new duvet

I got my new duvet the other week. It's incredibly thin. They use something called "togs" to rate duvets for warmth and this is a 4.5 tog duvet. What that means is that it's only just thicker than a blanket.

Now that may sound daft - why not just use a blanket, or a regular sheet? Well for some reason I cannot get to sleep unless I've got a duvet on me. I've tried many times in years past to sleep without any covers or just a sheet and I cannot do it. There's obviously some psychological thing going on that means I just can't.

I'm actually pretty neurotic when it comes to sleeping - I have a whole host of... well, I suppose rituals would be the word, that are essentially there to ensure I go to sleep.

Basically, a summary of the basic ritual goes something like-

First off, I ensure all curtains are fully closed and that all lights are turned off or covered over. Now I don't just mean normal lights. You know how a lot of electrical appliance have some sort of LED that indicates they're in standby, or they have a digital clock or something that emits light? Well I can't have those shinning at me.

It's kinda like a brightness threshold - below a certain level I'm happy, but above and the light will keep me up. This can be so bad for me that I actually have to pin black bin bags to the curtains in my bed-sit, because they're white and crap at blocking out light in the summer or if my landlord leaves a light on.

I then read for at least 10 minutes. This is actually a bit of an odd one, because I know a lot of guides for people with insomnia say you shouldn't do anything stimulating, like read or watch TV before bed. But I dunno, it works for me.

What makes it really ritualistic is that I have to be laying on my side and I have to be in my nightclothes. If I'm not, then it's just ordinary reading and it doesn't help.

After reading I switch off the light and continue to lay on my side. Here, I'm consciously trying clear my mind. I try to force out anything resembling active thought and concentrate on stillness and nothing.

It's also at this stage that any noise will become apparent. Like light, I can't put up with noise while I'm trying to sleep, so if there's a party going on somewhere or my PVR is whirring away, I'll put in my earplugs.

This 'calming down' can last anywhere from 5minutes to half an hour, but once I'm relaxed, I'll turn onto my front and that's when I'll drift off.

At least, I assume I drift off. What will actually happen is the next thing I'll be aware of is waking up. This will usually take one of two forms - waking up very early, desperate for a piss, or wake up about 15 minutes before my alarm is due to go off (also needing a pee).

You'll notice there's no mention of dreaming - I can count the number of dreams I remember on one hand. I sometimes have a sort of a daydream experience while I'm waiting for my alarm to go off, but I've never really thought of these as dreams as they're entirely and actively controlled by my mind.

I believe there's something called lucid dreaming where you know you're dreaming, but it's not like that - it's more like I actively think up a scenario or idea and then muck about with it. So much more like a daydream or fantasy than a dream.

Anyway, this new duvet is great - it's light enough to keep me cool, but weighty enough to fulfil my need for a duvet. My other one is a massive 13.5 togs, which I think is about the maximum. Quite where I'm going to put it, I'm not sure, but it looks like the weather is on the turn, so I don't think I'll need it for ages now.