Note: forgive me for my absence this week, I’ve been mad at work on my other beloved project of late: Small Hands, Big Hearts. I’d love if you would care to pop over and take a peek!
Part Three: Shut-Eye
I used to (up until this very minute) subscribe to the “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” theory of getting stuff done.
I say ‘used to’, and ‘up until this very minute’ namely because this very contradiction pretty much sums up the state of things right now: that is:
a) Right ‘up until this very minute’, I stay up WAAAAY too late each night getting my work done; only…
b) I ‘used to’ not feel bad about it.
If I could survive well on just a few hours sleep, you know, function properly, be happy as little Snow White, fa-la-laing while little Disney birds sat on my pastey fingers, then I could keep it going indefinitely. And without guilt.
But…at the ripe old age of 32, it’s catching up with me.
It may be all well and good to sleep when I’m dead, but I fear now that if I keep compromising my sleep while I’m alive, my body might just take me up on the dare…
So.
Sleep.
Or rather, a solid sleep routine.
Which will then, feed into my new morning routine.
Which will help me calm and slow the heck down…
Wow, these really are connecting now, aren’t they? Maybe I should rethink the whole ‘this ain’t gonna be a lifehacking blog’ thang…
The real struggle is post-gig; it doesn’t matter how low key the gig is, post-performance I inevitably cannot sleep for many hours. It’s the adrenalin, the analysis, the pats on the back, the slaps on the forehead, the new material I want to work on…it’s like being high as a kite and then trying to go have a nanna nap.
Not happening.
When I was at Adelaide Fringe it was perfect – my wonderful host Julie was such a gem and was all “just sleep all day if you want to!” which meant that even while my nights ended late (some of them being technically ‘mornings’ I suppose…), I was able to compensate for it. Note, however, that I didn’t have kids with me. During festivals when we are all together, it’s a different story.
Mummy gets cranky. Very cranky.
(I said that last bit in an Arnold Schwarzenegger/Sylvester Stallone hybrid accent, in case you were wondering.)
I need a strategy. For the high and low seasons of this mummy/performing combo.
Hmmm…..
Any suggestions?