Want to know why November sucks?
November should be a great month. If you're in North America, you've always got Thanksgiving, and for the rest of the world, there's NaNoWriMo and "hey, next month is Christmas!"
But we go from glorious autumnal colours and warm weather to bare trees, rain and fog and frost and definitely no sun. Cold and dark. Granted, it hasn't been that cold here in the UK yet - we've only had one morning of frost, and that was in October - but dark? Yeah. Turned the clocks back 30 October and been suffering ever since.
My NaNo started out quite well, I was ahead by about 1200 words. And then November caught up with me.
Even if I go to sleep at a reasonable time in the evening, I'm really tired in the morning. My mum would chime in here, saying "that's when you bring your light out!" which is fair enough, but for that, you have to actually get out of bed in the first place and have the time to sit in front of it for at least a few minutes. Which you don't if you've only reluctantly managed to haul yourself out of bed in time for getting ready quickly and then heading out the door because you need to get to work on time. (Something that has failed all week, because traffic has been surprisingly bad, which doesn't help when you're running slightly late to begin with.)
The problem I have is that when my body doesn't get enough rest - and it requires a lot, for which I blame being Highly Sensitive (our bodies get run down quicker and it takes us longer to recuperate) - I don't just get lethargic and can't muster the energy to do anything useful, I also get colds. I can feel one coming on now, brilliant.
Add to that the fact that the shorter days makes me eat more, because my body is going all cavewoman and wants to stock up for the winter, and apparently a side effect of my allergy pills is also "increased appetite", and I do have to keep taking those things every once in a while or I itch like crazy.
Haven't written anything on my NaNovel since the 7th, and I'm now (counting today) 5456 words behind. Hooray. And because I feel like a washed out dishrag, I can't muster the energy to open Word and type anything, because I just feel bleh over what I'm supposed to write about. Which in turn is getting me down, and seeing as how I also tend to turn the depression taps on when I haven't had enough rest, GUESS HOW I FEEL!
Well, I guess that's why they call it "winter depression". Not that it's making me any happier to know that.
I hope that I can try to pick up a bit with my NaNovel, because I do want to write that story ... albeit not in its current format - I really should have thought of this before November. But still, if I can get it down on paper, I'll worry about making it the way I want in the editing phase, because I'll have to re-write it anyway then.
I also hope that things will improve on the 21st, when I no longer will have to drive out to Derby every morning, which means I can sleep in for maybe half an hour or so, and then plonk myself in front of said daylight lamp for most of the morning, should I feel like it. My central nervous system can also chillax a bit, not having the added overstimulation of being in a busy office with lots of people around.
Back to just me and the cat. My central nervous system is looking forward to my new job as much as I am myself, and I bet Daisy is going to be chuffed when she can get on-demand cuddles during the day again. So yeah, things are looking up. But right now, I want to crawl into bed with a hot water bottle and sleep.
Wake me up when November ends?
But we go from glorious autumnal colours and warm weather to bare trees, rain and fog and frost and definitely no sun. Cold and dark. Granted, it hasn't been that cold here in the UK yet - we've only had one morning of frost, and that was in October - but dark? Yeah. Turned the clocks back 30 October and been suffering ever since.
My NaNo started out quite well, I was ahead by about 1200 words. And then November caught up with me.
Even if I go to sleep at a reasonable time in the evening, I'm really tired in the morning. My mum would chime in here, saying "that's when you bring your light out!" which is fair enough, but for that, you have to actually get out of bed in the first place and have the time to sit in front of it for at least a few minutes. Which you don't if you've only reluctantly managed to haul yourself out of bed in time for getting ready quickly and then heading out the door because you need to get to work on time. (Something that has failed all week, because traffic has been surprisingly bad, which doesn't help when you're running slightly late to begin with.)
The problem I have is that when my body doesn't get enough rest - and it requires a lot, for which I blame being Highly Sensitive (our bodies get run down quicker and it takes us longer to recuperate) - I don't just get lethargic and can't muster the energy to do anything useful, I also get colds. I can feel one coming on now, brilliant.
Add to that the fact that the shorter days makes me eat more, because my body is going all cavewoman and wants to stock up for the winter, and apparently a side effect of my allergy pills is also "increased appetite", and I do have to keep taking those things every once in a while or I itch like crazy.
Haven't written anything on my NaNovel since the 7th, and I'm now (counting today) 5456 words behind. Hooray. And because I feel like a washed out dishrag, I can't muster the energy to open Word and type anything, because I just feel bleh over what I'm supposed to write about. Which in turn is getting me down, and seeing as how I also tend to turn the depression taps on when I haven't had enough rest, GUESS HOW I FEEL!
Well, I guess that's why they call it "winter depression". Not that it's making me any happier to know that.
I hope that I can try to pick up a bit with my NaNovel, because I do want to write that story ... albeit not in its current format - I really should have thought of this before November. But still, if I can get it down on paper, I'll worry about making it the way I want in the editing phase, because I'll have to re-write it anyway then.
I also hope that things will improve on the 21st, when I no longer will have to drive out to Derby every morning, which means I can sleep in for maybe half an hour or so, and then plonk myself in front of said daylight lamp for most of the morning, should I feel like it. My central nervous system can also chillax a bit, not having the added overstimulation of being in a busy office with lots of people around.
Back to just me and the cat. My central nervous system is looking forward to my new job as much as I am myself, and I bet Daisy is going to be chuffed when she can get on-demand cuddles during the day again. So yeah, things are looking up. But right now, I want to crawl into bed with a hot water bottle and sleep.
Wake me up when November ends?
Damn you, November!
ReplyDeleteAye. A week to go and then we're there again. >_<
DeleteI HATE THIS MONTH SO MUCH
ReplyDelete