Every day you graft and find your way to the room of sleep at some point. Be that an early night or a late night.
I have tracked so much around my sleep habits and have found what works and does not work.
Why?
The tinnitus at times absolutely rocks my head and it is like having a fire alarm sounding. One thing I have recognised and is considered an old wives tale is ”air pressure”
Below 1000 mbar and the noise in my head is ramped up. Even the bones hurt especially my hips. This in turn destroys sleep. The noise is loud and the challenge is masking it so the dreams in sleep begin.
However:
The voice in my head gets weak and it slows me down to almost a full stop at times.
The voice goes from just get on with it to a ”do it tomorrow” or ”run tomorrow” or gym tomorrow”
Or
Just buy lunch instead of prepping my scran for the day.
Or
Shave tomorrow, the 5 o’clock shadow does not look that bad…
Hence I HAVE learned THE COPING STRATEGIES AND FOR ME IT ALL STARTS WITH THE SLEEP!!!!!!
Sleep is like work. 6 hours seems to be my go-to number in the week. I have the data now from the Oura ring. 3 years worth and it is all on an upward trend.
Blackout blinds.
Try to stay in a similar sleep pattern in terms of kip time and get-up time.
Lighter meals before bed. Lunch like a king, supper like a pauper. Snacks through the afternoon. Coffee all morning..
Magnesium. (Not toooooooo much or the throne is early morning fun)
Cold water days: I always sleep better.
No coffee after 1 pm.
The crucial thing though:
The internal state I create in the day is usually pretty strong and I can get what I need done and usually more with my enthusiasm for life.
However, when I wake up it is NOT always there. I have to create it. I have to get myself back into the place of ”controlling the thoughts”
This morning the voice told me I did not have to get into the cold plunge thing I have outside. It was raining, pretty darn cold and the house felt cold.
The voice convinced me it was OK to not get outside and get cold for 5 minutes.
I can recognise this happening now. I got the usual pot of coffee and sat down with a pad and pen and started to write. Basically, I had a word with myself.
15 minutes later I was in the cold water.
OH MY LORD it was cold and it was raining. However the recognition of the ‘lazyitess” is the win.
The voice in my head can work for good and it can also make me lazy. Have a listen to the voice in your head. Does it help or hinder you during the day?
I guess this is called positive thinking to some people. Is it really that easy to always think positively?
Living with positive expectations of myself works for me. I expect amazing.
The corniche in Qatar has a huge sign that simply says ‘Expect Amazing’ in large yellow letters.
I ran past that many many times and it confirmed to me that how I had grown over the years was in the right direction.
Expect AMAZING but police the voice in your head.
Remember no one cares. People are wrapped up in their own voices.
