Comments on: Early Birds, and All That

By: Francois Lachance

Francois Lachance — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 13:30:03 +0000

For those insomnia plagued nights, I found you a listing of emoticons:

http://messenger.yahoo.com/emoticons.php

and there is one for “rolling eyes”

8-|

By: KF

KF — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 19:00:41 +0000

It’s quite good to know that I’m not alone out there, both with the sleep issues and the general whining about them. The need to protect that morning time is becoming increasingly clear to me—especially, as you point out WitchyProf, given the daily onslaught of email. I was having this conversation with my dean the other day, who was asking—not challenging me; just asking—whether two hours devoted to writing at any time of day wouldn’t do the trick. I told him that my experience suggests that my brain need to be as empty as possible when I sit down to write, and that if I can move quickly from sleep to writing, I can maintain certain kinds of discipline: if all that I’ve allowed into my consciousness thus far is my project, it’s much easier to focus. As soon as the rest of the day starts crowding its way in—the news on the radio, the email in the inbox, the items on my calendar, the stuff on the web—it becomes almost impossible to force it all back out again…

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 17:25:12 +0000

I couple of years ago I had to get up at 5:15 am, and I’m a very, very late night person. I usually don’t get sleepy until about 4:00 am, so getting up at 5:15 was a problem.

I used melatonin.

And fwiw, I’m considering doing something exactly like what you’re describing.

By: WitchyProf

WitchyProf — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 16:34:35 +0000

I applaud you for your tenacity! During the academic year I wake up early because I can’t sleep thinking about getting everything ready for classes. But during the summer I regress back into sleep mode. This morning I woke up at 10:15.

I’ve been dreaming about doing my own work first thing in the morning when I have my best energy. Invariably, I get on the computer and see a dozen emails from students, and feel compelled to answer them all. This is stupid. I need to think about this more, and put me first at the beginning of the day.

Keep us posted on how it works out!

By: Shhh

Shhh — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 07:29:19 +0000

Woe unto us, the continually sleep-deprived crowd!! We have such problems...I’ve been whining about the same thing lately, and someone snapped me out of it by reminding me that we have the luxury of worrying about such things (I hate these people).

My own feeling is that serious self ass-kicking is the only way to restart getting up early. It’s the drill seargeant-masochist in me speaking up here, but I really think that the only way to get back into early-morning-shape is to FORCE yourself to do it one day and let the rest fall into place. By 9 pm you’ll be dying to sleep, and you should let it happen. Turn off the phones (and computers) and drift away…

Good luck!

By: Krista

Krista — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 00:02:51 +0000

5:30 is the magic time for me, too, but I haven’t managed that schedule since I broke my ankle in February. I am determined to resume for this semester, though, and the graduated re-setting always works best for me. I usually do 30 minute increments per day. It feels brutal during the process, but it gets me where I want to go.

I do the waking-up-to-fret thing too during semesters (I’m a Ph.D. student). It started two nights ago this time. Exercise usually helps me — I should follow your lead and exercise in the morning!

By: KF

KF — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 04:54:38 +0000

I totally grant you that. I went through a weird wave of waking-up insomnia (as opposed to falling-asleep insomnia) during the year I was finishing my dissertation. It was extremely demoralizing and anxiety-exacerbating. But—perhaps it’s just narrow-minded prejudice on my part—but I’ll stand by my claims (not made yet, but here they come) that there’s a particular kind of agony experienced by the morning person with falling-asleep insomnia. I want nothing more than to go to bed early enough to wake up at zero-dark-thirty, because that’s when I know I’m most productive, but the inability to fall asleep makes it impossible to wake up and be productive. I don’t envy, but I do participate in a comparative economy of misery.

An emoticon for eye-rolling, though. This is a good one. If Charlie Brown could roll his eyes, surely ASCII can…

By: meg

meg — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 03:45:26 +0000

Re sleep: I *am* one of those blessed souls who can go to sleep. What I am is one of those cursed souls who wakes up at 3:15 every night for years and can’t go back to sleep for an hour and a half. So don’t be too quick with the envy.

Re emoticons: What *I’ve* always wanted is an emoticon for rolling one’s eyes. Which must say an enormous amount about me. As for your needs, Usenet provides—there’s always ;-/

By: KF

KF — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 01:55:58 +0000

Ah, but Meg—you may be one of those blessed souls for whom there is no difference between “going to bed” and “going to sleep.” I can “go to bed” whenever I like, but my body is damn well not “going to sleep” before it’s ready. Ask R., alas, who has had to nurse me through many a night of being totally unable to fall asleep.

The good news is that I invariably handle it with grace and aplomb.

[I almost stuck a smiley-face here, but that didn’t seem quite right. Nor did a winky-face. Is there an emoticon that can be used to indicate the kind of irony characterized by the hope that one’s S.O doesn’t show up to blow one’s cover?]

By: meg

meg — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 00:10:51 +0000

Forcing myself to go to bed early (10ish) one night is usually enough to fast-forward the process for me.