Zzzzz.....

As I was rudely reminded last night, tossing and turning while I tried to get a good night's sleep before my interview, I am not a good sleeper. Actually, I usually have an ok night once I fall asleep. What I'm really bad at is falling asleep. Several conditions need to be met before I can fall asleep (yes, I have a minor case of OCD):

1. Caffeine consumption must end around noon, at the latest.

2. I need to have worked out at some point in the day, but not too soon before bed.

3. I MUST read before bed, preferably a mystery novel. If I don't read, too many random thoughts float around in my brain with no real direction, driving me crazy. If I do read, I at least focus my thoughts and will maybe fall asleep thinking about character development or some little plot point.

4. I need to have a fan on, but not pointed at me, to provide white noise.

5. The room needs to be exactly the right temperature. When I lived in SB and we refused to turn on the heat, it was often about 50 degrees in the apartment at night (that's actually not an exaggeration), so I'd sleep in my backpacking mummy sack.

6. I need to have a pillow over my head to block out all light. On especially bad nights, I also wear a stocking cap down over my eyes. Those little masks don't work for me unless I use a pillow too. I like the weight of it on my eyes. Yes, I'm very strange.

7. I need to be alone. Not just alone in bed, actually alone in the room and preferably the apartment. I do not sleep well when I share a hotel room or tent with someone. I tend to toss and turn a lot, and then I worry that I'm keeping the other person awake. So I try to stay still, but that makes me even more uncomfortable...

8. I can't be stressed out about ANYTHING. Last night, all the other criteria were met, but because I was worried about the interview I didn't fall asleep until after 3 and didn't sleep well even then.

Grrr... Sometimes if I'm REALLY tired and/or drunk I can fall asleep a little easier, but those aren't foolproof either and occasionally make things worse. I really need to learn how to sleep. It can be quite a problem.