*I was gifted one NESCAFE Dolce Gusto capsule machine for the purpose of the giveaway. All opinions are my own*
Sleep and the Musings household don’t seem to get on very well. At least not in the conventional way. It seems that Mr 5 and I have our sleep clocks all topsy-turvy and so we are more likely to be still in bed when we need to be up and at ’em. Mr 5 is now taking melatonin and the change has been incredible. However my sleep still seems elusive.
First off I have to mention that I don’t endorse surviving on less sleep unless it is unavoidable. Good sleep hygiene is one of the best things you can do to maintain good mental health. However I know that life doesn’t always work out that way. So here are my tips for those days when sleep just isn’t happening.
Have a healthy diet
Ensure that you are eating food that is going to sustain you throughout the day. Avoid sugary foods and foods that are high in saturated fat. Not only are they bad for your overall health, but they give you a blood sugar spike before you come crashing down. Make sure that you aren’t eating just before bed too as this will hinder your attempts at a good nights sleep.
Exercise
The last thing you feel like doing when you have had a bad nights sleep is exercise, I know. However it helps to get the blood flowing and increases those feel good endorphins, helping you to feel more energised. If you aren’t up for running, walking or joining a gym then I recommend heading to the pool. You don’t have to swim laps, you can simply walk up and down the pool. Being in the water means that it places less strain on your joints, but you are still getting your heart rate up.
Develop a night-time routine
Night time routines aren’t just helpful for kids, but adults too. Our bodies get used to going to sleep at a certain time and so if your normal bedtime is 2am, then it is going to take some training to make it earlier. Start off with going to bed half an hour earlier and slowly move it back a half hour at a time until you have your bed time to a time that you are happy with.
Wake up at the same time everyday
This is the one that I struggle with the most. Especially on weekends. Although I know that I feel so much better when I am getting up at the same time each day because it allows my body to prepare. It also means that I can get things done now, because I’m not wallowing in bed avoiding the world.
Give yourself time to wake up
I try to wake up at least half an hour before I really need to be up if I have to get out of the house. I find this gives me time to wake up fully and I don’t feel rushed and flustered. I just sit down with a drink and browse through social media before I get up and start getting ready. If Mr 5 hasn’t made his way into my bed during the night, then I will often just do this lying in bed.
Caffeine
When all else fails, sometimes you have to go for the hard stuff. Caffeine that is. I don’t drink coffee and I try not to drink coke in the mornings but sometimes there really is no other option. However if you love coffee, then I have just the product for you! NESCAFE have brought out a new capsule coffee machine just in time for Christmas. The NESCAFE Dolce Gusto Circolo allows you to experience cafe style coffee without having to get out of your PJs. Boasting a unique space-saving design, the Circolo is the perfect gift for the coffee lover (or you!). Each machine is able to make coffees, hot chocolates and cold drinks which means there is something for everyone!
The best part about the new NESCAFE Dolce Gusto Circolo? I have one to giveaway to one lucky reader! All you have to do to be in the running is answer this simple question:
What helps you when you need to survive on less sleep?
Entries close at 6pm on the 16th of December so get your answers in quick!
- Competition is open to Australian resisdents only.
- The competition opens at 5am on the 9th day of December 2014 and closes at 6pm on the 16th day of December 2014
- The winner has 24 hours to respond to email corresponsdence or the competition will be redrawn.
- All decisions are final
- The prize is one (1) NESCAFE Dolce Gusto Circolo which will be awarded to one (1) winner.
I wish coffee was my cure all, but what really gets me through each day is sheer determination, stubbornness and the fact that I have to or else things would fall apart around here! Great giveaway, from one sleep deprived mumma to another! x
Guessing ‘being okay with a grumpy attitude and looking like sh*t doesn’t’ win me anything? So the cheery version, is starting the day with 2 double shot espressos (this prize is made for me) and trying not to over commit in the evenings – going out every night will not do you any favours. Try to alternate – one out, one home if you can’t reduce it to once or twice a week….
