Monday, November 26, 2012

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Due to my new work schedule, I have had to change my sleeping habits. I am working midnights, so I have to sleep during the day, but it's more than that.

Typically, I get off work at 8 in the morning. I generally have a few errands that I have to run and don't get to bed until about 10 or 11. I have to be up by 3 in the afternoon in order to pick my daughter up from school. I am getting 4 or 5 hours sleep. On some days, it is less than that.

About 7 each night, I am ready to drop. Once dinner has been cooked and household duties are taken care of, I often return to bed. I hate doing this since I am a single dad, but I am exhausted. I try to be in bed by 8 and have to get up again about 11 before going back into work that night, except on Sundays. I don't go back to bed on Sundays because I have to stay up to watch The Walking Dead. I feel that I can relate to those zombies and wonder if some days I look like them wandering around town trying to find a place to lie down.

I don't quite get the eight hours needed each day and the sleep I do get is split up over the course of the day. As you can imagine, I am pretty tired, but I am functioning. When the weekend comes around, I get overly excited at the prospect of being able to get uninterrupted sleep for an extended period of time. However, after several weeks of this schedule, my body seems to have made an adjustment. Even on the nights when I have the opportunity to sleep all night, I wake up after about four hours and cannot get back to sleep.

I have tried everything I can think of to get more sleep, but nothing seems to work. On the other hand, I am currently working on building up a caffeine tolerance, mainly from massive consumption of Mountain Dew. The Pepsi Corporation has only benefited from this situation.

Pepsi stock this week has risen every day.

Maybe once I complete my degree, I can get a normal daytime job and join the ranks of the living again.

12 comments:

  1. Earlier today, I was complaining to my boyfriend how I only ever get broken sleep and I've been getting even less sleep lately with starting a new job. If I'm this tired, I can't imagine how exhausted you are, and also now I feel bad for complaining since your schedule seriously sucks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am really looking forward to Christmas vacation. My daughter will be out of school for a little over a week. I will get to come home, go to bed and just stay there until I wake up.

      It will be my Christmas miracle.

      Delete
  2. How in the world do you manage to stay awake all night at work when you are exhausted? I could never do that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am tired, but not nodding off tired. I try to stay busy at work and the night goes by pretty quickly.

      Delete
  3. I can sympathize with you. Our son works from 9-6a.m. and then goes to college from 7-12 . He's exhausted most of the time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I remember the first time I went to college. I was married and had two kids. I didn't start my homework until they were in bed for the night, stayed up half the night doing homework and was back on campus by 7 the next morning.

      I was often tired, but I was also younger and could handle it better.

      Delete
  4. 14 years ago, no problem! Now? Yeah not so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Years ago, this was much easier. I just need to find my groove and settle in.

      Delete
  5. I can't work graveyard. I just can't. I can barely wake up at 5 AM and function as a normal human being. And then 9 PM rolls around and I'm already ready for bed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If not for the daytime schedule of my daughter, it would be much easier. I can do midnights, but I need to be able to sleep when I need it.

      Delete
  6. I hate to tell you this...or rather, I'm sorry I didn't think of it earlier. ...or rather, I hope it doesn't sound bossy because I'm just trying to inform...

    Building up a tolerance to caffeine is counterproductive to getting better sleep, because it remains in your system and even when you feel tired, you can't sleep deeply because of the residue.

    Just sayin'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I try not to overdo the caffeine, but it has been difficult lately. Especially on those busy Mondays. Maybe I should counteract the caffeine with a sleep inducer.

      Delete

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT! I wrote this for you.

If you would like to leave a comment, but do not have a Google account just click on the COMMENT AS: dropdown box and choose Name/URL or Anonymous.

But if you choose Anonymous, please let me know who you are unless you really do not want me to know.