Sleep is never an easy homework. Lunar new year has just ended and I recalled of Sharon Cheung’s suggestion to wish comrades and our elders to always enjoy their meals and have a good sleep. That means ditching the oft-mentioned Gong Hei Fatt Choy. This is such a practical idea.
I am not a good sleeper. During my university days, I used to sleep at 5 or 6am during summer vacation in Taipei. If I did not need to work, I would take Taipei Metro to go around places to make sure that I was tired enough to have a good sleep that night.
After I became a full-time freelance translator, I find it hard to sleep well when I always need to reply emails sent by foreign clients.
Other than Dr David Tsang’s suggestion to count five to ten sheep, I have some methods to get myself fall asleep. Sleep becomes difficult, if I have an idea before sleeping and do not write it down. If I wish to sleep well, I make sure that I write properly in the form of blog article, or put pen to paper to practise writing. A good sleep is possible after I let my ideas flow through writing.
Reading while listening to music is another method. I might feel energetic at the beginning, but I will eventually feel tried after reading for a long time. If I am reading an interesting book and delaying my sleep, experience taught me that I would continue reading until I feel tired before hitting the sack. Reading is good for improving sleeping quality and it makes me feel easier to wake up earlier the next day.
Walking, jogging and swimming are good for improving sleep quality. But we must not discount the possibility of feeling more energetic for a longer time after physical exercise. Waking up at a regular hour is a also good way, because human body functions in a pattern whereby we feel tired as our waking hours are getting longer.
I am writing this piece when Ukraine crisis seems to be getting worse when Russia is reportedly invading more places. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be a full-fledged war. And I wonder if this is a wish too much to ask for.
睡眠可以說是一門非常不容易的功課。農曆新年剛剛過去，我就想起張寶華說與其祝賀別人恭喜發財，還不如恭賀同齡人或長輩「食得落、瞓得好」。真的非常實用。
我屬於不容易入睡的人。大學時代曾經每逢臺北夏天就可以到了清晨五、六點鐘才睡得著，遇上不需要打工的日子，一早吃了早餐就搭捷運在臺北一直走路閒晃，到了晚上擔保非常疲累可以很早入睡。開始全職自由接案的譯者人生之後，常常因為半夜要回覆客戶的電郵，往往弄得自己無法入睡。
除了曾繁光醫生建議數五至十個綿羊的方法，我自己也有幾個方法讓自己可以入睡。身為一個文字愛好者，如果睡前有一個想法沒有好好寫出來，那天晚上一定無法入眠。想要好好睡的話，就務必將自己的想法好好寫一寫，部落格文章也好、提筆寫字當作練習書寫也好，抒發過想法之後大概就可以好好睡一覺了。
另一個方法就是聽音樂看書。這方法一開始當然會覺得有些精神，但是看書看得久了，總是會覺得累的。若讀一本自己很喜歡的書而延遲了睡眠時間，我的經驗是讀累了才睡覺反而好睡，而且品質不錯，第二天很容易就可以早一些醒來。
常常步行、跑步、游泳也是有助於提升睡眠品質的方法，但是必須注意運動後反而更長時間覺得很精神的情況。固定早一些醒來也是另一個方法，畢竟我們身體的機器運作就是，清醒的時間愈長，我們就覺得愈疲累。
寫著這一篇文章之際，烏俄危機愈演愈烈，我不知道抱著不要爆發全面戰爭的希望入睡是不是一個很奢侈的願望。