Can't disengage brain at night

Steve Garson_2

Scott:

Have you seen your doctor to try some meds to help sleep. It isn't healthy to live without adequate sleep. While some think having meds to isn't healthy, not sleeping is far worse for a person.

Steve

Paul Rohrs_7

Thinking about what to do and how to do it.

It's 4:30am CST and I have been up for an hour thinking about what needs to get done today. I slept well and am not tired, but I am planning out my day continually.

Proposals, bill paying, purchase orders, system design for a new commercial application, actual hands-on work in the shop and out in the field, transition to new business software, service calls that might (for lack of a better word) interrupt the day, create flow chart for snowmelt system operation so commercial customer has a better understanding of when the boiler is actually supposed to run. Return a plethora of phone calls. This is on my list of things to do today.

These are occupying my brain and I wish I could sleep until 5 or 5:30 just because I should. (I have always been a morning person)

I know not everyone is "wired" like me, but in our industry, I can't help but imagine some of you are up doing the same thing. Anyone else up hitting the ground running?


Paul

ScottMP

High YA Paul

I'm at the office after checking my mothers house that lost electricity last night. She slept at our house and I went downt o make sure it was allright. We got a cold spell here and its about 3° and colder with the wind chill. Great night to loose power.

I ussually open the doors at 5:15/5:30.

Don't let this stuiff keep you up Pal, you got kids to be around for.

Scott

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Paul Rohrs_7

Keeping my evenings free

The more I do in the morning, the more time I have for them at night. They are never awake when I leave in the morning so they are used to more "Dad Time" at night.

Your mother okay?

Paul

ScottMP

fine Thanks

everythings running.

I use to tell me boys " I'll see you in the morning " untill the told me that I was never there when they woke up. So now I say " see you tomorrow ". You forget how much they pick up.

Work will be there tomorrow Paul. They'll be another day older tomorrow.

Scott

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mtfallsmikey

Well,

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger...I awoke at 1:30 am today, kinda worried about the fresh air intake system in one of my buildings, cause the temps were in the mid-teens, so I came in at 4:30 am. Last year, an outside air VAV stuck open and a sprinkler head froze/busted, setting off the fire alarm and emptying the building on a 25 deg. morning. Everything was ok this morning, but I'll be dragging this afternoon

Mike Thomas_2

Lists & Key Words

I am a retired school teacher. I also did commercial refrigeration, restaurant equipment, boilers, and electrical work. I worked 80 hours a week, 40 at school and 40 after hours and weekends on all the other stuff. I also two kids and a wife that needed time. So basically I had 3 different areas in my life that needed my attention. Here is how I handled it. I would make 3 different lists for the 3 different "areas" of my life. Each list contained the things I needed to do, for that day, that week, that month, and the year. I convinced my self, (trained my brain) that once it was on the list, I could forget about it. I would pick it back up when it was that time of the day for that part of my life. School was 8-4, family 4-6, work 6-11pm. Work also occupied 6-6 on weekends and family 6-9pm. I told myself (trained my brain) to really focus on that area of my life for the designated time period. Like an athelete, I focused all my energy for a burst of activity, during that time period. I also found that I needed a keyword or phrase to trip the switch in my brain to switch from one activity to another. As I was walking up the steps to school, I would tell myself, "It's Showtime", and everything else faded away and I focused on my students and job a school. To transition to family time the keyword was "Supper Time". To get into work mode, the word was "Mo Money". It took quite a while to train myself, but life was a lot easier when I knew I could only work on one area at a time. I became a lot more productive. and my wife and kids knew they had their time. My wife always knew she could count on Friday evening to go out for dinner. She could get through all those nights alone when she knew she would have Friday night.

Al Corelli_2

Nice

You don't know how helpful that post was to me. Thank You.

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Scott Kneeland

not sleeping

WOW now I know I'm not a freak of nature. I usually try to be in bed by 10 and am almost always awake by 2, from the neck down I'm exhausted from the neck up my brain is screaming with thoughts about the install I scheduled, the dead beat that owes me, the material I may forget to order, the phone calls I need to return and the list goes on. I wish I could shut off my brain when I went to bed.

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Floyd

Quiet time...

I can't tell you how many times I have gone to bed and be thinking about a project and have the whole layout come to me... I have to get back up and write it all down or it will be gone in the morning.
We are all wired differently and for me the 10- midnite time is some of my most productive of the day, the family is in bed, the phone usually isn't ringing, so it's just me, my time to concetrate on what I did and what need to be done, and make a list(s) for myself so I can remember what I thought about the night before....I getting to the point where I have forgotten more than I know, so the lists are becoming more important.
Sleep also is a bit more needed than in the younger days, now instead of 3-5 hours, I need to get 5-7... the body just doesn't rejuvinate like it once did, and 24-36 hour stints are almost impossible...

We grow to soon old and too late smart....

Floyd

Weezbo

ever take a look at WHEN i make these posts?

