Sleep observations

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While I was in Boston, I had no trouble sleeping. On those occasions where I wanted to stay up beyond my natural bedtime (2a), I had minimal success. The artificial lighting conditions varied between bright and dim without much difference in how sleepy I felt. The matress (and couch, and futon, for those instances where I zonked out before I could get to bed) that I slept on wasn't that much better than the one I'd left behind. The room wasn't particularly darker, and in any case I did/do have a good eyemask to take care of that.

Now I'm back in Phoenix. I still have a good eyemask, and I'm now sleeping on a better matress. I ache less in general... but I have trouble sleeping regularly or reliably, just like before I left. I'm not sure if it's the "blindingly bright until Late" part or the very brief period of dusk at this latitude, or some combination of both.

I've put my lights on timers so they turn themselves off in phases for the few hours before I plan to sleep. It helps a little, but isn't magic.

Comments

[copperwolf.livejournal.com]

What about the temperature of the room?

[403]

I have a fully functional air conditioner in this apartment, so I'm no longer waking up due to being too hot.

[reflectedimages]

Have you checked the difference in humidity between the locations. Also, the room/surroundings colorations may have something to do with it.

Of course, there is the mental question of comfort. Psychologically, are you more tense than in Boston, due to the environment or other things.

The problem is, there is quite a lot that could be leading to state difference.

[403]

Boston is usually more humid, but not always during the Phoenix late-summer monsoons. Room surroundings have been uniformly bare white walls, and clutter.

I've had a variety of stress levels while living in the Phoenix metro area and in Boston. In the latter case, working on the project report that ate Manhattan was pretty stressful, yet I still fell asleep between 02:00 and 03:00, whether I wanted to or not. (For that matter, whether zeightyfiv was trying to keep me awake or not.)

I tend to default to the same kind of lifestyle regardless of where I'm living at the time. Although not intended, it makes for decent experimental control.