I seriously don't know how you 6-hours-a-night people do it.
This has been a week of unusually little sleep for me, mostly because Mr. FG and I have been staying up way too late working on getting things ready for our wood floor installation.
Normally I get a pretty consistent 8 hours of sleep, but this week has been full of nights that are more like 6 hours long.
For a few days, I was doing all right and I thought, "Oooh, maybe I don't need as much sleep as I thought! Think how much time this will save me!"
But then after about three nights of this, I really started to hit a wall and it's become clear that 8 hours is ideal for me.
(Sonia and Zoe are under there..."burrowing" as they call it!)
Yesterday I felt super exhausted and it is SO hard to stay motivated and inspired and productive in that state.
This week has been a fresh reminder that staying up late isn't really a key to productivity.
If I got less sleep, I could theoretically have more hours to be productive, but the reality is that my exhausted self isn't productive.
Basically, a rested me can get more done in 16 hours of awake time than an exhausted me can get done in 18 hours of awake time.
Sleep = Investment in the next day.
(I did function on little sleep for many, many months with our babies...so I know I can do it if necessary, but the point is that it's definitely not ideal for me! Given the option, it's smart for me to put myself to bed.)
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Simply Being Mum is out of her blogging office this Friday, so she asked if I'd be willing to host Food Waste Friday for her this week.
So, let's see...
-I do know I composted a pepper top and a few stalks of celery, but I didn't take pictures.
-I didn't do anything heroic this week to use up food, although we did eat all of the bridal shower leftovers.
-Mr. FG ended up eating out one day for lunch, but he refrigerated his packed lunch and I ate it the next day.
-I had two cooked chicken breasts in my fridge, so I made curried chicken salad sandwiches for dinner one night.
(I did not make the croissants. They're from Aldi!)
I'll do a more proper Food Waste Friday post next week, with fridge/freezer pictures and all.
Plus, my life promises to be filled with fewer commitments and more sleep starting next week, so, maybe I will actually do some things on the food waste front that are interesting. 😉
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How's the food waste scene at your house? Tell us in the comments!
I am so with you on this one! And when I don't get enough sleep I am not only unproductive but I also want to eat lots and lots of sugar and crave caffeine to stay awake. Not good. Not good at all. Hope you have a better weekend of sleep!
I managed not to throw a bunch of stuff away this week like last week...and I am shopping the freezer for dinner tonight and getting creative. I seem to need less and less sleep lately. I almost never feel sleepy when I SHOULD be getting into bed. The joy of menopause.
I agree completely! I stayed up late last week, working on some custom book orders and other blogging related tasks, and it was obvious. The first time wasn't so bad but after doing it for a couple days in a row, I was worn out! Sleep is an important investment in our days. Great point!
This is looking to be a bad food waste week. My dear friend and neighbor had a stroke Wednesday (which was my birthday), and I've been with her in the hospital all day & night. When it happened, I had food on the stove - so I turned off burners and ran to her. I think I'll be forgiven for the food - the dogs thought breakfast was pretty snazzy! Oh - my friend is almost 90, and is feisty. She's already regained speech, and is getting therapy for her right side. I'm sure some prayers would be appreciated -
I hope your friend recovers promptly.
That's so great that your friend is doing better already!
I totally agree with you on the sleep issue. Middle-age has been playing havoc on my sleep patterns and quality and I long for the nights when I could sleep 8 hours without it being interrupted. I don't need anymore than that though, otherwise I feel groggy.
I didn't feel very motivated this week, and my food waste post is incomplete, I'm pretty sure. I wasn't even going to post it but one of my followers has started posting hers so she inspired me to cobble a post together after all!
http://imperfectlyfrugally.blogspot.com/2015/05/an-incomplete-and-unmotivated-food.html
Thank you Kristen! I'm lying on a Cornish beach as I type on my phone. Hoping to upload my #foodwastefriday post to YouTube but Internet connection hit and miss! Happy Friday everyone!
I've decided to start inputting on food waste Friday. I realize that sometimes I just don't use up all the things that I have in my fridge because I'm not really talking about what I've let go to waste, so here it goes: I let mustard greens grew slime after 3 weeks in the fridge and some baby food that I let go a bit past date.
I did however make a casserole last night using about 4 left over things in my fridge, and my husband loved it!
I've got about 2 weeks worth of food in my freezer, so I think I'm going to put my CSA box on hold to try and use up that stuff.
My conscience is now clear
I completely agree about sleep! I can do six hours a few nights too and feel fine, and then about day four I start to feel like I hate my life. And my brain will get an average of eight hours no matter what I do, so I might be productive those first few days but then I am going to crash and sleep ten hours and take a nap. My husband on the other hand, actually seems to be able to pull this off. He is a freelancer and typically works late into the night, but then the next day he is fine. He has done it for years. He gets tired, but not like I do. God bless him.
Agreed! I can't function without sleep. When I went to grad school and had to commute 75 miles each way, I made it a mission to get enough sleep (I didn't want to fall asleep at the wheel). A lot of grad students don't do as well on the sleep front, but somehow I made it work. Sleep is a huge priority for me.
I'm a 8-10 hour a night person too! This newborn is messing up my sleep cycle. I forgot how fun it is in the beginning and how quickly it gets old.
The baby has definitely put a wrench in my food waste too. We aren't doing great, but we aren't doing too bad either. Here is how we did: http://wp.me/p4yT07-1rY
If I only get 6 hours of sleep it affects my productivity all day long.That means I have to take a nap in the afternoon and slack more often.The ideal for me is 7 hours ,at least, to function pretty well without feeling lethargic the entire day.
