Wouldn’t it be nice to sit down, watch some TV, maybe read a book - and when it’s time to go to bed actually be able to fall asleep without waiting for hours?? The “Tired Button” simply isn’t enough anymore…

Lately I have once again started to contribute to society, and to do that I have gotten a job! Naturally it comes with all the perks, like a salary and something to do during the day. So it’s a pretty good deal if you ask me! Unfortunately, it comes along with a strange need to get there. For some reason the people at CIBC didn’t consider that when they started up their company! Well to put it simply, I need to catch the GO Train every morning to commute with countless others into the city, all the way from Whitby, Ontario. The train ride takes about 40-minutes (since I get an express) but in order to get to the train on time I have to be awake by 5:30am. Now THAT is a serious issue. Before getting this job I became accustomed to sleeping in until 10am, 9am at the absolute least. That means I am getting up 3 and a half hours earlier, every morning! Let’s just say that translates into me being very tired at particular times of the day. However, no matter how tired I am, I can never get to sleep.

My tiredness seems to operate like this - I wake up early in the morning, and am incredible tired to the point of having to struggle to get out of bed. I am then fine after breakfast and a shower, and then I head off to work. I then start to feel a little groggy mid afternoon, especially when there’s no work to be done. Once I leave work I am fine again. Then I don’t get tired until around 10pm. So, naturally I occasionally choose to go to bed around that time! The logical thought process behind this would be, since I am feeling tired at 10pm, maybe I should go to bed at 10pm. It never works. Generally, by the time I am ready to go to bed, I am awake again, and then I spend a good hour lying in bed thinking, “this sucks”, or, “what a waste of time…” EVENTUALLY I get to sleep, but it is incredibly inconvenient to not be able to fall asleep instantly. Especially when I wake up tired in the morning! It doesn’t make sense. Throughout the day, suddenly out of no where I have an overwhelming urge to close my eyes and sleep - as if someone had hit a button, a tired button. But at night, that person is on a coffee break!! In the end, though, I think it has something to do with the getting ready for bed process. When I start to think that I am tired, I am generally sitting around doing nothing. But when I get ready for bed, I am up and moving. Hence, I have come to the conclusion that it must be the activity - my body has realised that something is happening and has decided that it should send some energy my way, to get me through. That energy doesn’t get used, and hence I stay awake.

This becomes especially evident when the following occurs:

I am ready for bed, all the preparation is done. I am lying in bed watching TV, all rugged up and ready to go to sleep. I decide that what I’m watching sucks and I’m extremely tired anyway, so I reach over, pick up the remote and turn the TV off………… And I’m perfectly awake.

I have had enough of the tired button, it gets pushed throughout the day. I want more. I am sorry but it is simply infuriating! When, oh Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms Scientist… (have to be all inclusive there to be politically correct) … when will you invent the sleep button that’s not on a computer!?