How I Slept

This is a reasonably true and accurate reflection of last night. I was actually in bed at 21:00 with "lights out" at 22:00. I woke up at 04:40 craving tea and then thought "bugger it, I'll stay up - no point lying awake for an hour". At least the time I did sleep was good quality and well-balanced, with more deep and REM sleep than I usually get.

TOTAL SESSION TIME:  13:20 - 14:35 15:00 - 15:50 TOTAL SESSION LENGTH: 2hr 05 mins TIME IN TRANCE/SLEEP: 1hr 55 mins EFFICIENCY: 92% TOTAL BRAIN-REST FOR TODAY: A meditation of two halves! I had a 1hr 15 min session, then a cuppa and a creme egg then had another session. This worked surprisingly well, and Fitbit recorded it! Onwards and upwards!

I can't blame Fitbit for these results - what you see is what I slept! My classic "semi-insomnia" issue! A solid block of sleep in the first half of the night, then on waking around 03:00 I was wide awake thereafter. I tried everything except a good fap (saving myself for Missus) to no avail before giving up at 05:10. The reason may possibly be not enough cardio during the day. Research continues.

TOTAL SESSION TIME: 14:10 - 15:45 TOTAL SESSION LENGTH: 1hr 35 mins TIME IN TRANCE/SLEEP: 1hr 32 mins EFFICIENCY: 97% TOTAL BRAIN-REST FOR TODAY: Inexplicably, Fitbit, after not recording two hours of last night's sleep, accurately recorded this OK meditation. There was definitely some REM dreaming and though I woke up earlier than the two-hour window, I felt refreshed.

My kingdom for a week of flawless Fitbit - well it won't be THIS week as according to Fitbit I went to bed at midnight. I can assure y'all the lights went out at 22:10 and I was certainly NOT awake for two hours. When Fitbit DID start recording, it was in line with my experience. I don't seem to do that much deep sleep on an average night - I would like to see it up around the hour mark per night, but at this point there's nothing I can do about it.

 No Fitbit results TOTAL SESSION TIME: 13:35 - 15:35 TOTAL SESSION LENGTH: 2hr 00 mins TIME IN TRANCE/SLEEP: 1hr 45 mins (estimated) EFFICIENCY: 87% (estimated) TOTAL BRAIN-REST FOR TODAY: 7 hrs 38 mins (estimated) Bah! No results again!! WHY?? Interestingly the cardio results also showed no results over this period. My hypothesis is that when my blood pressure drops below a certain level, the Fitbit can no longer "see" my blood flow and therefore pick up a pulse. Behold my evidence!  I have decided as a result to start a new evidence blog fitbitfailures.blogspot.com

My first thought this morning was "ooh, didn't I sleep well?!" No prolonged awake periods in the night and just one toilet call. What I forgot was that I go to bed later on Sunday night and I'm up early, and that due to a not-great sleep efficiency, I actually underslept. My afternoon meditations are thus proving crucial in topping-up brain-rest.   While this blog should be about sleep exclusively, it has had to also become a blog about technology performance! This week at least has got off to a good start. Giving it every chance by "resting" and fully charging it before bed, Fitbit performance matched my experience last night, and also worth a mention is that wizzy Firefox is a much better browser to work with than sprawling clunky Chrome, enabling me to complete this blog entry faster than I've been used to! 

With a combination of some insomnia and Fitbit failure, it's not been a great week for sleep, but I do estimate I did break over the 6hrs average. Here's hoping for a better week to come.

TOTAL SESSION TIME: 14:55 - 16:48 TOTAL SESSION LENGTH: 1hr 53 mins TIME IN TRANCE/SLEEP: 1hr 43 mins EFFICIENCY: 91% TOTAL BRAIN-REST FOR TODAY: 7 hrs 56 mins (estimated) After not registering my night's sleep, meditation was dutifully recorded after wearing my tracker IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY!! This session was of high quality and deep, drifting into sleep, particularly REM sleep, with some vivid dreams. A good end at least to the week. 

