S.A.D. resolutions: one week on
Well, let's have a gander at my resolutions regarding how to deal with the SADs and see how it's all going so far.
"1. I will get up in accordance with the sunrise alarm clock, unless I am actually sick, and I will not go back to bed."
Mostly this has gone pretty well. There has been a small amount of sleeping in, but not enough to throw out my body clock, so definite improvement there.
"2. I will give the Magic Blue Light a fair chance of at least half an hour in the morning."
This has been less consistent. Sometimes I don't get up early enough to deal with it, but I think I managed some good blue light action on about five of the last seven days (and yes, "blue light action" does sound dodgy, but then, I am easily amused, so I'm leaving it). I have noticed that if I follow up the sunrise clock with the Magic Blue Light, it helps shake off the morning fog so that I don't just crawl back into bed (assuming it's a work from home day) or spend the train ride whimpering in exhaustion.
"3. I will try to crawl out of my hermitlike shell and catch up with people."
My dance card was pretty fully on Wednesday, and I have actually voluntarily contacted people to catch up and responded to invitations to catch up, so I'm calling this a tentative win.
"4. I will go to bed at a sensible hour (lights out by 10:30pm) except where this conflicts with #3."
Lights out by 10:30pm has not been a raging success BUT I think I managed lights out by (or at) 11:00pm at least four nights in the last week. Maybe five. So I haven't kept the resolution but I have improved the relevant habit.
"5. I will stick to my exercise schedule except where it conflicts with #3 (for the curious, my schedule is: Running: Sun, Tue, Thurs; Weights: Wed, Sat; Pilates: Mon; Day off: Friday)."
This has been great (so far)! Sometimes the days get switched around, but my new hardcore weights program (which is much MUCH shorter than what I used to do) gives me a lot more flexibility with how I arrange my time, and I've also pushed my running intervals out to 90 seconds, AND I can now do more running intervals in a half hour period without injuring myself.
So I have not sunken down into a depressive S.A.D. funk in the last week even though I have felt it nipping at my heels occasionally, and largely that's because I've been keeping myself busy and managing it appropriately. All the light therapy and circadian rhythm stuff and exercise has made a big difference. Whether I can sustain this throughout the winter is another matter, but I'm cautiously optimistic.
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"1. I will get up in accordance with the sunrise alarm clock, unless I am actually sick, and I will not go back to bed."
Mostly this has gone pretty well. There has been a small amount of sleeping in, but not enough to throw out my body clock, so definite improvement there.
"2. I will give the Magic Blue Light a fair chance of at least half an hour in the morning."
This has been less consistent. Sometimes I don't get up early enough to deal with it, but I think I managed some good blue light action on about five of the last seven days (and yes, "blue light action" does sound dodgy, but then, I am easily amused, so I'm leaving it). I have noticed that if I follow up the sunrise clock with the Magic Blue Light, it helps shake off the morning fog so that I don't just crawl back into bed (assuming it's a work from home day) or spend the train ride whimpering in exhaustion.
"3. I will try to crawl out of my hermitlike shell and catch up with people."
My dance card was pretty fully on Wednesday, and I have actually voluntarily contacted people to catch up and responded to invitations to catch up, so I'm calling this a tentative win.
"4. I will go to bed at a sensible hour (lights out by 10:30pm) except where this conflicts with #3."
Lights out by 10:30pm has not been a raging success BUT I think I managed lights out by (or at) 11:00pm at least four nights in the last week. Maybe five. So I haven't kept the resolution but I have improved the relevant habit.
"5. I will stick to my exercise schedule except where it conflicts with #3 (for the curious, my schedule is: Running: Sun, Tue, Thurs; Weights: Wed, Sat; Pilates: Mon; Day off: Friday)."
This has been great (so far)! Sometimes the days get switched around, but my new hardcore weights program (which is much MUCH shorter than what I used to do) gives me a lot more flexibility with how I arrange my time, and I've also pushed my running intervals out to 90 seconds, AND I can now do more running intervals in a half hour period without injuring myself.
So I have not sunken down into a depressive S.A.D. funk in the last week even though I have felt it nipping at my heels occasionally, and largely that's because I've been keeping myself busy and managing it appropriately. All the light therapy and circadian rhythm stuff and exercise has made a big difference. Whether I can sustain this throughout the winter is another matter, but I'm cautiously optimistic.
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