For three decades I worked as a programmer, mainly developing web apps using the ColdFusion language.
I got started in the wild west days of the early World Wide Web. Back when HTML was the main way you put together a website. Back when CSS was just getting started. Back when Javascript had to be coded separately for Netscape Navigator and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
Things changed on a daily basis back then. Things that worked the day before were changed overnight, and you had to rush to make changes to your website to keep up so it would still work in the new browsers. But you also had to make sure it still worked in the old browsers because not everyone was adopting the latest cutting-edge tech.
It made for a lot of nights with little sleep. I was always trying to stay on top of things. I felt like I was running at full-speed and still falling behind. I only got four to five hours of sleep a night. Programming didn’t change pace for most of the time I was in the field.
To say I’m still sleep deprived is not an exaggeration. It seems that you can catch up on sleep, but you can’t ‘store up’ sleep. You can’t take a nap when you’re fully rested and save it for later that night to make up for any sleep you may lose.
These days I may wake up several times each night. Sometimes I get a nasty leg cramp, usually when it is cold outside and the house inside tends to be cooler. Sometimes my legs jerk, which wakes me up. Sometimes the dogs get startled by something outside and bark. Sometimes Sirocco gets me up at 3:00 AM. I always get up if one of the dogs has a problem in the middle of the night because I never know if one of them has to pee and needs out. Sometimes I need to pee.
I’m often up early too. I work out or try to get caught up on projects. And if I’m not up by 7:00 AM the dogs make sure I get up to take them out for walks. They whine at the bedroom door to get me up. Much better than how my dog Roscoe used to get me up. He’d stick his cold wet nose in my armpit. That was a rude awakening the first time he did it. Heck, it was a rude awakening every time he did it.
I’ve only recently gotten back to the point where I sleep deeply enough to hit REM sleep and dream. I don’t always remember my dreams, but I do know I’ve been dreaming overnight.
I’m hoping that the deep sleep trend continues. I find I function better when I can get some decent sleep.
If you’d like to support my efforts, why not buy me a chocolate chip cookie through my Ko-Fi page? https://ko-fi.com/jhusum