A couple of night’s ago, I stayed up a bit too late watching “Bones” with kid one. It was the season ending sequence of episodes, and while they didn’t do the season ending cliffhanger trope, they did use several episodes in a single story arc, so we got hooked, watched too many, and got to bed late.
Yesterday, I was tired. Not quite a wreck, but definitely not my usual, effervescent self, and I felt the tug of the depression.
Knowing that it doesn’t take a lot for the grey mist to settle over me, I focused on the basics; do my job, write, post video, exercise, etc.
It worked. I got through the day without getting hit by the depression, and a little before normal bedtime, told kid one, “Bed time.”
“But, Daaaaddddd.”
Nope, off to bed for him, and for me.
I woke up this morning right on time, arose and began my day with my new daily ritual, got the spawn off to school on time, and got stuck into work.
I’m still a little tired from the lost sleep Tuesday night, but I hit my goal of 7-1/2 hours and I feel as close to normal as I ever do.
I’ve been working on my sleep this year, because I became convinced that overtiredness is one of my biggest, most dangerous depression triggers. How I felt yesterday vs. how I’m feeling today gives me another piece of evidence that this is the case.
I applied the small discipline of skipping that extra episode, to get to bed on time, last night. Today I am reaping the benefits.
Small disciplines leading to proper rest. A key to controlling my depression.