NO FITBIT RESULTS Bah! I can assure I DID go to bed and WAS asleep! In a new low for this buggy device, Fitbit failed to record ANYTHING!! Cross-referencing with the cardiograph revealed there were several significant gaps in recording pulse, which the tracker needs to calculate sleep - and I did not wear the tracker any differently! If this starts to happen frequently I will be demanding my money back and investing in a Garmin instead. Stats I can record such as they are: TIME WITH LIGHTS OUT: 23:15 - 06:50 - 7hrs 35mins TIMES OUT OF BED 1 PERIODS OF PROLONGED WAKING (10 mins plus) 2  

This was an "average" sleep lengthwise by my standards, with above average deep sleep and elevated sleep efficiency to compensate for "sleep debt" accrued by recent semi-insomnia. Oddly this morning while I slept OK, Missus suffered it instead - extremely unusual for her - she blames it on the menopause! I take the view that in a 24 hour cycle, 6 hours not conscious is adequate and 8 hours would be ideal - if only I could figure out how to achieve it.

This was always going to be a disrupted sleep due to Bradford Beerfest! It shows the early-waking effect of a 10 unit dose of alcohol. This is exacerbated in my case because I am prone to early waking as it is. The aches and pains of a mild hangover kept me in bed but awake! And now I have two days with no meditation opportunity! Oh well - will just have to barrel through until Sunday!

TOTAL SESSION TIME: 13:55 - 16:10 TOTAL SESSION LENGTH: 164 MINUTES TIME IN TRANCE/SLEEP: 159 EFFICIENCY: 95% TOTAL BRAIN-REST FOR TODAY: A good meditation compensated for the shorter sleep!

Unfortunately, the last part of this is bollocks - I have been awake since 03:30! This is really a repeat of the previous night, I just did less. I came downstairs again at 03:30 but this time drank warm milk and was back in bed for 04:00, but to my recollection stayed awake - however I was trapped in a limbo sleepy-but-not-sleeping state for some time. I then got up but found my limbs were heavy, so I rested in the Consulting Room couch before becoming wide awake around 05:20 Before I woke up however, sleep was proceeding nicely - uninterrupted and well-balanced between the various states. So why have I suddenly resumed getting bouts of half-night insomnia? It may be that while I've been getting some exercise, I've neglected "cardio" - getting heart rate above 120. I now won't get the chance again until Monday. Healthy lifestyle is on hold for Bradford Beerfest tonight - a last boozeup with my son before he leaves for China in May.

TOTAL SESSION TIME: 13:30 - 16:05 TOTAL SESSION LENGTH: 155 MINUTES TIME IN TRANCE/SLEEP: 148 EFFICIENCY: 95% TOTAL BRAIN-REST FOR TODAY: After a disappointing previous meditation and restless night, a spectacular success! I used a tone of 150Hz and a 4Hz binaural beat, which I  found  much more successful, and was effectively unconscious for 2.5 hours! I'm feeling much better for it. This calls for a beer!

Full-on insomnia struck from 02:30, possibly alcohol related. After an unusually hefty 6 units, all proceeded as normal until the usual dry mouth/urine boner struck. Avoiding interactive electronics, I had a wee and a cuppa, and was back in bed for 02:50 - and couldn't get back to sleep, although I apparently did briefly. At 03:55 I gave up. Oh well, one of those things. Getting the results was bothersome also - my Fitbit wouldn't sync! After trying everything that normally works, a computer restart or two finally fixed the problem mid-morning. Although restarts are an arsepain, they are the computer's equivalent of a good night's sleep - I'll have to stop avoiding them! With this sleep being somewhat disastrous, I'm now counting on afternoon meditation being better than yesterday!

TOTAL SESSION TIME: 14:10 - 15:05 TOTAL SESSION LENGTH: 53 MINUTES TIME IN TRANCE/SLEEP: Unknown EFFICIENCY: Unknown TOTAL BRAIN-REST FOR TODAY: 6 Hours 15 Minutes (estimated) The Fitbit did not pick up this short session (by my standards), it being less than an hour. I used rather high tone of 432 Hz (supposed to be hypnotic - not in my experience!) and it distracted rather than deepened, though a do recall a dream at some point.  Though I did get some brain-rest, sufficient to push me over the critical minimum of 6 hours for the day, I won't repeat this experiment, and will use only tones that work for me personally.

