The Ownership Flag and Icons    [other banners]

	TSR : Web boards : M/s D/s O&P : "advice on sleeping routine" advice on sleeping routine (9) This post is on the M/s D/s O&P web board. Wed 26 Oct 11, 9:52 AM 455-533-624 UK, 10 mths Master has wanted to get my sleeping routine under control as i work random hours or lates or night shifts when i am off work he wishes me to get up at a set time. i had been getting up at about 9am and going to sleep at about 2am when finishing an evening shift for months now, so Master says 8am should be fine for me(this was last week). i slept through my alarm within a couple of days so he reduced the time to 7am. this week i worked a night shift and then litrally woke up and went back to work again (7 hours gap between shifts) and today slept through the alarm of 7am. Master is unsure how to handle this as he doesnt want my lack of sleep to affect the house hold as well as my work where i need to be alert for the safety of elderly people. how would other Masters answer this? how would slaves rouse themselves earlier into a routine? thank you for advice and guidence 26 Oct 11, 10:26 AM Lord_Uther UK, 6 yrs 455-533-624 wrote: advice on sleeping routine Master has wanted to get my sleeping routine under control as i work random hours or lates or night shifts when i am off work he wishes me to get up at a set time. i had been getting up at about 9am and going to sleep at about 2am when finishing an evening shift for months now, so Master says 8am should be fine for me(this was last week). i slept through my alarm within a couple of days so he reduced the time to 7am. this week i worked a night shift and then litrally woke up and went back to work again (7 hours gap between shifts) and today slept through the alarm of 7am. Master is unsure how to handle this as he doesnt want my lack of sleep to affect the house hold as well as my work where i need to be alert for the safety of elderly people. how would other Masters answer this? how would slaves rouse themselves earlier into a routine? thank you for advice and guidence I work shift patterns & unsociable hours myself & as union health & safety rep I have looked into this a bit. I don't know if you're aware but when you are asleep your brain is actually more active than when you are awake pumping all the necessary chemicals your body needs into your system for the coming day. The body has evolved to a clockwork system where this happens at set times. So at 1am (a) happens, at 1.30 (b) happens etc. If you are not asleep at those times your brain doesn't wait until you are asleep, you just miss out on that days dose. Working nights etc plays a heavy toll on your body and from the RCN study that I read in the Nursing Times a few years back they estimate that it takes about 10 years off your life expectancy. IMO due to the nature of working unsociable hours it is important that the body gets whatever rest & recuperation that it can and if you're having problems getting up at a set time, making that time earlier is only going to have a detrimental effect on you, now & in the future. Your body needs what it needs and if you don't give it to it you will suffer physically & mentally. You are running on 'empty' alot of the time due to the nature of your work hours, and by cutting back on what sleep you do have there will be a price to pay. I agree with your Master that a routine is needed and as much of a routine as is possible with your rota should be set up but it should give you time to recover. If you usually have no problems getting up to your alarm clock & you're sleeping through it your body is telling you something & you'd better listen to it. My name is Lord Uther, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair! 26 Oct 11, 12:55 PM slave_emma US(OK), 6 yrs Y! I probably couldn't function well or be alert for an evening shift on 5 or 6 hours of sleep on a regular basis. I did that in college where I worked a swing shift; sometimes it would be over 24 hours before I would get to sleep. (My boss would schedule me to work 11 PM to 7 AM. Then I would have class in the morning and early afternoon, followed by another shift at work from 3 PM to 11 PM.) I took a lot of caffeine just to stay awake and I felt like I was in a daze. When I worked like that, I never used a snooze button on my alarm clock. When it went off once it was my time to get up. When I finally got a day off, I slept for about 12 hours. The lack of sleep did have a negative impact on my grades and job performance. That said I am not by any stretch of the imagination a morning person. This doesn't mean I am cranky in the morning but asking me to do a complex task in the morning is probably a bad idea. To wake myself up after a full night's rest. I shower, eat a full breakfast, and have a light workout. I would imagine that since your shift ends at the end of your day with that little of sleep you are probably running on fumes. If you are sleeping through your alarm clock that is your body's way of saying it needs more time to sleep. Reducing the amount of time you have to sleep is only going to make the problem worse. Here are a couple articles on sleep. The article from the APA is particularly interesting because it goes through the risk factors for lack of sleep. Each article does have a different recommended amount of sleep time. The Mayo Clinic says 7 to 9 hours and APA says it is an average of 8 hours, but the amount of sleep suggested is within the same range. