Rest And Recover
I’m sure that we’ve all heard the saying “I’ll rest when I’m dead” at some point in our lifetime, and most of us have probably said it, as well. With my 50th coming up this year, I still think that I’m nearly indestructible like I was back in my 20s and 30s, so I embarked on quite the adventure this past winter.
I took on 6 jobs from December through April… simultaneously. That statement is no exaggeration, ladies and gentlemen. I worked here at the nursery a bit, plowed/salted, did my side company’s set up, bartended for an independent catering company, bartended a local bowling alley, and help set up a new Mediterranean restaurant which then led to me bartending there on a regular basis.
I do NOT recommend anyone doing this at any given age in anyone’s lifetime. Why do I say this? My body literally ached every day after the first month. Working open to close shifts bartending, which averaged 11 hours a day, only to have to turn around and work 2 more back-to-back open to close shifts. To make things even more interesting, shifts would overlap to where you work 2 jobs in the same day, which were maybe an hour apart from each other, which would lead to a 15-16 hour day. The worst was the triple shift that I feared would happen. I had my shift here in the morning, then jumped immediately to the restaurant from noon to 11 pm, and then left there to go plow. That resulted in a 24+ hour day. I then went home, took a nap (or rather collapsed), returned to the restaurant at noon for my opening shift, then left at 8 pm to go do snow cleanups.
Energy drink companies LOVED me for those 2-3 days…
Physically, it was very demanding. Mentally: it was equivalent. Between following each company’s operating procedures and policies (regardless of industries), keeping track of names and faces that you meet doing customer service, remembering one’s knowledge and techniques in your skill trade, and, worst of all, making your work schedule on a weekly basis to appease your employers. So after you get done with all of that, you still need to find time for your loved ones, take care of your personal responsibilities, and maybe, juuuust maybe, find a gap of time for yourself along the way.
According to medicalnewstoday.com, symptoms of sleep deprivation can lead to hypertension, diabetes, sleep apnea, obesity, heart attack, stroke, depression, anxiety, and/or psychosis. Further recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests these number of hours to achieve “quality” sleep:
As for me personally, I tend to get 5-6 hours, which seems like it’s not enough at any level. But during the winter season on days where I didn’t have to work a double shift, I’ve been known to sneak in a nap here and there like a toddler. For any of you that have had to run a snowplow for hours and hours at a time, you totally understand!
Other factors that can affect a level of quality sleep include noise in the environment, stress, poor sleep arrangements, drinking too much caffeine a few hours prior, so on and so forth. Follow the link if you would like to learn more about sleep deprivation, which includes even more symptoms and treatments. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/307334
You only have 1 body in your lifetime, so be sure to take care of it!
