Bridge The Gap

A consequence of getting up properly in the morning, as I hope I am still doing by the time you read this, is that you experience a drop in energy in mid-afternoon rather than six in the morning (at which time you finally get to bed). Knowing this, I finally understand the quandary described by those poorly-made commercials for little tiny energy drinks that often run when I am watching television programming for "the youth segment".

The natural impulse is to take a nap. Naps have always been trouble for me. I can't do some twenty minute cat nap. That's really not productive for me, although I've heard other others getting good results. They probably don't have the anxiety issues that I have when they start upon that nap. I can't take a nap unless I can afford to stay asleep until such time as I wake up naturally. That could be hours, you see?

In any event, a nap is perhaps not the best thing to do. A friend is a proponent of powering through that lull, and believes that even without a nap you will come through the other side of that dead spot with energy restored. Maybe you're not the most productive during that time, but there's a fair chance of accomplishing something when you're not chasing after a few minutes of REM sleep in a chair with a hat over your face.

That works pretty well, I find. I feel like I could die at about 4pm, but it's funny how 11pm comes around, and I can hardly sleep to save my life, absence a strong dose of ether. I think that the key there is to start coasting so that you come to a natural rest at your intended finishing point. Likewise, you hopefully awake naturally when you want to wake up instead of being torn from sleep by an alarm, which does you no favors, but all of that is another subject with which I will bore you another day. I trust that you'll be adequately bored by this one today.