OMG my husband would want this SO badly. Coffee is what he needs to get him through the day after little sleep. Me on the other hand, I don’t like coffee. I’ve never drunk a full cup. I get by with the power of my mind. I know that sounds a little crazy, but as soon as I start to yawn or drift of at my desk (oops) I tell myself that I aint got time for that. I drink plenty of water, get some fresh air and power on.
The absolute prize when I’ve sleep deprived
is having some help from my husband’s mum,
she can take my toddler and clean his bum.
She hangs my washing, she dries the sheets
she’s my dream woman when I’ve had little sleep.
But it is rare for her to care
for us here, 40 minutes from there.
She is a mum of ten and is busy being mother hen.
There isn’t much time for her to be zen.
So I rarely ask to put her on task.
Instead I stand, drink in hand
Feeling awfully and
trying to have some coffee …
Will you please stop yelling mommy!
At the moment I know what sleep deprivation is and why 50+ yr old women aren’t big on having babies at this stage in life 🙂 our energy levels are much les than when I did it 25 yrs ago. My baby this time is a fur one but still keeps the night hours that my babies did 🙂 Coincidentially ( or does he plan this) it’s the busiest time of the year for me work wise with reports to write at night and the associated day job . I’m getting by on about 3-4 hours sleep a day and really starting to feel it 2 weeks down the track. A drive thru maccas ( aka Mcdonalds to the rest of the world) kick starts my day, then while my eyes are heavy all day around 9pm when I should get to bed my second wind kicks in and I’m up until midnight …then up wakes puppy at 3-5am then back to bed for an hour and off Groundhog Day starts again .
That’s such a fancy gadget!
So space age.
Love it!
I don’t drink coffee … so fancy gadgets like this are lost on me.
But I am SUPER EXCITED to be getting a nutri-bullet for Christmas. I guess that can be my special drinky gadget.
L
I turn to coffee to help get me through the rough days. Maybe even a nanna nap if luck is on my side
As a nursing student, my best friend is V. I can’t drink coffee, although hubby loves it (which is why I’m entering), so a bottle or two of V gets me going.
Oh Tegan, look at that little beauty! With ours being a night-shift household, coffee is my saviour.
I think I’ll be looking at one of these for myself after Christmas x
I love this coffee machine. But I love coffee 🙂
I’ve had a couple of shocking nights sleeps the last few nights. My mind is just way too active when I go to bed. I need to work out some way to chill.
I’ve been surviving on less sleep since I’ve had Phoebe and my biggest tip is to read or have no screen time at least half an hour before bed or else I don’t sleep very well or I have weird dreams! Having a baby that sleeps through the night would help me sleep better too but I’m hoping it will happen in time!
Ha ha – 5-6 cups of coffee a day! I do everything else you mention but when the kids keep me up half the night it definitely has to be caffeine! And I’ve never owned a coffee machine before:( I tell myself instant is just the same… It’s not:(
sheer determination gets me through the day, if that fails – coffee!!!
I do only the necessities and expect very little on days like those!
I would love to enter but alas I will be on a cruise with no internet or email when the prize is drawn! I have long struggled with tiredness – due to depression, and also a long battle with anemia. So I don’t think I have much wisdom to offer, except that I do believe in the healing power of a nanna nap!
Visiting today from #teamIBOT xxx
My goodness, I’m tired these days. Little miss toddler has realised the endless freedom of climbing out of her cot… and usually into my bed and it’s killing me. Some good tips here and I think exercise is a great one. I say that as I sit here INSIDE and not actually OUTSIDE, you know, being active.
I can’t survive on less sleep , I spend all day yawning and whingeing how tired I am, even a coffee isnt enough to do it for me, meditation can give me a boost to help for a little while, but somehow when the kids are little and the baby is teething you draw on your inner reserves and just do what you have to do. Not always successfully but it gets done.
