Insider Goss

Sleep is overrated anyway

July 13, 2009

I get fed up with stories on the TV (yes Campbell Live I’m talking to you) or in the paper about sleep deprivation with kindly expert advice on how to get more sleep because as soon as you have a child it becomes impossible. Since having Coco I have never been more busy in my life. I look back at my former self, the one who woke at will at 5.30am to go to the gym before getting to work and wouldn’t get home until 6.30pm or 7pm and I wish I’d had more sleep ins. I used to squeeze a lot into my day and now I find I’m trying to squeeze even more in. I’m sure all new mothers - working or not - will completely agree. Where does the day go? I’m often left wondering when before I know it, it is 3pm, then 5pm and so on.

Those well meaning media stories about the dreadful side effects of the lack of sleep always miss one massive and important segment of the community - mums. We know only too well the effect only a few hours a night has on your mental abilities as we continuously wander from one room to the next forgetting what we were just about to do. Or how jaded you feel when you venture beyond the cosy confines of the house to go to the doctors/shops/kindy/dairy and realise that jetlag has nothing on this.

I don’t want to know about how many hours a night my body needs to repair and rejuvenate when I look in the mirror and see dark circles under the eyes. And I’m one of the luckier ones - my daughter does sleep through the night. What keeps me up late is work, which I love and enjoy but when you’re trying to do both, it’s a pretty tough-sleep deprived road. And it always happens that the night I crawl into bed at 11.30pm or 12pm thinking I’ll have until 7am to sleep she’s randomly awake in the 4s or 5s. Which is exactly what happened last night. It made me think of the recently acquired tricks I’ve employed to disguise my tiredness.

Get moving - get the circulation going first thing in the morning whether with a jog, 10 saluts to the sun, skipping, star jumps or a brisk walk. I’ve rented a stationary exercycle which is perfect as I can do it regardless of the weather.

Exfoliate your skin twice a week - get the circulation going in the face and remove dead skin cells so skin always looks fresh and revived.

Wear bright tops, preferably white. Black just emphasises the dark circles under and around eyes. The aim is to reflect as much light into the face as possible.

Use a cooling eye cream - this will seriously make your day. Keep it in the fridge so it is even more refreshing and able to reduce puffy eyes.

Pull hair back into a high ponytail or the top-knot - it acts like a facelift.

Make up your face. This is non negotiable. Use a concealor. Daily. Even if you’re not leaving the house, it just makes you feel better about your reflection in the mirror. Find a light, creamy concealor that’s not too heavy and dab gently (with little finger or a brush) into the area that needs it most, the inner corner and resist the temptation to smear it everywhere, you don’t want to highlight fine lines. Maybelline do a fantastic double ended concealor and highlighter called Instant Age Rewind Double Face Perfector, $13.99. To make eyes appear bigger, dot a line of kohl as close to the upper lash line as possible and then apply mascara. Two coats for thick, full, batty lashes. Wear a light foundation to even out complexion or use a tinted moisturiser. The M.A.C mineralise powder foundation is good, so are any mineral foundations in fact. Use blusher on apples of the cheek lightly for that healthy flushed look.

Drink coffee in the morning and then lots of water throughout the day to keep hydrated. Lollies in the afternoon help but don’t go overboard or you’ll have a massive sugar crash. Don’t over heat the house/office/car and make it too stuffy or you’ll only want to snooze. Eat light, healthy meals and avoid lunchtime drinking (as tempting as it may be) and large stodgy meals.

Write a list of things to do without putting the date at the top. That way as the day wears on and you only achieve one, two or three of these things you can just continue, guilt free, on the next day.

Laugh at ridiculous suggestions to unwind with a bath (if only) or to have moments of quiet before heading to bed when the reality is that the only ‘me’ time you get is the second before your heavy eyes shut and you drift off to sleep.

Make unrealistic promises to self to catch up on sleep the next night, the weekend (if only babies would adhere to weekend rules of sleeping in), next week or realistically next year when said child is older. Make that 10/15/20 years when said child has moved out of home.

Remind yourself that even without a child you would still be stressed, up late, busy and struggling to fit it all in - such are the demands of the modern world.

What are your quick fix tricks to conceal tiredness?

Tamsin xo