Move It Mama Monday - Fighting the Sleepies

I don't know about anybody else, but I tend to get the sleepies around 1PM most days. This is usually the time right after lunch when I'm reading stories to the Pixie before sending her to her room for quiet time. I'm fed, I'm lying on a bed or sitting on a couch, curled up with a snuggly bundle of Pixie joy, and I'm reading aloud, which for some reason always makes me yawn. I usually have a hard time keeping my eyes open after the first story, and by the third story, I'm nodding off in the middle of reading, only to be poked awake by my daughter who wants "more story, Mama!"

I know already that I don't get enough sleep. I like to get up at 5AM to work for a couple of hours before everyone else wakes, and that means I really should be in bed by 9PM. Most nights though, I'm lucky if I'm in bed by 10:30. That's not really enough sleep for me, especially if I do an intense workout that day. Invariably, I either end up fueling myself on caffeine, which I know is bad for me, or I eat too much to stay awake (also bad for me), or I crash around 1PM, and lose some of my precious afternoon work hours.

To fight the problem, I'm doing the following things. First, I'm trying my best to be in bed by 10PM. I really do feel the difference the next day. At least I don't feel the need to eat so much to stay awake. I'm also trying to clear my work schedule so I have less to do, making it easier to get to bed at 10. And finally, I'm trying to fight the afternoon sleepies by getting up and moving when I'd really rather take a nap.

I've decided that at 1PM, I can either do a few of the Wii Fit balance games or I can pull out the DDR mat and do 10-15 minutes on that. I stink at both activities, but I'm getting the results I want. I have to concentrate, and I have to keep moving, and that's usually enough to wake me up when I'm tired. It's the best solution I've come up with so far.

Of course, there are days when it doesn't work, days when I've stayed up far too late the night before and there's no way I can possibly stay awake. What to do then? Lie down and take a nap. I feel guilty later for not using that time to work, but I also have to admit I enjoy snuggling up beneath a blanket and catching a few Zs. So good in fact, I'm wondering if I should make it a part of my routine followed by a few minutes of DDR or Wii Fit to wake up. I'll have to see.

Do you get sleepy in the afternoon? How do you stay awake? Or do you prefer to nap?

So I'm working