Sleep is social, part 2

Sleep’s been hard lately. My dad’s been coughing this lungs out through the night due to some potent strain of seasonal flu. It’s the sort of dry cough that irritates the throat like hell and never seems to go away. He’s not been getting much sleep, and by extension, me too.

Because I’m a light sleeper.
Because I’m worried for his health.
Because I’m listening out in case he faints.
Because every time he gets into a coughing fit, I want to get up and get him something warm to drink.

I think I’ll probably have to let go of having any good sleep for the rest of the week… At least.

Time and again, I’m reminded that sleep is social.

Sleep isn’t something you do alone. Sleep happens within a social context of a partner, family or even neighbours. If you ever wanted to sleep early in order to wake up early but have a partner who love staying up late, you’ll know your sleep routine isn’t yours alone to negotiate for. Likewise with kids, and sometimes neighbours.

Or the most common story - how to get any sleep at all with a snoring partner when you’re a light sleeper.

So much of the resources out there for sleep biohacking is about personal, individual habits. There’s definitely a dearth of articles about how to manage the social aspects of sleep, how to have difficult conversations, how to work around challenges like what I’m experiencing right now.

Wished there was more!

Sleep is social.