This was always going to be a shorter sleep as Missus had to be up early for an interview this morning, but it was still balanced and reasonable quality for a shorter one, though I spent half an hour awake at each end. I awoke naturally at 04:30 and found a use for 30 minutes before the alarm went off at 05:00 - I am now dependent on meditation to make up the shortfall. 

TOTAL SESSION TIME: 14:30 - 15:45 TOTAL SESSION LENGTH: 75 MINUTES TIME IN TRANCE/SLEEP: 63 MINUTES EFFICIENCY: 84% TOTAL BRAIN-REST FOR TODAY: Whatever the reason for the failure of Fitbit to record meditations last week, it was fine and accurate today.  I have started experimenting with binaural beats to find the one that works for me. There is no scientific evidence as many claim that binaural beats directly affect brainwave frequency, but I do believe that they have a hypnotic effect dependent on the individual.  Today I tried a variable beat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HePF0xlKzNE) but my experience was nothing like the level of consciousness suggested - trance was even as far as I could recollect and I woke spontaneously when I was still being allegedly stimulated to still be in light sleep. I rated it nevertheless "OK" but I have many more variations to try. 

Sunday night is currently the weakest link in the week because I'm in bed later and up earlier, though often later than necessary. Last night I was neither particularly disciplined nor out of control, shutting the computer lid at 2300, when I could have done it at 2240. I agree with the Fitbit that it did probably take me 30 minutes to drift off. The resulting sleep was unusually flat.  I was restless at the back end of the night but stayed in bed - something I have learned from the past. If I am awake with less than an hour before the alarm, I no longer get up - I definitely get at least some rest benefit from doing so.  With the Fitbit proving unreliable at recording meditations last week, I will be diligent in recording them manually from today.

This week's findings are somewhat dubious. The Fitbit didn't record any of the meditations except Sunday, and Both Wednesday's and Thursday's sleep recordings are completely erroneous. Yet Friday - Saturday are reasonably accurate. At least the week ended on a good note, with both accurate readings and over 8 hours of "brain-rest". Next week, regardless of Fitbit, I will pursue diligent meditation recording manually.

After Friday night's lack of discipline, Saturday night was a much better affair after Missus offered a much more healthy distraction. There were consequently no interactive electronics to tempt me and I was not awake enough overnight for Dry Mouth to get me out of bed. Sleep length was the usual "good as it gets" - I have read, and experience has confirmed that the body is very unforgiving over lost sleep - you don't get an immediate "bounce back" from lost essential maintenance by sleeping longer or better the next night in most cases. Deep sleep was normal but REM sleep was very low, backed up by my experience - no recollection of any dreams. Possibly this "higher level" maintenance was sacrificed for the more "standard" maintenance of light sleep.

Oh dear - I can't blame the Fitbit this time - this disaster is entirely of my own making and a result of TUMBLR ADDICTION. It caused me to go to bed late and what was meant to be a 30-minute tea-break in the small hours turned into 110 minutes. I broke my own rule about interactive electronics at night, now I will have to pay the price and barrel through today mildly psychotic. Oh well, I can only go from here...

After two nights of wildly inaccurate recording, last night looks almost spot-on compared to my experience, though possibly missing an REM spike or two towards the end. I have therefore decided it's worth persevering with the Fitbit as at least a rough guide to my sleeping. I continue to be plagued by the twin assaults of dry mouth and urine boner, and at 05:05 both became too strong to sleep any longer. Tea instantly relieves dry mouth. The urine boners are particularly annoying - they are rock-hard and persistent, and I feel REALLY horny, but no sooner have I got up and had a wee and it instantly vanishes. They are also at the back-end of the night, when I'm needing to "save myself" for Missus. The only treatment is to get out of bed and wee. And yet in my waking hours I have erectile dysfunction! Welcome to male middle-age....

