great ideas – for me, that’s usually a story idea inspired by what I’ve just watched or read - I want to write – segments for my current stories coming into play - I scroll aimlessly through social media – usually watching couple videos or videos of dogs - I play games on my phone – my dumb ways to die station is on point - I listen to music to try to sleep – and often that just reignites your brain - I inevitably stare at the ceiling for ten minutes or so – which never helps - I toss and turn a dozen or more times – I’m damned if I can get comfy some nights - My mind wanders – to random things like how I embarrassed myself in front of my class years ago - I go over negative/ painful things – this is the regrets portion of the night - I moider about the lack of sleep / how tired I’ll be in the morning – which just makes me more agitated - I worry about the next day – late-night to-do lists are the worst - I make plans that I never carry out – the amount of times I’ve made resolutions knowing full-well I will never keep them - I make sleep schedules I won’t actually adhere to - I think of something infinitely random and then hate myself for the an undeniable impulse to google it – for me the other night this was a game I used to play on the iPad and I wondered whether it still exists. - I try to picture my happy place in my mind’s eye – that works in yoga, right? - I get some irritating song like in the night garden theme song in my head – I officially hate theme songs - Then finally, when I’ve reached a stage of absolute exhaustion, I’ll drift into a light and often uneasy asleep

This process can take literal hours – my absolute extreme has probably been somewhere after 3am when I had to get up at 7.30 the next day.

The following day, I’m usually irritable and unproductive. Chances are if I’m snapping at you, I didn’t sleep very well the night before – I’ll apologise to all my friends in reflection/advance.

Now, the positive bit: if the above has got you thinking that you’ve had similar experiences, or are going through something similar at the moment, I’ve collated a few things that may just help you.

[Bear in mind these are by no means fool-proof; I think it's more a case of finding what works for you]

1. Get yourself a reassuring oil/scent – I grew up using Olbas oil whenever I was sick, so it has a really comforting scent association for me, so if I’m struggling to sleep, I put a few drops on my pillow, or on Ted’s jumper if I’m particularly struggling (yes I’m 19 and still have a teddy bear and no I’m not ashamed to admit it – go over to my Instagram to see him @roxyelle01) Any scent can work I find, as I think it’s personal to you, but if you can’t think of any, lavender and geranium are two recommendations

2. Turn off your phone – I know you’ve probably heard that dozens of times and don’t want to hear it, but it really is the best fix. I’m the first to admit that I’m addicted to my phone; before I started blogging, I wasn’t as bad, but now it’s a full-blown problem. I full on get stressed when my phone isn’t on my person - that’s how bad it is. So, I know how you’re feeling, but if you can turn your phone off about an hour before you go to bed, your brain has time to switch off too.

3. Do something relaxing – this could be as simple as reading a book before bed (this doesn’t help for me as it engages my brain more) orsome "stress relieving"

4. Write down your thoughts – sounds daft? Keeping a notepad beside your bed and just writing down every single thought that crosses your mind when you’re struggling to sleep can be incredibly cathartic. And who knows, if you’ve got a lot on your mind, writing it down might help you straighten things out.

I hope you found this post helpful. I don’t normally do things like this, as I don’t pretend to imagine that I know anything that might prove helpful information to you all, but this is an area which I know a lot about and have done a lot of personal research. If you have any questions, drop a comment <3

#insomnia #sleepinformation #roxyelle