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/how-many-hours-... http://www.apa.org/topics/sleep/why.aspx Best wishes, slave emma Master Howard's little girl 26 Oct 11, 2:03 PM SirStrict43 UK, 6 yrs I completely agree with Lord_Uther on this as I carried out studies on sleep routines when I was working with people with epilepsy [where regular sleep is extremely important for seizure control]. During waking hours, your body builds up a chemical called Adenosine and this when it reaches a certain level will make you feel more tired and thus sleep. Caffeine has an effect of blocking its action and thus is a 'sleep poison' so the less caffeine you ingest the more natural your sleep rythmn will be. Melatonin, a naturally occuring hormone also plays a vital role in the promotion of good sleep so a good balanced diet is also important to aid it's production and utilisation for sleep as well as many other functions. Most importantly when you feel sleepy - sleep but do not take power naps of longer than 15 minutes or your natural sleep routine will be disrupted further. SOS 26 Oct 11, 5:03 PM 455-533-624 UK, 10 mths thank you for the replies i will pass this on to Master i am a relief worker so get called in at all hours to do random shifts so sometimes i am workin a night and then get called in a few hours later but i try not to do that too often. i have seriously cut down on energy drinks and caffine also as to try and sleep more easuly after a shift but winding down can take me between 1-4 hours after shift also 26 Oct 11, 5:09 PM 766-003-205 US(CA), 11 mths Y! i used to work nights and i kept my schedule exactly the same even on days off. Being forced to switch back and forth is very dangerous for you driving, and since you have a responsible job it can also interfere with decisions which YOU will be held responsible for regardless of the lack of sleep etc. Perhaps you and your Master can review the schedule and predetermine the most consistent sleep schedule you can put together so your bedtimes and awake times are as close to the same as possible. The other option may be to get another job that is more "user friendly" if there is one in your area. Edited 26 Oct 11, 5:10 PM by 766-003-205 27 Oct 11, 10:06 AM 455-533-624 UK, 10 mths Master plans to read all this tonight and take all infomration and guidence into consideration but maybe it would be better regulating bedtime and wind down time so then i can get up easier and more to his wanting thank you all again 27 Oct 11, 7:49 PM slave_sarah56 UK, 3 yrs I work in the care world as well, my shifts are all over the place at the moment. At the moment I am working nights every three weeks, this started recently, and Master said if this continues He'll instruct me to look for another job. Has your Master considered you asking your employer to place you on a shift pattern which may be more easier for you, and suitable for your Master? or even considered you looking for another employer? sarah, SLRN 553-366-298 slave of Master Andrew 28 Oct 11, 9:22 AM 455-533-624 UK, 10 mths i work as a relief so get called in to cover random shifts if there is an emergency and there are illnesses etc so i dont get a shift pattern i can fall into which is why i get up all over the place and sleep at random times. this can also disrupt Master or we go days without seeing each other i dont drive, this job is a 10 min walk away and this job allows me to say no when i cant or am instructed not to work which is usually good i also plan on workin and doing other college courses in the evening next year and this job will work around college 31 Oct 11, 8:44 AM lil_one_anjuli 20 mths My Master does shifts and while in the 1st months i tried to stay awake when He was and sleep in the day when He slept it quickly lead to a breakage from my part. 1st months i couldnt sleep alone at His house. I was in an unknown country, unknown people, unknown city and in a strange house...with Him arriving at hours of the thieves Anyways...when i became more confident to be alone i talked about this issue. Would He want me awake when He returns at 5 am and wants a tea cup done? Would He want me to wake up at 4 am when He goes back to work and do His breakfast? I asked all these questions to Master and to my surprise He wants me well and sleep well....and well..."use me" when i sleep <blushes>. Most of the times i tend to wake up when He is arriving **yes my Master says i got the 6th sense*. I just stay in bed and if He doesnt call me i just stay where i am and go back to sleep. IMO i think it is your master that should readjust to your schedule and shifts.