Sleep issues

I think I might actually be getting too much sleep. I know, this is not commonly considered a problem. Most people would give a kidney to be able to indulge in nine hours of sleep a night. But I think this over-indulgence may actually be the reason why I haven’t been getting truly restful repose lately. I’m not the type of person whose sleep is easily disturbed by things like an unsettled mind, daily stresses, etc. I could be charged with defusing a bomb on a nuclear submarine transporting a cargo of puppies, and the night before I’d sleep fine. But lately I’ve been tossing and turning a lot, and waking up many times during the night.

I have attempted to get to the bottom of this through a process of trial and error. Am I not tired enough at the end of the day? This is partly what prompted me to join a gym, knowing that regular exercise makes for better sleep. Am I too hot? Take off the second layer. Is it the darn chirping birds? Keep the windows closed. All routes tested to no avail. Last night I even decided to plug my night light back in, thinking maybe that was the culprit. (I’m grasping at straws, people!) I still woke up, but I took note of the time: around 3 am. I’d gone to bed around 9:45. So I’d slept soundly for the first five hours. After that, it was somewhat restless, until my alarm went off at 6:20. It dawned on me that maybe I don’t need as many Z's as I've been allowing myself. So the experiment continues, with a new variable. I will stay up later and see if that makes a difference. Because seven solid hours are better than nine fitful ones.