Bah! A second night of dodgy data from the Fitbit, this time at the opposite extreme - I DEFINITELY slept better than this. I was only out of bed once and have no recollection of restlessness at all, and indeed had a couple of "vivid at the time" dreams. If anything, I slept BETTER than usual. I WAS woken early by a raging urine boner, a dry mouth and a tea craving, but by then I had already notched up a good seven hours asleep, deduced from the absence of memory, other than one (rather than the usual 2-3) toilet calls. To compensate for the dodgy data, I have introduced my own two new measurements - TIME WITH LIGHTS OUT and TIMES OUT OF BED. From a week on Sunday I will include these on my own graphs The data issues may arise from what "restless" means. Fit bit classifies this as a separate category from "awake". I haven't yet found how Fitbit determines this. 

The shortcomings of the Fitbit are glaringly exposed in this data which is just plain wrong! Between 0300 and 0400 I was downstairs drinking tea and on Facebook, and the Fitbit simply hasn't registered this, just like for the second afternoon it didn't register my meditation, which was again deep and at least 80 minutes long. The reality is I slept at least one hour less than this, calling the validity of the whole blog into question. Of course the Fitbit relies purely on position, movement at heart-rate to determine my state of consciousness, so some inaccuracy is inevitable. However this is the first time the Fitbit has got it glaringly wrong. Only further data will reveal this to be a "blip" or a fundamentally flawed data. I will work on the assumption for now that this is a blip, as the REM data seems about right - I can recall waking from dreams at the last two recorded REM spikes. Regarding decision-making, I got it right, providing the maximum sleep oppor

This rather eventful sleep turned out to be the exact opposite of what I expected - a spectacular success when it felt like a disaster. This is in large part down to a good decision. I awoke around 0500 restless and dehydrated with a bone dry mouth, and several urges, one of which was for tea.  So overwhelming were they that I indulged them - the cats were pleased, they got an early breakfast! But then with tea drunk, rather than stay up, I went back to bed by 0540, moving back wake-up time from 0600 to 0700. This paid off spectacularly! I got in another 80 minutes sleep. Overall, despite my 0500 adventure decreasing sleep efficiency, it was an excellent sleep, with both deep and REM sleep relatively abundant. The lesson seems to be satisfy any overnight need, but then go back to bed! On Monday afternoon what felt like a deep 90 minute meditation did not even register on the Fitbit - nothing! It may be that it was entirely trance state and never went down to sleep level. No mat

This is an interesting one! Sunday night has been a weak point in the week because Missus likes to watch an extra hour of news 2200-2300, and I have often been tempted into doing my own thing downstairs until as late as 0030. Last night, keen to keep up my good run of sleeping, I was in bed promptly at 2300.  Despite one hour's less sleep opportunity, I still got 6 hours actually asleep, thanks to an upward creep in sleep efficiency that I can't fully explain. There were just two awake spikes, both for "urine boners" and both quickly deflated by trips to the toilet. There was a marked increase in both deep and dream sleep, the dream being particularly memorable - I had been thinking about the one-off album "Kossoff Kirke Tetsu and Rabbit" before bed, wanting to check on Monday I had it in my music cloud, and the dream was a "documentary" about this foursome, the details of which were vivid at the time but now are fuzzy! In short, this was a

The restless Sunday night last week (which I will NOT repeat tonight!) has clearly let down the whole week, which was otherwise well-disciplined, with regular meditation, pushing the "not conscious" average over the target line. The other good news is that this was the week where I finally established an achievable routine that I am able to stick to. With my brain now getting used to and expecting this newly established rhythm, it looks good for wellbeing in later life with a significantly diminished risk of disease.

Aided by an early escape from the Weekend Job which went uneventfully, I was able to keep up the momentum of an 8-hour sleep opportunity, and kept on target. It seems like I have topped-out to "as good as it gets" level, but research continues as to how I can push sleep efficiency into the nineties. It may prove difficult when your bladder starts complaining at 1/4 pint when it used to happily hold a pint in your prime! 2-3 overnight toilet calls are currently required.