*~/:)

many are called buh few are chosen

burnerman_2

quite the opposite

i am up til 2 a lot had the answering service call more than once sayin i hate to get u out of bed well i am a nite owl this is one of the last things i check b4 bed some nights at 1 am i have learned a lot here hope i can share some with others too see ya royboy

Dan Sedens

I'm with you,

I am generally at my shop around 7:30 a.m. We start at 8:00 but I will generally be here until 10 or 11 p.m. I was here until 1:30 a.m. last night trying to get caught up with end of year invoicing. I'm sure alot of others are out there. I used to start earlier but realized that the end of my day didn't come any earlier. Decided to start a little later to gain on at least one end. It's tough doing almost everything yourself.
Good Luck to everyone out there.
Dan

Timco

If I feel at all like I am just thinking about too much, I take 1/2 an Ambien. Really works well on me.

Tim

ttekushan_3

I'm just the opposite, but still

have the same problem.

As you can see by the post time, its LATE not EARLY. I should be able to get my mind to shut up by 3 am or so.

On the other hand, I do much late afternoon and evening service work as some clients prefer not to have to miss work. Seems to work out until I have to work with the steamfitters who start work at 7 am. They have to keep poking me with suitable prods for the first hour or two.

-Terry

mtfallsmikey

Timco:

Just curious...are you using Ambien daily?...when i go to the doc next month, want to look into something like that,only getting 4-6 hr. sleep at night. As far as the rest of you, I feel / felt your pain..that's why I left the biz 10 yrs. ago, but still have a lot on my mind. As you can see by the time of my post, I'm here at work, got here at 5 am just to check the mech. systems/cooling towers since it was down in the mid-teens here last night.

ScottMP

Ambien


While a Great product (I have used it) should not be used on a regular basis. Most Doctors will tell you that any sleeping aid should not be used every night. That being said, a good nights sleep is very important. As others have said four or five hours a night doesn’t do it and you are hurting your body. I just read an article that stated cutting back on your sleep cuts back on your life expectancy.

Ya gotta get your sleep and it has to be uninterrupted.

I think we have hit upon a problem all contractors have and one that is just as important as proper installs and running a prosperous business.

Not only the deprived sleep but what really bothers me is the number of us who are missing our family time. Work will be there tomorrow, your children’s childhood won't. Sometimes your wife ... won't (see the other post on marriage counseling). We have to work smarter and balance it with our private time. No Ones grave stone says “I wish I had more time to work! ".

If your spending that much time away from home than maybe its time to hire someone to do some of those chores. You might actually be more profitable. Maybe more sleep and more family/self time will make you a better businessman. Its like going to Wetstock, I allways come back invigerated.Vacations and time off do that also.

Work smarter, not harder!

Just a thought.

Scott


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Timco

I use it 2-3 times a week, once a month when I just cannot stop thinking about bids out, uncollected $ and home stuff like to buy a bigger place or remodel & add on. It just keeps me up and 1/2 the smaller pill really allows me to fall asleep within an hour or so and still get up at 5:30 or 6 and not have to fight to do so. A whole pill makes me sleep until 8 or 9 but I never feel groggy when I wake up. I have never used them for more than a few days at a time and maybe twice a month. I can usually handel a lot of stress before I need help.

Tim

tim smith

Been up since 4:20

I don't think this is to abnormal for us small business owners. We are always thinking of what's next, who owes, how to layout what we are on now. I too find that at times I am just exhausted from lack of sleep but I always seem to come around. Once a week or so I may sleep into 6 am, feels great when I do. I usually am asleep by 10:30 so it really is not that bad as far as amount of sleep. I think we also thrive on some of this, this is what makes us tick. But we must tone ourselves down some time to allow our body to catch up with our mind. Just my take, Tim

mtfallsmikey

Gosh Tim,

I would like to sleep in until 4:20 am!..I normally get up for work at 3:00-3:30 am, 1 1/2 hr. drive to work, get here by 6:00, but today was awake at 2:30 am.

tim smith

Mtfallsmikey, I guess you got me!

I still like the idea of 7+ hrs sleep but really never happens anymore.

Paul Rohrs_4

Tim is right on

I don't think it is abnormal to be thinking about our business' and what needs to be done.

It didn't come across with my original post that I LOVE what I do. I really enjoy radiant, it makes me think continually. When I sleep, I sleep really well, I think I just need to get a little more sleep by "Turning Off" my radiant thinking.

I will try employing some key-word exercises and see if that helps. Mike Thomas' idea has merit and that might be a healthy way to decouple at night.

I also don't sacrifice time with wife and kids. Scott is right on.

Regards,

PR

Brad White_184

SleepingHelp,com

Good thread, guys..

Paul, I think your love of what you do comes through no matter how hard you try to hide it

The creative side comes out when it does. I think that is true of most creative people. When you settle into the various stages of sleep, that "conscious and unconscious mind" and the Right-Left brain separation becomes blurred and at the same time remarkably focused. One part of the brain, say the left or analytical side, goes into the background and the right or creative side can emerge...

Just my theory anyway. Maybe this explains 2 AM posts on the Wall sometimes...

kitchenmann

boy are you guys right

Im thought I was the only one that had that invoice in my head at 3 or 4. My neighbor Jim Colman said he had it also. He also told me yesterday we shouldn't worry about the postal worker or terroists. Just the small buisnes man.