The Science of Sleep

As I sit here and blankly stare at my computer screen in my current zombie like state, I think to myself, “What did I do to deserve this?”

Ok not really. But I’m freaking tired. I haven’t had a night of enough hours of sleep since… oh let’s say December 1st. To give you an idea on how much sleep I need, if I could stay in bed and just sleep for an entire week, I might be close to making up the hours I’ve missed.

And all this does is led me to question how I ever was able to function on 2-4 hours of sleep every day. I used to go to bed at 12:30-1:00 every night and wake up at 5:30 and, while tired, painfully so on some days, I could function close to normal. Yeah, my eye twitched and I drank coffee like it was water, but I could sit at my desk, put my headphones on and work (mostly) hard.

But I spent 10 months in 2010 as a full time musician (aka jobless). And while I didn’t always get the 8 hours of sleep my body needs (Alarm was set for 8 so I could wake up and run) I could afford myself time to rest, or get extra sleep when I was lacking. If I woke up early on Sunday for church, I good just stay in bed an extra hour or 2 on Monday. And who doesn’t need more sleep on a Monday?

I also was able to go back to sleep, I technique that had escaped me sometime during my high school years. I used to have issues getting to and getting back to sleep. If I got a late night phone call that woke me up, I wasn’t going back to bed. If there was some loud thunder, I wasn’t going back to bed. Awful, I know. But over those 10 months this wasn’t the case. I had to let the cat out of my room every morning to use the litter box and eat but I could walk to the door, open it up and then go right back to bed. Now that I’m working though, I let the cat out, I’m up too.

And I know you’re asking, Bryan why don’t you just leave your door cracked so that cat can come and go as she pleases? It’s a simple answer, when the sun comes up in the morning, even that small crack in the door will let in enough sun light to disturb my sleep. It sounds dumb, and it probably is, but hey, when you have sleeping issues like I do you take care to try and provide the best available sleep possible. And to those who wonder why I just don’t wait to let the cat out until I get up at 7:15, she’s loud and her cries to leave the room have already woken me up.

This morning I even got up at 6:30 of my own accord, without her prompting, and let her out. I hate that my body has learned when I need to be up.

So why am I so tired now? Is it because I’m older and my body is demanding more sleep? Is it because my current job isn’t stimulating enough and I’m just bored? Have I gotten too used to the cushy musicians lifestyle? Whatever the reason, I’m tired of being a zombie and I’d like to spend more time in bed.