Haha! That’s a tough one. I’d have to say coffee – but even that has its limitations. I take other supplements to help tide me over and they help too. Otherwise, I hope to cart off the kids to their grandparents or friends I can trust, where they can spend the day – and I get to NAP! 😛
one coffee to star the day, and boost juice energy lift, cold shower, and peppermint tea. helps me when I am exhausted
If I really need to stay awake, I try to avoid anything with chloroform!! My husband is banned from telling me about a certain job he did on that particular day…I can’t listen to a certain politician, where I usually grab a nap between his pauses.. Oh and a double shot of the black stuff (not guiness) .
A super 15 minute power nap on my lunch break!
Fresh air or splashing cold water on my face are both a big help but nothing really helps me survive on less sleep, I’m more a bear with a sore head until I catch up on my slumber.
Wake every morning @ 5 have the coffee ready by 5:02 and just do not stop all day the min you do you’ll die. Pure exhaustion works a treat.
If I ever I feel like I’m about to crash going for a quick run will usually wake me up to push through the day
4 Boys, coffee gets me through!
Even the aroma, who new!
Four hours of sleep, coffee is my delight,
keeping me focused and bright!
Everything about coffee I adore,
Its dark, rich, and soothing,
Nescafe Dolce Gusto Circolo,
my life , on track, restored!
I take myself to a place where I can listen to music like jazz, hip-hop, or light rock. Makes me feel more alert without grating my ears.
Throwing myself into the day with enthusiasm is the best way I’ve found. I suppress a yawn, don’t allow myself to think about sleep, and immerse myself into every activity to make the day pass quickly. Then I get takeaway for dinner for minimal effort and clean up, take 10 minutes to change my bedsheets and enjoy an early night between fresh sheets.
Hot green tea! Lots of hot green tea for that kick of energy and hydration!
Knowing that you just have to. When I have been the most tired and feel like I desperately need some sleep that’s when everything seems to go wrong. The kids get sick, you’re up to them during the night, then other calamities occur at the same time, the fridge or washing machine breaks down, car into be repaired and I’m stranded at home for a couple of days. It’s almost as if it knows you’re feeling sleep deprived. But you just carry on. I call it “Carry on Mum”
Avoiding anyone who is likely to irritate me in my sleep deprived state… in other words, everybody!
What gets me through each day, especially on little or no sleep? A combination of coffee (lots of coffee), bananas and my stubborn personality (which I swear is genetic). I find that keeping my body fed and my mind occupied make the day go quicker and allow me to push through until it is time to attempt to sleep once again
When I’m feeling like I’m walking in a dense fog and could just lay down and sleep for weeks I try not to focus on how much of the day there is left. Instead, I take one piece of the day at a time. Ok, one hour until snack time, now, 30 minutes until nap time, etc. I find it’s far less overwhelming to survive an hour at a time rather than try to comprehend how you’ll make it through another 8 of them!
regular splashing of cold water onto my face keeps me alert and awake. For most people coffee works but I can drink a gallon and it never bothers my sleep pattern
Caffeine keeps me in drive…also keeps the kids alive 🙂
Getting to the gym
gives me extra energy,
so even when I begin to weep
at the loss of precious sleep
my wondrous exercise,
gives me strength – the best kind of prize!
Smiles. Because the last thing you want when you’re sleep deprived is negativity.
I usually start with water, then move to dark chocolate and then, if all else fails, I stick a pillow over my head and ignore the world.
My two rescue dogs… though ‘help’ may be too gentle a word! They’re stubborn as anything, have very set routines and faces that you simply can’t say no to. Their boundless enthusiasm and energy helps me recharge… though they know we can’t go to the park until I’ve had my coffee!!!!!
Thanks for the chance, what a wonderful Christmas present for one of your readers. Merry Christmas!
A STRONG COFFEE or three and GREAT MUSIC to dance around to keep me going when I should really be horizontal on the couch!…