Yesterday morning I was up at 3:45 AM.  I got to work by 7:30 AM which meant I was able to leave at 3:30 in the afternoon.  Fortunate.

The Hour Before Dawn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By noon I had faded away to nothing.  Brain in a fog.  My back ached.  Neck, shoulders and pain behind the eyes kept me awake.

English: German tanker Glückauf stranded on 23/24-3-1893 in heavy fog at Blue Point Beach at Fire Island. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I tried everything on my list for stimulating the ADHD brain back into function mode.

Brainscan of brains with and without ADHD (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I ate a slice of cold pizza, a juicy orange, a crisp apple, trail mix, 2 Starbuck’s lattes.  I even walked faster than usual around the building a few times.

Trail Mix (Photo credit: Rich Anderson)

All of that just made me more tired, achey and a little bit cranky.

English: A housecat named Princess who highly disliked her picture being taken. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last resort; candy.

I Want Candy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m curious to see the results of the work I did during the rest of the afternoon.  I’m willing to bet there are a multitude of careless errors on the spreadsheet I was working on!

A basic estimating spreadsheet. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I got home at 4, collapsed on the couch and slept for 2 hours.  I woke up with heavy brain fog, to the point of wondering where I was and how I got there.

Heavy fog in the fields of Punjab, Pakistan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bottom line:  all the tricks and helpful hints in the world will not replace sleep.  By noon my day was already into its 8th hour.  And my body had only rested for 5 hours.  Obviously not enough to sustain me for a day of work.

Sleep Tight (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Good thing my days are numbered…work days I mean:)

World Calendar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If I can last for 2 more months I’ll be retired and have the freedom to nurture myself.  Short night?  No problem!  I can nap as soon as I feel the drain.

English: Lion (Panthera leo) at the San Diego Zoo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Question is:  Will I!?

Brain Drain (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)