Why I want a duvet cocoon...

Do you ever notice how time just dribbles past when you want the day to move on?

I'm normally a fan of Fridays, the weekend is just around the corner, its the one chance to get all your work finalised ready for a fresh working week come Monday.  But this Friday, the whole day has been like walking though sludge.

I don't know if the Hubby and I are still pulling ourselves together from last week, but the effort of simply getting out of the bed this morning was a challenge.  We both snoozed the alarms (we have three), we rolled over, we flipped back the covers, we even got as far as sitting up... but our energy levels remained rock bottom.   We flopped around on top of the duvet for a good 20 minutes, before I dragged myself to the bathroom.  I was even weighing up whether I could get away without any makeup, just to squeeze an extra 5 minutes from my wannabe-lie-in.

And that's just followed me throughout the day.

I'm happy to keep working - I've got lots to do, plenty to keep me busy, but I keep dreaming of building a duvet-nest under my desk, snuggling down propping my laptop on my lap and working in a fluffy cocoon.  Hardly professional though.  And I'm sure my colleagues would soon be jealous.

Maybe I'm simply craving some space, some downtime where my thoughts are my own?  Some people might interpret my desire to hide away is me putting up emotional walls, but I don't think that's the case.  I used to write poetry as a teenager (who didn't), and I was always inspired by night - even if it wasn't the topic of my writing, curled up in bed was always when my thoughts moved most freely.  For the last week or so I've read a lot about how I should be feeling, and even before that people have been offering advice on what to do, or how to be.  My body still isn't my own, it's settling back into it's own rhythms, and so I suspect I want something to be wholly mine...

How do you claim time for yourself?

Trying to get some shut-eye.

I love my eye mask.

I don't know if it's excitment, nerves, or simply the hormones pinwheeling around my body, but for the last few weeks I've really struggled to sleep.

Not fall asleep, that's easy enough, (my head hits the pillow and I'm gone) it's the staying asleep. I toss and turn. I fling the covers left and right. I'm too hot. I'm too cold. I had really vivid dreams...

My poor Hubby is already threatening to go and sleep in the spare bed (he has to attempt to wrestle the duvet from my vice-like grip if I go to bed before him), - he doesn't like disturbing me to reclaim a sliver of matress, but apparently I make it quite clear that I want the entire king sized bed to myself...

I suspect this is the start of a long sleep-deprived journey.  No matter how early I hit the hay I still wake up tired... But then we dug out my eye mask. It doesn't stop the tossing and turning. Nor does it prevent me claiming/rejecting all the duvet. But what it does do is give me more time to sleep.

I stumble into bed shattered, and I wake up only slightly rested. Clearly the flinging myself around the mattress all night isn't conducive to a good night's sleep.  But, at least with my eye mask, I can trick my body into thinking it's still night and grab a few extra hours of dozing.

Shame this morning my beauty sleep was interuptted by some very loud builders outside our window. Maybe I should invest in some ear plugs...

What tricks and tips do you have for getting a good night's sleep?