Tales from a Team Lead

I was commissioned a couple of weeks ago to make a blog for one of our campaigns at work. There were three conditions. I am not "technically" under the payroll of this campaign, as they call me their "freelance" designer. Unfortunately, the second condition, since it seems to be just a favor, the compensation will come in soon as it becomes a success.

So, IF it doesn't, then all efforts are useless. Well, uhm, not really 'coz the third condition is, I can do whatever I want as long as I coordinate with their campaign's team lead. And he is the one who will maintain it. That's a plus since their team lead may be more techie than me, but I am more knowledgeable about the blogsphere and blog codings. So I can add google adsense there. I can even add Adgitize and/or Entrecard if I wish too. I just hope the blog won't be considered as Spam by others. It's as Legit as this. Only, less personal.

I was excited at first but dismayed as well especially when I learned of the second condition. I would love to take the risk but I am being rushed. I have a vacation coming soon so I need to finish it before I go. Also, because we have a tight deadline in my own campaign, I am always just too tired to even face the computer soon as I get home. I feel like I do not have enough time.

I still have major planning and packing to do. Family events and medical appointments to attend to. And SLEEP! Not to mention, attend to my blogs!

Ahrg! Don't forget my books that I need and want to read, my paintings... well there are artworks in my head that can't be realized on actual paint yet too.

No wonder my boyfriend said to me last night that I "would work myself to death" at the rate I am now.

So the vacation is just so perfect! I need to pause and breathe fresh air. I need to detach myself from all these or else it will consume me and eat me whole!

I need to get in touch with my brain's right hemisphere. And most especially, my heart.

Last week I chanced upon a talk show where two doctors from top hospitals here in Manila were interviewed. The topic was about sleep and sleeping disorders. Too bad I didn't saw it from the start.

I sent a text message for a question but I'm not sure if it was live or a replay. So my question was not read on tv. Anyway, here are some pointers that I remember and wanna share.

+ Sleeping is like eating, so don't skip it - It's bad for your health if you skip meals and so does sleeping. Most cases, whenever you skip sleeping or you sleep way past your bed time, you have a hard time falling asleep.

I told this to a colleague a few days ago and she then realized that when she's awake more than 24 hours and tries to sleep, she's having a hard time falling asleep. It's like in Filipino terms, "nalipasan ng gutom".

+ Doctors recommend sleeping from 4 to 9 hours only - In eating, having a diet is good but depriving your body of nutrients is not. And eating too much is also unhealthy. This is the same with sleeping. It is bad for your health to sleep too little or sleep too much.

+ Do not drink water before you sleep - Drinking water will only cause you to wake up in the middle of the night (or in my case, day) because of the urge to go to the toilet. Then most people tend to have a hard time falling asleep again after this.

+ Use your bedroom ONLY for sleeping - It is helpful to train your body and mind that when you go to your bedroom you only sleep. This is quite hard to do, especially if you have a small house. Like me, I have my computer right next to my bed, and most of us have a TV in our bedroom too.

+ Make your bedroom as cozy as possible - Less noise and less light helps us to relax. So totally getting rid of them would be a big plus. Unfortunately for day-sleepers like me the sun is up so it's almost impossible to have a dark room. My solution is to cover my already dark curtains with a thick blanket and use eye covers. I would like to have ear plugs too, but I can't seem to find any in stores here. My honey have them and I would love to try using a pair myself.



I know there are more tips that I forgot and even more that I did not see. But it was good to see that show coz now I know that there are sleep doctors here in the Philippines. the reason why I'm interested in this is because I have insomnia for years and I wanna avoid resorting to medication to cure it.

It was just like a dream. Perhaps it was due to lack of sleep that caused my motor imbalance or temporary loss of visual acuity. Maybe it was just my heels or the slippery stair handles. Who knows!

What I know is that my feet did not reach the 4th step of the staircase. In a split second all I heard were echoes and voices. The words were not clear, while I felt myself falling slowly and everything turning into a blur. I tumbled and rolled like a falling log. I remembered thinking that this is not happening. This could not be real!

But it was.

And soon as I hit the ground it all went clear. I saw the floor, the staircase, my things and people all around me. I did not feel anything but my extremely aching legs! Someone tried to pull me up and someone else gave me a tissue. Another one gave me a handkerchief with two ice cubes. A guy gave me a glass of water but I refused to drink.

I was bleeding. My elbows and arms were scratched and my chin was cut. But strangely despite blood coming from these parts of my body, I do not feel them ache. I was saying to myself that I am ok. I feel that I will be ok. But I was worried that I broke my legs because they are so painful that every other wound were numb.

One of my friends asked me where it hurts and I pointed on my legs. She attempted to roll my pants up but I refused. I was afraid to show them because I know I was bleeding badly.

A few minutes more and my ride will come and get me I said. Then I will go straight to the hospital.

They all said I should have a check up right away. I said I was fine. I even joked about bouncing like a ball and that if I were skin and bones my bones are all broken by now.

My friend told me that I should take a rest tonight and not report for work or else she will get mad at me. I said I will if I can and I need to go to work tonight. It's been almost 4 months since I was last on leave and I wanted to finish this month with a clean record.

I guess some goals are meant to not be reached.

To be continued...