Day 2: 03/31/10

I fell asleep fairly quickly last night, probably by 2:30. My alarm went off at 7, but I didn't need to get up, so I turned it off and went back to sleep. Woke up at 10:3o and got out of bed. Still felt tired, but not sleepy.

When I got up it was gray out, but not raining. I ate breakfast, got dressed, and did some homework before going to my 2:00 class. After class I got a falafel pita from Pita Pit, went to the grocery store, and headed home.

I talked to my mom on the phone, did some homework, wrote a blog entry, had a snack, did some more homework, then ate dinner. I started to feel more energetic later in the evening. Around 11 I wasn't feeling tired at all, so I did some pilates and yoga, made up my bed, and took a shower. It;s now 1:45 and I still don't feel sleepy at all, though I do feel pretty relaxed.

It's a little chilly because the heater in my room's not working, but I've got plenty of blankets, so I should be all right. All my roommates have gone to bed, so the house is unusually quiet, which is nice.

I'm feeling a little bit hungry, which always keeps me up unless I'm totally exhausted, so I think I'm going to have a light snack and maybe a glass of wine. I'm trying to get in shape, so I don't want to overeat, but it'll be worse if I can't fall asleep and then can't get up for my running class in the morning.

I have 2 alarms set on my phone and 2 on my clock radio, so I should get up no matter how tired I am.

breakdown:

• awake 10:30, our of bed around 11
• out and about around 1 (class, errands)
• inactive in late afternoon and early evening
• exercise around 11pm (pilates and yoga)
• 2 cups of coffee, 1 in the morning, 1 around 7pm
• dinner around 9
• snack and wine around 2am
• attempted to sleep around 2:30

Day 1: 03/30/2010

It's the first week of spring term and this morning I started my first running class. I set two alarms: one for 6:30 and one for 7. The earlier one was set to the clock radio, and I don't even remember hearing it. The second one woke me up and I hit snooze a couple of times. I had trouble sleeping last night. Didn't fall asleep until at least 2.

I fell asleep listening to podcasts on my lap top. They usually play for a while and then the computer goes to sleep. I was surprised that my playlist was still going this morning. Not sure why. That may have contributed to my sleeping through the first alarm.

I got out of bed shortly after 7 and drank a glass of water. I then got dressed and had a light breakfast of Multigrain Cheerios with yogurt and half a banana.

I got to campus just in time for my 8am class. We ran 4.5 miles in the rain.

Afterwards I went home and dried off and lay in bed for a while to get warm. I then took a shower and ate an egg with some soy bacon and cheese.

I got on the computer for a while after that and then went back to campus at 2 for my History of the Motion Picture class. I had a bagel with cream cheese and a small cup of coffee with soy milk during class.

After class I had to go replace my cell phone that I dropped in a puddle and then came home again.

I had some hummus and cucumbers for a snack and then ate some instant Indian food for dinner.

Later I got hungry again and ate a couple of clementines. I also had a glass of red wine.

I was tired from getting up early and not having gotten enough sleep, and wasn't very active, but did not take a nap.

I spent most of the evening on the computer and also talked to my husband on the phone for a while.

After getting off the phone around 11pm I was hungry again, so I cooked some salmon and green beans with lemon butter sauce.

It is now 1:35am. I am finally starting to feel a little sleepy.

After I turn out the light it will be totally dark except for the light from my laptop, which I'll keep on so that I can listen to podcasts, which help me to relax. My roommate is watching TV in the living room, but it's not too loud, and with podcasts on it will barely be audible. It's quiet outside right now. I guess the rain finally stopped.

I should change my sheets and make up the bed more neatly. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. It's kind of a mess right now. My unfolded clean laundry is at the end of the bed and the covers are kind of jumbled. The temperature in my room is pretty comfortable. It's a little cool, but with the blankets and my cat curled up next to me I'm cozy. I'm wearing sweat pants and a comfortable tank top.

I'm hoping the exercise I got early in the day today will help me to fall asleep relatively quickly.

I'm not feeling especially stressed or tense so I can't think of any good reason why I shouldn't be able to sleep now that I'm finally getting tired.

Breakdown:

• awake around 7, up shortly thereafter, light breakfast
• cardio between 8 and 9
• relaxed and ate in late morning and early afternoon
• class and errands for rest of afternoon
• ate and relaxed in evening
• healthy food, one glass of wine
• attempt to sleep listening to podcasts around 1:45, feeling kind of sleepy

Intro

Since adolescence I've suffered from Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. My father also has the sleep disorder, and his mother's diaries suggest that she did as well.

I finally gave up on high school and got a GED because I simply could not wake up for morning classes.

Over the years I've become more disciplined. I've learned to force myself to function on virtually no sleep. But now at 28 it's still a real struggle to get out of bed before noon.

I know that I don't have the best sleeping habits, and I'm trying to improve them. I should keep my bedroom tidier, try harder to avoid doing homework and other activities in bed, make myself get in bed and turn out the lights at a reasonable hour even if I'm not tired, etc.

I don't know how many of these changes I can really stick to. If I don't feel tired, trying to sleep just makes me feel anxious. It's difficult not to do homework in bed when it's the most comfortable place to sit in my house and has more surface area to spread out books and papers than my desk.

My goal with this blog is simply to keep a log of my activities and see if any obvious patterns emerge.

Things I plan to track are:

• what time I woke up
• what time I got out of bed
• how active I was during different times of day
• how much sunlight I got and when
• whether and when I took a nap
• what I ate and when
• alcohol consumption
• what time I started trying to sleep
• how dark my sleeping environment was
• what sounds I could hear in my sleeping environment
• what time I fell asleep
• whether I woke up during the night and for how long