When I took Diana into the ER late Monday, or early Tuesday, I knew I was going to be in a rough place as far as sleep goes. I stayed with her as long as I could, but once she got on the morphine I split to get a few hours of sleep before I had to get Simon to school. We were having a driver crisis (story for another day), and I had to talk with his principal about it. So I ended up getting about two hours, then after the drop-off, I knocked out another hour. Finally she was being admitted for surgery that afternoon. I left her for the night around 10:30, hit my own bed at 11:30.
I don't recall sleep deprivation since Simon was a baby. And even then, usually you could offset it at some point, when he was sleeping. Even the jet lag to Europe seemed easier. But this was something else, with three hours of sleep over 40. Toward the end of that run, I was struggling with common sense, I don't remember driving and I was incapable of making decisions. I'm sure it didn't help that they were cutting open my wife.
Sleep seems more important than ever. You don't need less sleep as you age, but it is apparently harder to get quality, continuous hours of it. For me, the change happened during the pandemic. There was so much anxiety and uncertainty at the time, and it messed with me. It's a little better now because of the THC, but I'm trying to use it less since we really don't know what side-effects or long-term issues it might have.
My perfect day is 7.5 hours of interrupted sleep, and a half-hour power nap. Napping is nearly impossible with work, even when you're remote, but I feel so refreshed by it. I feel at my sharpest, more creative and positive. It's crazy how important sleep is.
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