A New Plan

[mmerriam]

I've started getting out of bed at around four in the morning again. careswen and I talked about how since we've lived in the townhouse, I've been trying to sleep the same hours she does, and how for the last year and a half I've been constantly tired, cranky too often, and not writing as much as I need to stay sane. So instead of tying to sleep the seven to nine hours careswen needs, I've gone back to sleeping four to five hours a night.

The difference in the last couple of weeks has been remarkable.

I'm more awake during the day, less likely to get upset or tense of stupid stuff, and I have an extra few hours for things like, well, writing.

January Stats
Submissions Made: 5
Sales: 2
Rejections: 2
Other: 0
Publications: 0
Crits Given: 0
Approx Word Count: 5043
Stories Circulating: 10

Four-fifths of the word count happened in the last five days of the month. I can only hope this means my plan is starting to work.

Comments

[mikandra.livejournal.com]

I can SO relate to this. I am also from a family that needs little sleep. I used to go to bed and get up at the same time my husband does. I used to wake up at 3am, and then spent a couple of hours getting increasingly annoyed at his sleeping, only to fall asleep at 6.30, and to be woken by the alarm.

*(^&$^$&(!!!

I was so CRANKY!

Now I go to bed an hour later than he does, and get up earlier (especially on weekends). I never have problems anymore.

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

Getting the right amount of sleep for you is so crucial. I had somehow forgotten that over the last year.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I think that the idea that couples are "supposed to" sleep together, in synch, damages relationships more than it helps. Good sleep (the right amount, at the right times, in the right setting) is so important to quality of life, and so many people don't get that kind of sleep because their sleep needs don't match their partner's.

J and I have slept in different rooms for years. He stays up late and sleeps very late; I go to bed earlier and get up much earlier. (On weekends, I'm usually awake by 7, often earlier, and he sleeps till noon.) I like the window open at least a crack most of the year, a coldish room, and as little covers as possible. He would rather keep the windows shut all the time, have a warmish room, and pile on two or three blankets. And I snore. I hate to think how miserable and resentful at least one of us would be if we had to try to sleep according to the other's preferences.

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

Fortunately we are both pretty completable when it comes to things like room temperature, firmness of the bed, and number of blankets.

I tend to fall asleep well after she does, but I use that time in bed to get my head in writing space right before I doze off, thinking about what I'm working on at the moment and where it might go. Then when I wake up, I'm ready to work for a couple of hours before she gets up and I see her off to work.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

displacedtexan and I don't share the same timetable either. We'll survive.

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

Exactly. By not trying to force myself to her schedule--or her trying to live with mine--we are much happier.

[jerrygordon.livejournal.com]

I used to have the reverse problem. I needed the sleep and she didn't. I tried to keep up with her and it turned me into a grumpy arse.