Dear LPG,  

I read one of your articles which had a lot to say about that compulsion to nod off at the most embarrassing of times (►►►).  Firstly, it made me smile, but then I started to think about the one thing that makes me feel equally as guilty.   
I manage to keep awake when it matters.  At what most would call the right times, I have no problem being present in body and mind, and I do get my sleep at night, but I have a different problem and I wonder how many others are guilty of it.    

I have to admit to having become a bit of a time-squanderer.  I get up every morning with a pre-plan for the day and I spend a lot of them out with friends and doing all kinds of things which keep me so busy, but when I have an at-home day, things change.  

We all need them or else how would we organise and keep the place tidy?  I am a meticulous planner but it takes very little inspiration to put a spanner in my timetable’s works.  For instance, I will find myself at the ‘sort the washing and get it into the machine’ hour of my planned day, doing what everyone else does to start with.  I will be sorting the ‘coloureds’ from the ‘whites’ as you do, when a song on the radio or an advert on the telly will stop me in my tracks.  I put it down to having a vivid imagination, because mine needs very little distraction to just enjoy the moment even though I know that I have things to do and a schedule to keep to.  A few minutes of thinking so quickly turn into the best part of an hour when I get started, while I sometimes just get lost in a film or even watching something that is going on outside my front room window, or sometimes with my mind doing the imagining all by itself. 

I do drive, although not very far these days, and once I get home I often find myself feeling so cosy and comfortable in the car that I can spend more than half an hour just watching the world go by before remembering what I have planned for when I get indoors, and making the effort to get back to reality. 

I honestly feel as guilty as IB although for very different reasons.  I am the original daydreamer and now that I can indulge my really bad habit without worrying about needing to work and get paid, even though my conscience does register the time I am wasting, I think that the consequences of wasting it are not serious enough for me to change.   

I don’t think I am lazy but I know I could do so much more if I did not give into my daydreaming habit so much; but I suppose for me, wasting all the time that I do, is my way of relaxing my mind.   

The internet says that relaxation is as important as sleeping so I don’t feel so bad about it   

I took a look at the internet to see what it had to say about the difference between sleep, rest and relaxation and I found a lot of different theories but nearly everything I read agreed that they are all equally as important as each other.  A good old-fashioned night’s sleep is vital but the other two states have different effects on your mind, spirit and body depending on which theory you listen to.  From what I can gather, sleep and rest are really good for rejuvenating the body, but the mind is busy dreaming all the way through those processes anyway, while relaxing can reduce stress if you are lucky enough to be able to indulge. 

Result; after a little bit of research, I don’t feel as lazy as I used to…  

TI. Sydenham 

 

TI, shares what she has found…

 

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