Monday, November 12, 2012

I am tired.

I'm sitting here trying to write. It's not working. I think the extend of my abilities at the moment are fighting the urge to keep my eyes from shutting and writing a blog post that isn't particularly witty or smart.

I'm very tired. I've watched my self-set bedtime slip later and later into the night. I've always been one to do my best work in the mornings and sleep soundly at night. I'm probably an abnormality here. Most people I know are night owls and work best during the hours of darkness. I wish I was one. Instead if I don't get enough sleep (and we're talking 7+ hours) then I am a zombie. A serious zombie who walks around with semi-glazed eyes all day while being extremely unproductive. Sad really.

I used to write essays for college when I was this tired. I'd think they were great, then I'd send them to my mum who would read it and tell me if it made sense before I'd turn it in. The essays that were written when I was tired were always sent back to me with the note "I feel like you wrote this while half asleep. It doesn't make sense. In fact it feels like you're combining two entirely different topics into this one essay. I suggest you redo". I would pout for a while and then with a fresh brain which had been given plenty of rest I would redo.

My roommate described this to me really well the other day. She said it's like being a flower. When I've had plenty of sleep, I'm alive and happy swaying in the sun. When I'm tired I start to droop until I'm 'watered' with sleep.

It really means when my brain feels like marshmallow I can't write a thing. Which is a real annoyance when I'm trying to write more than one sentence which makes no sense. What do you do in these circumstances? Do you have a way to kick start your brain or do you conclude there is no way to fix the situation except to sleep and try again tomorrow?

Note: Apologies if this is a load of nonsensical dribble. It tends to happen when I'm tired. In fact, chances are I won't even remember writing this post later.....!

8 comments:

  1. Don't worry, you sound quite coherent for being so tired! I'm a night owl, not only because that's when I'm most creative but also because it's the only time of day I have no distractions. As for giving myself a boost to keep the eyelids open, putting on the headphones with some music helps a lot and so does chocolate (at least that's the reason I'm telling myself I'm eating it). Just getting up and stretching the legs wakes me up a bit too. Hope you're able to get some more rest!

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    1. I kind of wish I was a night owl. The problem is I'm like a between the hours of 10am and 11pm person. Outside of that time bracket I really should be sleeping. Sigh!

      I have tracked down chocolate, I have got some good music, so hopefully this will increase my productivity! Thanks for your comment - it made me smile :D

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  2. I'm a night owl trapped in a day bird's world. :) In other words, I've always preferred staying up late to work on things, but I have to be at work in the morning, so I can't operate that way. I can usually get by with about 6-7 hours of sleep, but I really need to force myself to go to bed when I'm tired, or at least at a time when I'm likely to get sufficient sleep before I have to wake up. I'm totally useless when I'm sleepy. I can't read or write, or do much of anything except sleep.

    Of course, part of it could be getting older--my body might actually be preferring an earlier start to the day. Eeek! You know the sure sign you're getting old? You wake up at 8am and feel like you've wasted half the day! ;)

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    1. Oh I hear you! I think I'm turning into a night owl trapped in a day birds world as well! I also have the issue that I don't go to bed when I'm tired. I just sit there at my computer zombie like. It's terrible!

      Haha I never wake at 8am and feel I've wasted that day. 10am maybe, 8am, no way!

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  3. I'm a nighttime writer trapped on a daytime schedule right now, and I can relate to falling asleep at my keyboard...I'm so busy that when I finally slow down enough to write all I want to do is sleep. Luckily, my coffee just kicked in this morning, so I'm ready to get stuff done:)

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    1. Ahhh coffee!! I'm allergic to caffeine so don't have that luxury unfortunately :( BUT I know what you mean, you have to stay busy busy in order to be productive I feel!

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  4. I'm an early to bed early to rise girl, just like you. I find that this works the best for me as far as productivity goes. The worst time for me has always been mid-afternoon, but the crazy thing is that I get all of my writing done during the afternoon. Not sure how that happens. :)

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    1. I agree, mid-afternoon is totally non-productive zone!

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