Posted by Commander Dira Myqian (Executive Officer) in Side Sim: Exhausted and Bedraggled

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side Sim: Exhausted and Bedraggled

Posted by Commander Dira Myqian (Executive Officer) in Side Sim: Exhausted and Bedraggled
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“Achilleas.” Myqian smiled warmly. “My last piece of advice, as a superior officer and a friend? Give yourself a break,” she said gently. “Give it time too. Remember that the more scattered and cluttered your mind is, the more it’ll spill over into other areas. You’re doing great! And I mean that. The rest will come in time, and yes, you might make mistakes, but we all do. Take care of yourself and the rest will work itself out.”

Commander Myqian, XO

Achilleas nodded slowly as he looked up again. “Thank you Commander. I haven’t been a department head for very long but it makes sense when you say it like that. I’ve even made sure Riani has taken days off but hadn’t taken my own direction.” He grinned a bit wryly. “I’ll be sure to try and stick to a better sleep schedule. Should I visit medical for some sort of sleep aid though? It’s like my brain never shuts off and thoughts of what needs to be done keep driving me to do it.”

CSO Petrakos

“It can’t hurt, but I would lean on trying other methods first. A healthy bedtime routine can make falling and staying asleep easier. So finding ways to relax and putting away work stuff by a set point before bed is really important. If you find your mind is still going, try writing things out, whether it’s journalling or something similar. Try that for a few days and if it’s still not helping, talk to the docs.” At least this was one area she really could give advice in since she still had her license. It would be inappropriate for her to give prescriptions, but she was well aware of when or when something was indicated.

Commander Myqian, XO

Achilleas nodded understandingly. “My usual routine has me going to the gym and working out until my brain goes blank, when I know I need sleep if even for a short time. Journaling hasn’t really helped quiet my mind though. It tends to keep things going as I jump around all of the various tasks and thoughts.”

CSO Petrakos

“Well, it’s not for everyone, but if whatever you normally do is not helping you get the best sleep right now, I’d start changing things up and see if something else will work better.” Dira smiled. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. But like I said, try making changes to your routine and if it persists, talk to Medical. It wouldn’t hurt to have a check-up too if you feel there might be some other factor involved.”

Commander Myqian, XO

“Unless they can turn off my brain for a decent chunk of the night, I don’t think it’s a medical issue necessarily.” Achilleas responded with a chuckle. “Maybe I need to set a lock on my PaDD that requires a ridiculously long code to unlock during sleeping hours. That way it would take more effort to unlock it than it would probably be worth.”

CSO Petrakos

Myqian grinned. “See? You already have your own solutions,” she said with a wink. “Try tweaking variables of your routine and see what works. Sometimes it’s really just a big experiment to find your optimal routines. As long as you remember that you and your needs can change and therefore your routines might need to be adjusted accordingly, I’m sure you’ll be okay.”

Commander Myqian, XO

Achilleas was stunned for a moment before he chuckled. “I see what you’re doing there Commander. Using familiar and relatable ideas and terminology to get me thinking from a scientist’s perspective. I suppose I could look at it as if I’m experimenting with the goal to be conditioning a patterned sleep response. I’ll try a couple of different things before I visit medical then. Should develop a solid baseline before systematically changing anything. Maybe I’ll get a medical tricorder to monitor my sleep and see how different stimuli or lack thereof changes the quality of sleep.” With his mind now focused on experiment planning, the ideas were rolling and he wasn’t likely to stop thinking out loud.

CSO Petrakos