Short on Sleep...and Patience

I don’t know about you, but insomnia is really testing my patience. As time goes on, I’m pretty sure it’s testing the patience of those around me, too. The less sleep I get, the more irritable I feel throughout the day. My lack of sleep affects my ability to concentrate, and that translates into some incredibly real frustrations as the day progresses.

Lack of sleep testing my patience

School is not the place to be short on patience.

The elementary classroom is definitely not the place for exhaustion and frustration, but that’s where I am finding myself. The sleep I am missing at night leaves me less on my toes, and more in my feelings. Teaching, especially the time of year with standardized tests looming, takes every ounce of energy.

When you are low on both energy and the ability to think clearly and quickly, it impacts everything you do. I am finding that I take longer to get through my normal tasks and question myself far too often.

At work

Missing my patient self

I truly miss my old self. Think-time is huge in the classroom, but it’s usually reserved for my third-graders. These days, I am the 1 who needs it. I miss being able to address issues without having to process those extra few seconds. That doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it makes all the difference when you are in charge of 15 kiddos.

It doesn’t feel like all that long ago that I could buzz around my classroom helping students and answering questions with ease. I can do all of it now; it just feels like I am doing it all while running on fumes. Insomnia is affecting my work, and that gets under my skin.

At home

Feeling short on patience and long on exhaustion

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t experiencing some forgetfulness, too. While I am managing to keep it together at work, home is another story. The best way I can describe what is happening to my mind is to say I save all the working parts for the school day and home seems to get the rest – and that isn’t saying much.

My lack of energy is directly proportional to my lack of patience. It only takes 1 rogue, half-empty water bottle or 1 random dirty bowl in the sink for me to start fuming. While these are minor things, they are enough to irk me. I just don’t have the mental energy to cope, you know?

Ready for a change

Restless nights have been a part of my life for several years now. I feel like it’s age-related and hate to think I will continue to be this stressed, muddleheaded, and short on patience from here on out. I would love to find a solid answer for my dilemma – I am not a person who deals well with not having answers. I am big on explanations and reasons. Logic is an important part of my life. I have been looking for a pattern to my insomnia, a clear reason, for a long time, but it takes a clear head to do that, doesn’t it? Sigh….

Have you found yourself short on patience after missing out on sleep? Tell us about your experience in the comment section.