After discussion with Missus, morning "quality time" was cancelled so I could keep up my sleep regime and it paid off! I got another 6+ hours. This will now be a permanent arrangement. I didn't personally miss out on anything anyway - that's why the third from last awake spike is slightly extended ; )

I am delighted to record that my sleep efficiency has been creeping up, and that since the debacle of Sunday night, I have been meditating and sleeping well. Unfortunately the weekend has now rolled round again and I have less sleep opportunity and no meditation opportunity for two days. I have decided to sacrifice Saturday morning "marital enrichment" for an extra hour's sleep to compensate - I really want to keep this good run going!

However undisciplined the rest of my life may be, at least I have rediscovered sleep discipline! Last night was as good as I get sleepwise. As I get older, like all older things, maintenance discipline becomes crucial to functioning! I can now feel my body "expecting" sleep and beginning to wind down from as early as 20:00 "Boring" days are now my favourite days as they mean my crucial rest regime functions best!

After the indiscipline of Sunday night, The last two days have been as good as it gets with my current knowledge and circumstances - an hour plus in meditation in the afternoon, lights out at 22:00 and up at 06:00, delivering 6 hours plus sleep from an 80+% sleep efficiency in eight hours in bed. I believe that this is the bare minimum I need to maintain wellbeing into old age. I hope to eventually find techniques to increase sleep efficiency into the nineties.

A "better than it felt" sleep - the times when I was awake were uncomfortable, due to a sore throat/mild cold and both cats deciding to sleep on my side of the bed! I now keep a bottle of water on the bedside table to relieve overnight thirst/dehydration, which I used last night, reducing sleep disruption. Of interest is that light sleep was longer than average at the expense of REM sleep, but overall sleep length, deep sleep length and sleep efficiency were average.

This dismal performance is entirely self-inflicted - Sunday night Tumblr addiction! I intend to more strongly-willed on subsequent Sunday nights!

Meditation sessions again pushed my brain-rest over the critical 6-hour average!

Meditation Session: 15:35  - 17:35 Time in trance/asleep: 1 hr 54 mins A good end to the weekend with a full 2-hour healing meditation, almost all of that not conscious. Preceded by talking things out, I start the evening feeling considerably more at peace than I did in the morning, ready for some quality with Missus and a fresh start tomorrow.

The plan was to sleep until 07:00, but that got scuppered by a combination of dehydration, a hungry cat and a troubled mind.  Like many folks in middle-age, I have things for which I am profoundly grateful and bring me joy, and scars of loss and hurt that on occasion keep me awake. So what is the therapist's prescription for himself? It is to take the time to give my sadness full periodic outward expression. Otherwise it would only go on to cause all kinds of internal mayhem. I would liken it to a poo - I really have better more enjoyable things to do with my life, but as distasteful as it is, you simply have to make time to release it. I will therefore give myself permission to be sad today, in order to sleep better tonight and generally think straight.

I knew in advance and by conscious choice that I wouldn't get enough sleep last night - I had quality time with my son in the evening and with Missus in the morning. There are however several consolation prizes - this sleep is very well-balanced with over an hour in deep sleep and sleep efficiency slightly up. In addition, resting/minimum heart rate is down to a very healthy 67bpm! Tonight will be no great improvement in sleep length, but the plan is for a healthy disciplined fresh start on Sunday.

This was a night that felt as restless as the night before but in which I actually slept considerably better. If only people realized how much their perception lies to them! I would have slept even better if my analogue alarm clock had not been set half an hour too early! Time to invest in a new digital alarm clock!

Bah! I thought I was somewhat restless, but not as restless as this. However, what "restless" means is kinda vague. A lot of this could be light sleep or hypnagogic (trance) state, so I may still have been obtaining restorative benefit from these hours - I was only "wide awake" for a fairly short amount of time. I did resolutely stay in bed for the full 8 hours apart from a couple of wees. Unfortunately due to having the builders in (or more accurately outside - repairing the garden wall) I can't disappear for meditation - I'll have no meditation opportunity until Sunday. I will make very sure I have "lights out" for the full 8 hours tonight.