What made me happy today? Being able to function on 3 hours of sleep.
I don't know if you read it on my Facebook or Twitter today, but yesterday I tore a muscle in my shoulder / clavicle. Kind of painful. Because of this I only got 3 hours of sleep.
But looking on the bright side: I've always been a pretty bad sleeper, as I've mentioned before. And in situations like this, the fact that I'm used to functioning on little sleep really helps. Even though I've recently started sleeping better, I'm still able to function pretty much normal after a bad night. Add a cup (or two, now they fixed the coffee machine at work) of coffee or tea, and I'm good to go.
Here's hoping my shoulder / clavicle heals fast, because a torn muscle is rather painful. But hey, I'm staying positive!
Showing posts with label brain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brain. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Brain experiment
What made me happy today? A successful experiment on my own brain!
In order to get to my point, I first need to give you two pieces of background information.
Backstory 1: I'm a nurse, specialised in neurology. I've worked in a hospital for 4.5 years, and now work in clinical research. I like science, and will do the occasional experiment on myself. Nothing dangerous of course :-)
Backstory 2: for as long as I can remember I've been a pretty bad sleeper. I have days when I sleep ok but I also have days when I am plagued by insomnia.
Combine backstory 1 with backstory 2 and you'll sense where I'm going with this :-)
Over the years I have tried a lot of things that are said to help with insomnia. From the simple 'hot milk' to the 'get out of bed, do something different and go back to bed when tired'. None of those things ever seemed to work consistently. Warm milk before bed is a bad idea for me, it upsets my stomach. Getting out of bed does not help either, I'm tired any way... I refuse to take sleeping pills. I know my body, and I know I would be all fuzzy during the next day. Which I do not want.
So over the years I have developed several coping strategies for my bouts of insomnia. But there are occasions when nothing seems to help, or seems to be able to get me to sleep. That's when I decided it was time to start doing some experiments on my own brain.
The leading two causes of my insomnia usually are: ambient noises (old building, the pipes and central heating tend to be a bit noisy) and my own brain.
Now for the noise, there's a simple solution: earplugs. They'll help, but I can't use them every night because they'll irritate my ears.
For my brain that keeps on thinking about, well, everything when I'm in bed, it was a bit harder to find a solution. But after digging around in my brain and on the internet I think I finally may have found a solution: white noise and other soundscapes. They cancel out some or all of the background noise, and seem to give my brain something to focus on, other than thinking about so much stuff. I even found some soundscapes on Youtube that are said to promote sleep.
So far, the results seem good! I've had a very good night's sleep last night and the nights before were pretty ok too. I feel rather well rested at the moment so it might be working. Here's hoping!
Yes, I am perfectly aware that 1 person is not a valuable test group, but I'm only experimenting with what works for me and my insomnia.
Also, I know this post is up a lot earlier than usual, but it's snowing very hard and I have some social obligations this afternoon :-)
In order to get to my point, I first need to give you two pieces of background information.
Backstory 1: I'm a nurse, specialised in neurology. I've worked in a hospital for 4.5 years, and now work in clinical research. I like science, and will do the occasional experiment on myself. Nothing dangerous of course :-)
Backstory 2: for as long as I can remember I've been a pretty bad sleeper. I have days when I sleep ok but I also have days when I am plagued by insomnia.
Combine backstory 1 with backstory 2 and you'll sense where I'm going with this :-)
Over the years I have tried a lot of things that are said to help with insomnia. From the simple 'hot milk' to the 'get out of bed, do something different and go back to bed when tired'. None of those things ever seemed to work consistently. Warm milk before bed is a bad idea for me, it upsets my stomach. Getting out of bed does not help either, I'm tired any way... I refuse to take sleeping pills. I know my body, and I know I would be all fuzzy during the next day. Which I do not want.
So over the years I have developed several coping strategies for my bouts of insomnia. But there are occasions when nothing seems to help, or seems to be able to get me to sleep. That's when I decided it was time to start doing some experiments on my own brain.
The leading two causes of my insomnia usually are: ambient noises (old building, the pipes and central heating tend to be a bit noisy) and my own brain.
Now for the noise, there's a simple solution: earplugs. They'll help, but I can't use them every night because they'll irritate my ears.
For my brain that keeps on thinking about, well, everything when I'm in bed, it was a bit harder to find a solution. But after digging around in my brain and on the internet I think I finally may have found a solution: white noise and other soundscapes. They cancel out some or all of the background noise, and seem to give my brain something to focus on, other than thinking about so much stuff. I even found some soundscapes on Youtube that are said to promote sleep.
So far, the results seem good! I've had a very good night's sleep last night and the nights before were pretty ok too. I feel rather well rested at the moment so it might be working. Here's hoping!
Yes, I am perfectly aware that 1 person is not a valuable test group, but I'm only experimenting with what works for me and my insomnia.
Also, I know this post is up a lot earlier than usual, but it's snowing very hard and I have some social obligations this afternoon :-)
Saturday, January 12, 2013
That moment.
What made me happy today? That moment when you suddenly remember something you could not remember a few hours before.
It was last night over dinner. My friend and I were having a conversation about movies, when suddenly the question came. 'What is the first sentence spoken in Star Wars: A new hope?'
Little backstory here: I was 8 years old when I first saw the original Star Wars trilogy. It was love at first sight. I have since seen the movies over a hundred times and know them by heart. At least, until that question came.
I desperately searched my memory for the answer. And drew a total blank. I did come up with the character that spoke the first sentence, C-3PO. But not being able to answer the question, we moved on.
Fast forward to a few hours later. I was brushing my teeth and suddenly the answer popped into my mind. 'Did you hear that? They shut down the main reactor. We'll be destroyed for sure.'
This is not the first time it happened.You know the feeling. You're desperately searching for a name, an answer to a question you're sure you know, but you can't remember for the life of you what it was. And then, a few hours later, as you lie in bed or are doing something totally unrelated *ping* the light goes on. You remembered! And the answer was so obvious you feel kind of silly for not being able to remember.
It's just one of those odd things our brain does on occasion. It can be quite frustrating. But if you go do something else you'll most likely remember what it was. And if not, well, there's always Google or Wikipedia ;-)
It was last night over dinner. My friend and I were having a conversation about movies, when suddenly the question came. 'What is the first sentence spoken in Star Wars: A new hope?'
Little backstory here: I was 8 years old when I first saw the original Star Wars trilogy. It was love at first sight. I have since seen the movies over a hundred times and know them by heart. At least, until that question came.
I desperately searched my memory for the answer. And drew a total blank. I did come up with the character that spoke the first sentence, C-3PO. But not being able to answer the question, we moved on.
Fast forward to a few hours later. I was brushing my teeth and suddenly the answer popped into my mind. 'Did you hear that? They shut down the main reactor. We'll be destroyed for sure.'
This is not the first time it happened.You know the feeling. You're desperately searching for a name, an answer to a question you're sure you know, but you can't remember for the life of you what it was. And then, a few hours later, as you lie in bed or are doing something totally unrelated *ping* the light goes on. You remembered! And the answer was so obvious you feel kind of silly for not being able to remember.
It's just one of those odd things our brain does on occasion. It can be quite frustrating. But if you go do something else you'll most likely remember what it was. And if not, well, there's always Google or Wikipedia ;-)
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