{"id":455,"date":"2020-08-20T13:00:12","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T12:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.humansofcode.org\/?p=455"},"modified":"2025-02-10T02:32:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T02:32:46","slug":"sleeping-with-the-enemy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humansofcode.org\/es\/wellbeing\/sleeping-with-the-enemy\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleeping With The Enemy"},"content":{"rendered":"

To be clear, the enemy in this scenario is a hateful, conspiratorial rogue that goes by the name of Anxiety. My main issue with this is that it\u2019s exhausting<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sleep plays a fundamental part in our everyday happiness. Not getting enough makes us grouchy, sluggish, less productive, and generally less of a joy to be around(!). It seems like something we should easily be able to control, right? Go to bed early, get more sleep, be happier! Easy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve never been a great sleeper. Most of the time, I don\u2019t have any issues getting to sleep. It\u2019s staying asleep that\u2019s my problem. And over the last few years I\u2019ve become obsessed with sleep tracking apps. I wasn\u2019t surprised to learn that I can wake up a good 20+ times a night, amounting to well over an hour of being awake. And I get up at what I would describe as \u201cridiculously early\u201d. For the last few months, even before lockdown, I\u2019ve been getting out of bed at 4.30 am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s keeping me awake today? Well, thanks for asking! I\u2019ve been working on a SQL script on and off for a few days now. Currently on version 3 (of 3, hopefully!). I woke up from a dream about it, and now the same thing just keeps going through my head in a loop – have I written the block checks correctly? Is it doing what I think<\/em> it\u2019s doing? Am I going to waste someone else\u2019s time later when I ask them to peer review it, and it turns out that what I\u2019ve written is absolute garbage? Are they going to think I\u2019m a complete moron who can\u2019t do my job?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more I delve into this, the more I understand why I wasn\u2019t able to sleep on this occasion. I\u2019ve been awake since 2.30 am with \u201cDCH check…DCH check\u2026.\u201d bopping around in my head every few seconds. I didn\u2019t think it was something I was anxious about, but there you go! I learn something new about how my head works every day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember a couple of years ago when my anxiety was at its worst, I\u2019d take anti-anxiety medication just before I went to bed to try to make sure I got to sleep, and then I\u2019d wake up a few hours later, and have to take more because I was just lying wide awake in bed, heart racing, working myself up into a panic about the day ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, it often manifests itself as, how I would describe – the radio inside my head starts playing. I go from sound asleep to a song playing in my head on repeat and I can\u2019t switch it off. It\u2019s just a constant distraction. Or it\u2019ll be a couple of words just constantly, over and over and over like a fever-induced nightmare. (Slightly over-dramatic description!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here I am today, at 3:30 am, wide awake and wondering if I\u2019ll get any more sleep this morning\u2026 Ironically, because<\/em> I\u2019m so awake, I thought I\u2019d share some of the things I\u2019ve tried over the years to try to get a better sleep. And I completely understand if you\u2019re wondering why you should take advice from me right now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because I\u2019ve never had a good night’s sleep, I would say I\u2019ve tried almost everything, and here\u2019s what\u2019s helped:<\/p>\n\n\n\n