Some of you might know that I have had trouble with sleep for the last, oh, five years. Basically, all of college and then some. I kept zany hours working at the newspaper (afternoon-past midnight) and had some morning classes. Not good.
I’m trying to get back on a normal-person schedule. For one, I don’t feel productive when I’m up all night and sleep during the day. Two, it’s not good for your health.
I’ve been working hard to wake up and actually get up during the morning, and go to sleep before midnight. It’s been a struggle.
I’ve imposed a new rule on myself: No computer or TV past 8 p.m. I think those devices just keep me wired, and make it hard to shut my brain off at night. Plus, I get distracted and carried away, and the next thing I know…it’s really late.
Second, no caffeine. I haven’t been drinking coffee or colas lately anyway, but when I do drink coffee, it’s decaf.
For the last two nights, I’ve gone to bed at 10 p.m. That’s unreal at how early that is for me, especially when 2 a.m. or later was a previous bedtime.
I’ve fallen asleep OK, surprisingly, but I’m now waking up during the night. Last night, I woke at 1:30, and went back to sleep. I woke again at 4. I went to the bathroom and tried to sleep, but I don’t know how deep of a sleep that was. I finally got up at 5:15 and had breakfast. I was wide awake at that point, though still tired.
I hope to stay productive all day. I might end up taking a nap later on, though I’ll try not to since I tend to take long naps, rather than the suggested 20-30 minute one.
If I can get on this routine, I think I’ll get a lot more done and feel a lot better.
The next step: Adding exercise to my day.
That sounds like a great plan. I’ve been trying to go to bed around 10, too, but it’s difficult when K doesn’t — he sets his own hours for work and enjoys staying up late and sleeping in (oh, how I do, too, though!). But I’ve whittled down my morning routine and go to bed even when I’m not really tired, and I end up sleeping pretty well. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, but I relax and usually go back to sleep easily. I also try not to drink anything right before I go to bed, so there’s less of a chance I’ll have to get up to go to the bathroom, too. I hate it when that wakes me up. Keep it up! Sounds like it’s going to do you some good!
This was challenging for me too, because I LOVE staying up late! What I started doing was setting my alarm to 9:30 and telling myself for a week I had to get up before 10 every day. Sometimes I’d roll out of bed at 9:55, but overall I was able to do it. Then the next week was 9:30… etc. I also tried making myself exercise every day for a week, but that didn’t happen. Oh well!
The exercise should help you a lot. Make sure you lift weights. Do two sets of eight reps each using a weight that is difficult for you. By giving your muscles a good work-out, you’ll probably fall asleep quickly and stay asleep all night.
Reading fiction at night always helps me to wind down. If you like to read, that might be something else to try (unless you already read before bed).
I don’t read your blog much, but I should! It sounds like we’re a lot a like schedule-and-computer-addiction-wise.
I could EASILY stay up until 2 (um, I did just last night) on the computer. Whether it be productive work like taxes or tweaking the budget, or just reading blogs, I just treasure that uninterrupted time!
But you’re right. It’s not healthy. And then the next day I’m not the mommy I should be. Or the wife I should be.
Computer off at 8, huh? I wonder how that would affect my blogging…
I am with you I could stay up all night. I like you idea of no tv or computer after 8, even though I would hate that! I made a new rule for myself to be up at 5:45am…and no naps, I am similar and could take along nap…and then not be able to go to sleep. If I take a nap any shorter than 3 hours I have an aweful migraine. Setting a wake up time has really helped me. How is the no tv and computer at night working?