Sleep and a Positive Attitude

Day 2. Just south of Seymoure Narrows

Before crew-up date arrived, my mind begins to go into packing mode. A few days prior to leaving home, I began to think about what needs to take place at home before I leave, what needs to be packed and what did I forget and mean to bring on the last trip. I start my to-do list and somehow everything comes together. The one thing that I neglect to think about is sleep.

Driving from Sacramento to Seattle is a 12-13 hour endeavor. I would fly if I were simply heading north for work, but since I'll be attending school for the month of February, I needed my car and therefore drove.

I left Sacramento around 6:30, stopped in Portland to have dinner with friends, and then arrived at the boat late Thursday evening. I unpacked and grabbed some sleep, but tossed and turned a little, most likely from all the coffee I consumed during the drive.

Friday morning rolled around pretty early and I went on the clock at 8:30 to begin the grocery process. All said and done, with groceries, getting underway, making tow and everything in between, it was a 15 hour day.

Typically, a 15 hour day is not a problem for me, I've been known to stay up 30+ hours, working, driving, etc, but for some reason, my lack of adequate rest during this first day, put me in a funk. I kept thinking, "it's Friday, why am I here and not home with the family", "this trip is going to suck", etc.. Just a bunch of non-sense negativity. I'm typically pretty positive and do my best to make the best of any situation, but I couldn't snap out of it and it was pretty damn depressing.

After finally making tow, getting underway and securing the deck, it was 23:30. I went straight to bed, knowing that only 3-4 hours of sleep wasn't going to fix my head. The 4 hour morning watch was tough, couldn't stop yawning and day dreaming about my pillow. When 08:00 finally rolled around and I was able to take a full 8 hours off, sleep came and I took full advantage of it, getting in at least 7.5 hours of shuteye. When I got up around 15:15 to come on watch, I had a completely different mindset. The funk was gone, as was the negativity that was ruining my demeanor. I was finally back to being myself and getting on with my day, embracing change and focusing on the positive things in life.

I began to think back about the past 48 hours and soon realized that my lack of good rest is probably the main culprit.

In retrospect, I realize that my attitude is directly related to the amount of rest I get. Switching from a normal at-home schedule to a 4 on-8 off watch rotation also takes a day or so to adapt to, which can be taxing on the body and more importantly, the mind.

Get some rest so the world can be a better place. :-)

 

Posted with Blogsy