Good morning; are you ready for some T time?

Three quick questions to start:

1. How many words begin with the letter T? Stop counting or looking for the dictionary. You will be pleased to know I am writing about only two of these today.

2. What is the difference between the words ‘Time’ and ‘Tired’?

Answer………. Just one letter. (five less four)

3. What is the connection between them?

Answer……….TIE.

I have tied them together as they both have a part to play in MH matters.

Lets consider TIME first.

Our lives are broken down into small sections called days. Every day we have a choice of how we use the time. This is commonly called time management. (Many years ago when I worked in an office environment it was ‘flavour of the month’ for a while.)

I suppose most people like to make the most of their available time. At certain times in our lives we probably feel we have insufficient time. I remember when I had a demanding full time job and 4 mouths to feed. Now I am many years into retirement so I have more choice about how I spend my time. Either way we like to feel we make the best use of our available time.

Of course, the amount of time available depends on our health. Certainly poor MH can make us feel TIRED, sometimes exhausted. I have always been able to take a short daytime nap but this has become accentuated during the last 18 months. I had a period of around three months just over 12 months ago when this became a real nuisance. Every few hours I became so tired I would lie down and sleep for about an hour. For several weeks my daily number of sleep hours was between 15 and 17.

Now I still take several breaks every day so I need to make the most of the time between the breaks. I think it is better for our feelings and emotions if we concentrate our thoughts on what we do achieve rather than on the things we have not done. This helps us to manage any feelings of guilt we may have because we take breaks.

Sometimes when we are feeling tired it is difficult deciding when to take a rest. Do we force ourselves to keeping going until all tasks are completed? Alternatively we can take a break for a specified time and then complete our work. Personally I usually opt for the latter particularly if there is no time pressure.

It is well established that poor MH causes fatigue. I think we must accept the need to give our minds sufficient rest. All part of being kind to ourselves. Self compassion.

When I had nearly finished this Post I came across an article about ‘power naps’. It was based on a book written by Brice Faraut called ‘Saved by the Siesta’. He advocates these naps as a tonic for sleep deprivation. Might be worth a read.

Have you got the Time to be Tired?

Teg

A Moodscope member.

PS ; Oh, I’ve just thought of a third “T” word…….. Teg!