Oy! Count me in with the "can't function with less than 8 hours crowd."
I do have a question for all of you folks who have babies or have had them in the past. How do you deal with the sleep issue? I'm nursing a sick kitty who wakes me up every 3-4 hours throughout the night. Long story, but she needs to eat small frequent meals and requires assistance. I'm probably averaging 8 hours or so per night, but it's all broken into small chunks, and I can never seem to finish a complete sleep cycle before she wakes me up. Is there some trick to dealing with this sort of sleep deprivation or do you just have to suffer through?
I think I mostly just suffered through! The only trick I had was to make very sure I went to bed when the baby did...when the baby went to sleep at night, I went right to bed too (no staying up to catch up chores or anything.)
I hope your cat feels better soon!
Naps! A few times I put on a toddler video or Sesame Street for my 2 year old and napped on the couch when the baby was asleep. I didn't like doing it but when I woke up 2-4 times at night I felt like a zombie. Now that my youngest is consistently sleeping through the night I feel like a whole new person!
Be thankful that you can get 8 hours. Most days after working full time, taking kids to sports/scouts/dance, heading home for dinner/homework/showers the kids will be in bed by 9:00-9:30 and that's when the work starts. Cleaning, laundry, paperwork, bills - usually between 12:00 and 1:00 is when I get to bed. Alarm goes off at 5:00am to do it all over again the next day!!!
I honestly don't know how you do it - I think I'd be ready to open a vein, or at least have a nervous breakdown! Seriously, I am child-free by choice because I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it emotionally - and I wasn't even factoring exhaustion into the equation. And if the way I feel after 6 months if sleep deprivation is any clue... well, I think it's a good thing for all parties that I made the decision that I did! I am soooo grateful that there are stronger souls than me out there willing to do the hard work of motherhood. My hat is off to you and all of the other mothers out there.
I would seriously keel over from exhaustion if I tried to maintain a schedule like that long-term. It's great that the lifestyle you've chosen for your family is workin' for you, though, and I know you've said in the past that you feel the extra-curricular choices you've made are worth the effort.
I wouldn't really consider kids being in extracurricular activities a "lifestyle". I would call it allowing them to do things they love while helping them learn about being part of a team, social skills and being active on a regular basis. If providing these things for them means I get less sleep, then yes, it is worth it.
Do you always sound so condescending when you respond to commenters because that is totally the feel I am getting from you? You know, like anyone who doesn't do it your way isn't doing it the best way.
I'm not sure what to say to that except that I don't think my way is the right way for everyone, nor do I think other people's way is always the right way for my family and me.
(See: I'll be me. And you can be you.)
If what you do is working for your family, then that's great! And if what I do is working for my family, then that's great too.
We don't all have to make the same choices, and there are many, many right ways to raise children and run a family (and many of those perfectly acceptable family-running options look vastly different from each other.)
There are just so many combinations of temperaments, personalities, financial situations, cultural traditions, and who knows what else that go into making a family, and each family has to try to make their own wise decisions about how best to meet the needs of their households. Definitely not a one-size-fits-all sort of thing.
I certainly agree that there are MANY ways to run a household and my theory is do whatever works and makes the people in your family happy.
Your posts have a very condescending undertone to them, maybe you don't realize it......like you have pity for anyone who doesn't do things your way. You can SAY that you don't feel that way, but your posts speak the opposite.
I may not get 8 hours of sleep a night, but my kids have friends, get exercise daily, do activities they are passionate about, know the feeling of success after hard work and will not grow up to be socially awkward adults who only know how to interact with their parents and siblings. Not saying that's the only way or right way to raise children, but that's right for MY family!
I'm sure we can agree that there are lots of ways for kids to have friends, exercise, learn hard work, do activities they're passionate about, and not be socially awkward. I'm sure that you love your kids just like I love mine, and I'm positive that you and I are both laying down our lives in various ways for our children because we love them.
You are a mama who loves her kids, and I'm a mama who loves her kids, and while our choices (and the choices of other moms too!) might look different, the common denominator is that we are making the best choices we each can for our kiddos/families.
My kids are active, friendly, hard-working kids, and though I don't know yours, I'm sure they are too. There are so many different ways to reach that end, though, is all I'm saying. And as long as two mamas are both working toward that end as best they can, I see no reason to point fingers at each other. We're all working toward the same goal.
Respectfully, I didn't catch a hint of condescension in Kristens's post or comments. I "heard" the tone as one more of awe or amazement.
I just wanted to say I hope you love your new wood floors, we put hardwood in about 10 years ago with 2 kids n 2 (sometimes 3 or 4) dogs they are so easy to care for. It really helped my oldest son with his asthma. Not sure if it was dust and dirt with the carpet or the carpet itself but his breathing got better after that carpet left the house.
I don't get 8 hours/day but I know (from tracking many many weeks!) that I am close. Depending on the week it's between 7.25-7.75 hours/day. That's with working a bit north of 40 hours, dealing with 4 kids and their activities, exercising, and hanging out with friends too. Some people may get excited about sleep deprivation as a sign they're doing it all but I find it's usually quite possible to do a lot and sleep too. Here's hoping this week brings more sleep in the FG house!
Yeah, my nights are probably more like an average of 8. Some are slightly more, some are slightly less. But it does seem that an average of 6 doesn't really work for me! I just walk around in an unproductive fog.