Friday 5

(Link in meme-roll)
Sleep Deprivation

1. When you’re having trouble staying awake, what are some things you do to make sure you don’t drift off to sleep?

Sing, talk, move (as much as possible), sit up straight, make lists....

2. What’s most likely to cause you a prolonged period of not enough sleep?

Life. I'm serious: I have been sleeping for shit for the past few weeks, and I know it's because of the overload of stuff hanging over us. I have awakened at some point between 2 and 4 a.m. every morning. If it's later, I usually can't get back to sleep, so I know I'm done for the night; if it's earlier, I usually do get back to sleep eventually. The problem is, now, that my guaranteed putter-to-sleeper activity--crosswords--have become really hard to read because I've got Allergy Eyes. It's a pain.

3, When you’re going through a prolonged period of not enough sleep, what parts of your daily routine are likely to change, and how?

I try to cut back on the caffeine late in the afternoon/evening. I really should get some exercise earlier in the day, too, but that just hasn't been making it onto the list.

4. Who in your life seems regularly to have not enough sleep?

Besides me? That would be Beast: he has been under-sleeping for probably the last 10 years.

5. In what ways does your personality change when you go through a prolonged period of not enough sleep?

Bring on the cranky and the tears, the overall lack of focus and distractability, and general aches and pains. Though, to be fair, the latter is probably more about my allergies than the sleep deprivation which in turn is caused (in part) by the allergies.