• 2008-02-26 5pm
• 2008-02-26 6pm

Pardon me starting about 5 minutes late this time. Capstone poster prep got the better of me that afternoon.

It started with a late start and lingering end to an outing I went on yesterday which finished with me getting home mid-afternoon with little energy from lack of sleep. I spent a short amount of time catching up on reading, watched a little of the Super Bowl, grabbed dinner, had my morning shower (late), decided to nap but failed, had an unsuccessful coffee run, then had a meeting where I was completely belligerent. I’ll stop my rant of daily activities here.

There is a distinct mental state that tends to fall into place following lack of sleep, broken eating schedules, malnutrition (including over-caffination), and the general feeling of being unaccomplished. When in this mental state any and every event that takes place, if not initiated personally, feels completely awkward no matter what it is. Not only does my brain move slow like molasses, but what comes out of each thinking spurt seems incomplete and off-topic. It’s quite a frustrating place to be.

The obvious solution is to do a “reset”. If I get back on a proper sleep schedule, eat normal again, and start to conquer small tasks it should be easy to get back into the groove. And that’s just what I’ll do. I can’t be the only person to experience these completely frustrating and seemingly unfixable situations, am I? People say this builds up from stress and over-working but I really don’t feel like I’ve over-worked myself the last couple days — but then again, maybe my standards for over-working are skewed.

I do have to mention, though, that since quitting diet soda a few months ago these occurrances have diminished dramatically. I’ve also made a conscious effort to get back onto a semi-regular schedule to avoid these situations. Oh, and I’ve also just purchased a sweet new thinking aide.

I’m going to go to sleep (after I finish this blog entry) because I want to be cautious about the possible side effects of skipping even one night of sleep. In fact, after reading I may be causing more damage than I think by maintaining a volatile sleep schedule.

I’ve recently become more and more self-conscious about my mental health and progressively adjusting my lifestyle and decisions to help my body and mind stay as fit and problem-free as possible. There are so many other things in this life that can and will stand as external, unavoidable speed bumps causing me to lose time, concentration, and emotional stability that it only makes sense to work hard preserving my body as best as I personally can.

I say this as a person who does not live anywhere near an optimal lifestyle in terms of health. I do not do drugs or over consume foods with large quantities of unhealthy ingredients nor do I exercise really at all. I don’t consider myself an unhealthy person, but rather an “average” person that has a lot to improve upon.

I’ve never done well jumping into new responsibilities or habits without a considerable transition period. I find it difficult to go cold turkey or make sudden changes in my life so I take it easy and change slowly, but in the right direction.

Here’s to a (post new years) resolution to every day make at least a some amount of progress towards a better physical, mental, and emotional health.