There's a term for it, one of those words they teach second year psychology students.

My doctor knew it right away. The word, I mean.

"I can't sleep," I told him, "especially nights before paper days."

"Paper days" are days we print a paper. The nights before, I'm so stressed out I can't get any rest. I lie there

and think about what stories we're going to put where, what kind of photos we might or might not use and other journalistic type details that would drive one nuts. "It's (the reason I can't sleep) the same disorder that causes college students to throw up all night before a big exam," my doctor said. Great, now it's a disorder. I consider sleep a tradeoff. I figure I can get by on two or three hours of sleep the night before a paper day, then "catch up" later. It always made sense to me but now the doc says that's not such a good idea. I need my rest, he says. That's easy for him to

Sleep is highly overrated. I think Einstein said that. Or it might have been Homer Simpson.

I can't remember.

I used to think it was just insomnia. I wake up early in the morning and just can't make myself go back to sleep. It's just brutal.

"Oh man," I say to myself, "this is going to kill me if I don't get some rest."

So I lie there knowing I'm going to be pretty much worthless the next day if I don't go back to sleep — which, of course, adds even more pressure.

I look at the clock. It's 3:15.

"I got to get up soon," I say. "Maybe I can sleep fast."

I lie there and look at the ceiling for awhile, then I feel around until I locate the remote control in the covers and I turn on the TV.

Some people say they can sleep better if the TV is on. But persons who study sleep habits, some of them anyway, will tell you that it's better to turn the TV off because your subconscious is trying to listen to what's being said. Even though you might think you're trying to doze off, the back of your mind is trying to keep you awake to pay attention to the noise coming from the set.

It's all very psychological.

"I'll just check the sports scores, then I'll turn it off," I say to myself.

I flip it over to one of the sports channel, then one of the news channel, then to the Weather Channel. Nothing that hasn't already been on earlier in the day. Let's see, Sixers lost again, Raiders lost again, flu virus is spreading, it's snowing in the Midwest, there's a partridge in a pear tree, blah, blah, blah, blah ...

I look at the clock. It's 3:30.

I keep channel surfing in search of something more entertaining.

Nothing.

So I power up the DVD recorder and start watching the Married With Children episodes I taped earlier.

Oh boy, this is a good one. This is the one where Peg's mother leaves Peg's father. She tells Al that her mom has left home and her dad can't find her, prompting Al to respond with the classic line, "Has he looked behind the Rockies?"

Thirty minutes later, I roll over and look at the clock, then turn back toward the TV.

Infomercial.

Yuk.

I hear something outside. I mute the sound and get up to look out the window. It's starting to rain pretty hard and the wind's picking up.

I glance at the clock. It's 4:14. OK, may as well get up now. Maybe I should hit the old treadmill.

Nah, I'll do it later when I'm better rested.

So I get up and wander around for a while, flip through a motorcycle magazine, then take a shower, get dressed, have some breakfast.

I come dragging into the office and turn on the old crashdaily Macintosh.

Alright, I'm wide awake now. Let's get this paper out. Man, this thing is taking forever to boot up.

Y-a-a-w-w-n-n.

I'll just rest my head on the desk here for a minute until the machine warms up.

Z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z.

Klonie Jordan (editor@gaffneyledger.com) is executive editor of The Gaffney Ledger.