I’M BEGINNING TO GET TIRED OF MY INSOMNIA

Rab muses over whether he could make all those sleepless hours work in his favour, particularly when he finds himself wide awake at three in the morning

Ihave been… up early. The unusual incident took place after a rare good night’s sleep. That followed the usual terrible sleep the night before that. This has been irking me. My usual schtick is to wake in the middle of the night, do Wordle and associated puzzles and read for a bit, eventually falling asleep sometimes as late as 7am. Which means getting

up late and finding half the day gone before I’ve even started anything. No wonder so many items on my to-do list remain unticked.

But, one morning, I didn’t turn back in but made myself get up, even though I felt

wabbit. Luckily, it was a day off so I didn’t need to use my brain. (Reader’s voice: “You use your brain?”)

That evening, I dozed for two hours in my armchair, then went to bed, had a good night’s sleep and woke refreshed at 6.45am.

I did two minutes’ meditation (lying down, as

always), got up, saw the sun climb over the mountains and enjoyed the quietness while the Earthlings slept.

Early in the morning I do everything better. When I was young and wanted to be a proper writer, I’d get up early to write, and ideas spilled from my brain.

Friends who write books do the same, before going to work.

It’s just a good time to write, as you can tell by this column (all right; well, it is 9.30am by now).

I play the guitar better early in the morning, sometimes even hitting the right note, and it occurs to

me that, one early morning, maybe I should try some DIY.

Perhaps I wouldn’t make my usual botch of it.

I think back to when I was a young postie, a real man of letters, getting up at 4.30am six days a week.

Admittedly, they had to

send someone out to wake me a few times. But, once up, I loved the empty city streets, and the sleepy solidarity among those perforce about at that time.

In those days, I’d go back to bed in the afternoons. There was a rhythm to it. I

liked being a postie. It was a useful job, a public service. Still is, of course, though I think they’re treated quite shabbily now.

The popular author Alexander McCall Smith wakes at 3am then writes for a few hours before going back to bed. I thought about that, but can’t be bothered getting up. Besides, I’ve no interest in writing books now.

Maybe I could do DIY or music instead. At 3am? I think that would be rather odd.

I’d have to put my overalls on for the DIY and, rather than get fully dressed to play the guitar, would probably have to invest in pyjamas and a dressing gown.

It’s all sounding a bit too much. Also, I’d be tempted to have a coffee to fire up the

old brain, and that wouldn’t help when it came time to return to bed.

No, a straight sleep and up at 6.30am is the ideal. I’ll just have to hope I can make it a habit.

In the meantime, if you’ll excuse me, I feel 40 winks

coming on.

I THINK BACK TO WHEN I WAS A YOUNG POSTIE, A REAL MAN OF LETTERS, GETTING UP AT 4.30AM DAILY

SUN-UP: The average cockerel’s sleeping patterns would be the envy of many insomniacs.