I’ve done a pretty good job over the past few months getting rid of negative lifestyle behaviors and replacing them with positive ones. And the train may go flying off the rails in five minutes, tomorrow afternoon, or next week, but for now it’s chugging along pretty nicely.
One area that’s still not up to snuff, and that my wellness program has done a good job keeping in front of me, is my sleep pattern. Like many people, I don’t get enough regularly. And I’m not at all sure that the reasons I don’t get enough regularly survive rational analysis.
I’ve been self-aware enough not to complain too much about lacking time for the things I want to do, because I see how much time I waste—on social media, watching YouTube, and such. I’ve determined that there is a direct correlation between the time I spend doing that and my sleep deficit.
I hit the snooze bar because I don’t get enough sleep. I don’t get enough sleep because I don’t go to bed early enough. I don’t go to bed early enough because I’m wasting time with nonsense. See how that works? There are also, all too frequently, things I tell myself the night before that I’ll do in the morning that I then don’t have time for because I’ve snooze-barred it away.
So, it seems like eliminating the snooze bar and working backwards from there is a good approach. I’ve set my wake time and explicitly accounted for every minute of my morning routine. This includes a set window that may or may not contain time sufficient for a minor goof-off or two, depending on how much “real” I have to do.
Then, starting with a good estimate and adjusting accordingly, I will set my bedtime to ensure I have enough sleep to make my morning routine pleasant. (This is where I expect the major schedule adjustments to occur.) There’s something to be said for occasionally whiling away an hour on Facebook or watching videos, but it hardly warrants a regular time commitment. Family and writing time are far more important.
Get this sussed, and then on to tackling sodium in my diet. Onward!
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