Get to sleep earlier

I like to sleep. I look forward to getting a full night’s sleep. I feel better when I’ve had enough sleep. I feel less depressed when I’ve had enough sleep. I don’t get as many migraines when I have regular sleep hours. I have more energy when I’ve had enough sleep. I’m not as grumpy when I’ve had enough sleep. I can’t guarantee that I won’t be woken up too early in the morning, so the only way to ensure that I’ll get enough sleep is to go to bed earlier.

Why is this so difficult to get through my head?

In just a few weeks I’m going to have to make a major change in my routine. My daughter will be starting middle school, and class starts considerably earlier than it does in elementary school. I’ll have to wake up about an hour earlier than I was last year, and I was struggling even with that. Instead of aiming for a midnight bedtime, which I rarely made, I will have to aim for 11 p.m. That’s incredibly early for me. This summer I’ve been going to bed around 2:30 and waking up at 10, just because I can.

Since it’s so drastic for me, I figure I’d better stop implementing change early. Beginning this week, I’ll aim for 1, and then move it back each week.

• I like to sleep
• Getting enough sleep is healthy
• Going to bed early should feel like a luxury, not a punishment
• I have more energy and I’m more productive when I’ve had enough sleep
• I get fewer migraines when I have enough sleep and a regular sleep schedule
• I’m a nicer person when I go to bed early because then I’m not mad at someone who might wake me up in the morning, thinking that it’s a “reasonable hour”, and in fact, maybe it is actually…

I would really like to go to sleep now, but there’s a few things on my to-do list I haven’t done yet, and they really should be done tonight, but I really don’t want to do them. I know I shouldn’t go to bed until they’re done, but since I don’t want to do them right now, I’ll just end up staying up later and later, until finally I realize that I’m not going to get them done tonight and I’ll be overly tired tomorrow, so I won’t want to do them tomorrow either. Really not a good situation.

I imagine this will be a long process. You know that feeling ou have when you look up at the clock and think to yourself, “Wow, how did it get so late? I’d better go to bed!”? For me, that time isn’t until 2 a.m. or later. I need to move my bedtime ahead so that my inner sleep alarm is closer to midnight or so.

...but since I am joining a team goal, I will “retire” this one rather than delete it. (Hey Revered Robots, we really do need a “Fail” option… please?)

Like stay up until 6 a.m. for no good reason.

This is getting ridiculous. I don’t think I’ve made it to bed before 2 a.m. the last three nights in a row. I am suffering for it, too, with persistent migraines and low energy. This goal needs to become a priority.

I am going to readjust my target time to 12:45 a.m. for a couple of weeks. It’s only 15 minutes later, but I think it will make a difference in being able to achieve my goal, based on my normal evening routine. I am going to list the dates here and record whether I was successful, starting with tonight. I know I am going to be successful tonight, because I’m already drowsy from my migraine medication!

• 7/11—success!
• 7/12—success!
• 7/13—success!
• 7/14—success!
• 7/15—didn’t make it, big surprise!
• 7/16—close enough, under the circumstances
• 7/17—didn’t make it, but decision was intentional

That’s 5 out of 7, which makes the first week a success! Moving on to week #2, which will only be a partial week, due to my being held hostage in South Dakota.

• 7/18—totally didn’t make it
• 7/19 - not even funny - I blame it entirely on DJ

I’m giving up for the rest of the week. I know there’s no point, since I’ll be packing and working on an agenda and document revisions for Friday’s meeting. I will start over when I get back from “vacation”. It should be easier then anyway, since I’ll be forced into the early-to-bed-early-to-rise routine.

I’m going to try for this tonight. I know there’s no point tomorrow night, but I’m only aiming for 5 nights a week anyhow. It helps that I’m exhausted tonight for some reason. I’m hoping that getting enough sleep tonight will give me the energy and motivation to do all the things I really need to get done tomorrow.

I haven’t made this goal for quite some time. Maybe I should rethink.

Ok, so starting tomorrow night, my goal will be to turn out the lights (and turn off the computer) no later than 12:30 a.m. each night. If I can do this at least 5 nights per week for 2 consecutive weeks, I will consider the goal accomplished.