Intel sent out this sleep program (Sleepio) as a benefit for their workers. It's supposed to help you conquer your insomnia. So, of course, Brent gave it to me to try.
It's a six week program. Each week you get a new lesson and new things to do and you are supposed to be a great sleeper by the end.
Today was week three and I'm trying to decide if I keep trying to use the program or give up now. They got me at the beginning with making you promise to commit to it all so there is the part of me that is like, I agreed to try this. But then there is the other part of me that is like, I clicked a button on a computer screen, I didn't swear a blood oath.
So here is my challenge with the program.
I am an insomniac. But I'm a lifelong insomniac. I don't really stress about it. I mean, I'd like to sleep more. I've tried a ton of things to sleep more. But my not sleeping isn't because of stress. I don't lay in bed and count the hours I'm awake and think about how horrible it is that I'm not sleeping. I have a routine. I am relaxed. I am very still. I'm calm. And I don't focus on it.
But I've had to focus on the amount I'm not sleeping a lot more than I normally do. For instance I don't clock watch. But with this program I need to know when I go to bed, when I start to try to fall asleep, how long it takes me, how many times I wake during the night, how long I'm awake during those times, when I wake up and when I get out of bed for the morning. It's a lot of clock watching. And then you do daily logs every morning marking all of those items and they give you a sleep efficiency score.
And now this week is what he calls the hardest part of the program but the most important part. Sleep restriction. To get to a 90% sleep efficiency, being asleep 90% of the time you are in bed, you restrict your sleep time way down to try and compress all of the hours you are asleep so you don't get the wakeful cycles.
For me (they use the daily logs to personalize) that means going to bed at 11:30 and waking up at 5:45. Every day. Once I hit 90% for a week solid then I can start adding in 15 minutes a day to my in bed time to aim for more sleep each night. But for now, in bed at 11:30 no earlier. Up and out of bed at 5:45, no later.
My issue is that I get to sleep really easily at night. We go to bed early because I am not a night owl at all. And we get up early. The 5:45 part isn't the hard part for me. That's the normal weekday time to get up. On weekends we sleep in all the way to 6:15. I know...crazy! At least the cats think it's crazy... But anyway, I fall asleep easily. I go to bed around 9, I read until 9:15 or so and then I am asleep by 9:30. That part of my sleep works really well. It's the middle of the night multiple times waking that I'd like to change.
Which the Sleepio program says they can change by doing this sleep restriction thing.
Oh and with the sleep restriction no TV and no reading in bed. Which Brent watches TV to wind down to fall asleep and I read. So the things we do to get to sleep they say no, you can't do that. Only sleep and sex in bed. And I always kind of laugh at that, they have to add sex because people would revolt against any program that told them they could no longer have sex in bed. And also if you are awake for more than a quarter of an hour you get out of bed. Which a lot of insomnia suggestions include this. If you aren't sleeping get out of bed until you get sleepy. Which is all well and good, except when I've tried this in the past as soon as I get out of bed, that's it for the night. I'm done. I don't get sleepy again. I am tired, sure. But not sleepy. And now that we have the cats? As soon as I get out of bed they are going to be like, time to get up? Great! So it will mess with my sleep schedule, their sleep schedule and Brent's sleep schedule by proximity to us.
So I'm not sure about it. I don't have to decide until bedtime tonight and I will ponder it in the back of my head all day. Thus this blog...
But I'm not sure. At 52 I've pretty much made peace with my wonky sleep patterns. Should I just keep that peace or try one last time to improve them?
Hmmm...
No comments:
Post a Comment