Are you sleeping, or are you resting?

 

I'm noticing a difference in the morning when I wake up. The question I'm asking myself is, "Did I sleep, or did I rest?"

On the surface, it might sound like the same thing. However, I'm interested in taking a more scientific approach to the "study."

I'm trying different things. One is this: Before I fall asleep I'm writing things down. Specifically, I'm filling in a very small calendar page (actually, all 7 days are on ONE page, so I only get 3 lines per day!) with the main acknowledgments for the day.

I write down who I met, what I finished, where I went, etc. In addition, I recommit to any goals I have for that week. This serves to clear my mind, and it handles any nagging reminders that might be pushing on me to stay alert.

One more thing, if there anyone person, project, or "thing" that is on my mind more than another, I do a quick visualization to "handle" it. For example, if I need to have a conversation with someone, I actually rehearse the conversation as if I'm having it right now...

I've found that I can rest pretty much anywhere; on a plane, in a hotel, at the airport. I can sleep, however, the best, with my pillow, in my bed, in my Ojai. So, when I'm here at home, I make a point to get "a little extra" sleep than normal. And, I do this by simply going to bed a little bit earlier than when I'm on the road.

I think most people tend to get up at the same time, so one way to adjust the amount of sleep we get is to experiment with bed time. If you're looking to sleep LESS, go to bed later; if you're looking to sleep MORE, go to sleep earlier. (Oh, try it in 15 or 30 minute chunks, over the period of weeks or months. I found it was easier to implement that way.)

Comments

[Kristi]

Thank you for this suggestion, Jason. Fed up the other night with the lack of restful night's sleep, I said outloud in bed with a grunt of frustration, "I am going to get a goodnight's sleep tonight and I will get up when I need to and whatever sleep I do get tonight, will be enough." Surprisingly so, I woke up feeling more rested than in the few days before with no wake ups in the middle of the night despite having gone to bed later than normal. I also find it helpful to cut out the stimulations earlier in the night in order to help me sleep better - TV, eating, computer - and drink about 1/2c water before going to bed as I have had in the past a hard time sleeping due to dehydration.