Carlos – I don’t normally have that problem with a good day. I’m more likely to lie in bed talking my husband’s ear off on a good day. As long as I “get something accomplished” I’m happy. It’s those days where nothing seems to be getting done that I really struggle with.

Julie – Hi, it’s nice to meet you! Hopefully you like cream pie, at least it will give you something to snack on in the wee ours of the morning .
I can’t tell you how many references, comments, and complaints I’ve seen in the last week or so about being empathic. It’s odd… Have you ever been taught a grounding exercise? I use them all the time for that very reason… I was planning on including them in my up-coming course for the same reason – it’s a simple thing that can be done in 10 sec. but is truly helpful.
I’m a big proponent that everyone should have space that belongs to them – is their “sacred” space (just means “set apart”). My family is well trained that if I’m in my office with the door closed I don’t want to be interrupted unless it’s truly important. (Maybe Carlos needs a little training .) It’s another habit I implemented out of necessity – without it I’d go insane!

Kristen – I’m so jealous! I know neither my mom, dad, or sister are big sleepers – at least I can blame it on them .
The to do list! I totally know that issue. I have a huge problem with making a list that is way too big for three days, never mind one, and then being upset when I can’t do it. My new technique is to make a list for the week and then pull the day’s stuff out of there – it helps. Otherwise, with littles to make your day difficult to own priorities are the only thing that helps. (My husband is a big advocate for priorities. I can lend him to you if you need a pep-talk.)

Yours,
Megan

But as you so wisely point out, the experience of a day correlates so closely to the quality of one’s sleep. This is a timely reminder to me to prioritize sleep on my day’s to-do list.

I think that you really summed up a lot of what I’m feeling when I’m awake by myself when you said, “It’s like I’m battling with the passage of time itself – trying desperately to declare my dominance over it. It’s a battle I lose every time.”

Seriously! I want to grab time by it’s pointy little collar and get right in it’s face and scream, “SLOOOOOW DOWN!” But, alas, time just throws a cream pie in my face and keeps marching on.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that because I’m pretty empathic, the only time when I feel like I can really enjoy silence is when everyone else is sleeping. It’s a different kind of rest that I crave every so often and, although it leaves me drained of physical rest, I feel like there’s a part of me that gets a little bit restored just by being up late by myself.

On bad days it feels like going to bed is giving up, but usually my means of trying to make it better revolves around entertainment…TV, food. That doesn’t ultimately solve the problem and then the nexy day I have even less emotional and physical resources to have a good day…a vicious cycle.

On good days, I often want to continue a productivity streak, but this backfires because a day or two down the road I get myself to a point where I need an entire day or two to recoup and then I fall behind again.

I’m trying to learn to see it, not as giving up or stopping prematurely, but as being grateful for the day I had and investing that gratitude into tomorrow. Law-of-Attracting a full and satisfying day ahead of me.

Your own struggles with sleep remind me much of my wife. I will be sharing this with her for sure.