- \n
![\"Sooner](\"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/sleeping-man2-300x130.jpg\" "\\"sleeping")
<\/a><\/dt>\n- Sooner or later, you must sleep!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
We can make one assumption safely, however. You must eventually sleep. If you don’t proactively decide when to sleep, you will fall asleep at the worst possible time, according to Murphy’s Law. This is one of the most troubling scenarios to the single person in an unsafe environment, so if that\u2019s your scenario, you better find a place to hole up. But for most of us, we will have someone in the area we can trust to not plunder (or worse) while we sleep. And in that case, the goal will be at least a few (ideally several) hours of rejuvenating, uninterrupted unconsciousness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Tips For Quality Sleep<\/h2>\n
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- Darkness will help. When I was in Army basic training, I was sleep-deprived like everyone else. One day on KP (Kitchen Patrol), things slowed down temporarily at the pots and pans station where I had been busy scrubbing bacon grease and other gunk off of large trays, and I took the opportunity to crawl under the sink, curl up and crash out for about an hour. It wasn\u2019t as nice as a full night\u2019s sleep, but it was better than nothing. And since I was so tired, I didn\u2019t even notice that the bricks I lay on were hard, cold and damp, and that the pans getting cleaned in the stainless steel sink above me were clanging loudly. Darkness is all I needed at that point.<\/li>\n
- Another option that may help in your situation is a simple sleeping mask, especially if you\u2019ve used one before and aren\u2019t going to be distracted by something touching your eye area as you sleep. I remember many times after a 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM night shift, when I\u2019d get home and put a large (and clean) sock over my eyes to help block out the light as I drifted away. A sleeping mask would have stayed on better.<\/li>\n
- A quiet environment will certainly help get you an extended chunk of sleep time. A surefire way to help with that: earplugs. I carry a pair in my backpack, so they\u2019re around every time I travel. It\u2019s not often I encounter unexpected, continuous noise, so that\u2019s not my concern. But being able to shut out the world and sleep is a big deal. They\u2019re small, inexpensive, and easy to find in bulk. Make sure you find a brand that fits comfortably, or you may wake up too early because they fell out, or because your ears are getting sore.<\/li>\n
- Along those lines, a cool environment will probably help too. Although it\u2019s probably not likely you\u2019ll have all of your common climate control options available in a real disaster, if you have the option to sleep in an environment that\u2019s about 68 degrees F, you\u2019ll probably sleep better than at 75 or 55 degrees.<\/li>\n
- Take some ibuprofen (Advil) or acetaminophen (Tylenol). Not the the \u201cPM\u201d kind (like Tylenol PM), which contain antihistamines (which can cause undesirable side effects, especially if used repeatedly). All the little aches and pains you picked up during the day will be relieved and allow you to rest more comfortably. They might not seem significant as you doze off, but they may prevent you from really relaxing for an extended time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
If You Want to Sleep, Avoid These:<\/h2>\n
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- Alcohol may help you feel drowsy, but after you process the alcohol, you will probably go through an alert phase, and unless you\u2019re really drunk (which is not a good idea, because drunkenness and subsequent hangover are also not helpful in an emergency situation), you\u2019ll probably wake up long before you get as much rest as you need.<\/li>\n
- As stated above, antihistamines like Tylenol PM, while they may cause drowsiness, aren\u2019t a great approach. Other sleeping medications (unless prescribed) probably should be considered only as a last resort.<\/li>\n
- Caffeine (coffee, tea, soda, \u201cNoDoz\u201d, etc.) consumed within a couple hours of when you need to sleep will decrease your sleep quality, if you\u2019re able to get to sleep at all. The same applies for nicotine in cigarettes, depending on how you\u2019re addicted (since it relaxes at some times and stimulates at others).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What Can You Do Now, and What Can You Stock Up On?<\/h2>\n
Ensuring you are able to get to sleep after a disaster, short-term emergency, or even a stressful day is critical for your mental and physical well-being. Consider these options as part of your planning.<\/p>\n
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- Be healthy and fit now<\/strong>. Healthy people who exercise regularly sleep better than those who don\u2019t. Fitness is money in the bank.<\/li>\n
- Get enough sleep now<\/strong>, so you\u2019re not in a deficit when the major stress hits. Get it while the going is good!<\/li>\n
- Buy some earplugs, a sleeping mask, and a bottle of ibuprofen or acetaminophen<\/strong> (which you should already have).<\/li>\n
- Test<\/strong> your sleeping mask and test your earplugs at night. See if you need to try something different. Don’t wait until you’re stressed out to test your plan.<\/li>\n
- If you\u2019re concerned your bedroom may not be available when you need it, get a cot and try sleeping on it one night<\/strong>. If you don\u2019t lose your bedroom, a guest who gets to use it will thank you profusely.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
We all think about shelter, food, water, and other \u201cbasics\u201d in a disaster preparedness context, but also make sure you give some thought to how you\u2019ll maintain your sanity! You can thank me later. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Stay safe!<\/p>\n
Andrew, AB8L<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Is sleeping part of your disaster plan? I’ll bet it\u2019s not. Of course we can\u2019t predict when we\u2019ll be able to sleep in a life-or-death or otherwise high-stress situation. But we will all need to sleep eventually,\u00a0so how will you ensure you’re able to get a minimum amount of rest? Effects of Sleep Deprivation We … Continue reading Your Disaster Sleep Plan<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-preparedness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":835,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608\/revisions\/835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Get enough sleep now<\/strong>, so you\u2019re not in a deficit when the major stress hits. Get it while the going is good!<\/li>\n
- Be healthy and fit now<\/strong>. Healthy people who exercise regularly sleep better than those who don\u2019t. Fitness is money in the bank.<\/li>\n
- Sooner or later, you must sleep!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
![\"Sooner](\"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/sleeping-man2.jpg\" "\\"sleeping")
<\/a><\/dt>\n