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Welcome to Day 20.
A sure way to feel overwhelmed and exhausted, and for life to seem complicated and stressful, is to not get enough sleep. Consistently.
There are two things we can do about that. Let’s do them both today.
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Our group responses are as follows: We are defining what sleep is? Sleep is a naturally recurring state of mind characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, inhibition of nearly all voluntary muscles, and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, but is more easily reversed than the state of hibernation or of being comatose. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep
Our sleep routine is: Do not drink caffeine after 2 PM; Spend 15 – 30 minutes of ME time before going to bed; Set a certain time to go to bed each night; Have your’ to do list completed for the next day. If you suffer from sleep apnea consult your physician for treatment.
Ironically I am up at 3:30am looking at this! I think I should focus on a bedtime routine (bath/chill time before bed with no distractions) and addressing some ongoing worries, although to be honest many of these are hitting home! Probably why it’s 3:30am and I’m typing this! Lol
This was a great challenge! I cut out junk tv a while ago, but replaced it with social media bed-procrastination. I told myself it was relaxing – that I should avoid social media as much as possible during the day and my reward was to catch up before bed. Well… you know how that turned out 🙂 My daughter clued me in a couple weeks ago – she is 25 and she turns off all social media at 9pm; she checks her phone but only replies to the important stuff. She says it is the only way to survive. Between her advice and yours, I think I may be getting the point lol.
This task remains the biggest challenge for me and the area which I’ve made the least progress 🙁 I go to bed very late and rarely get enough sleep. But I have not given up 🙂 I realized something a couple of days ago – what often keeps me up late is ‘me’ time. I may be on the computer or watching tv, or looking through recipe books but it’s about taking time to play and decompress. So I’m going to try scheduling more ‘play’ time into my week and preferably each day so I don’t feel a need to steal it from my sleep time.
Excellent insight Ellen – I bet that makes a difference!
One thing I identified as a hassle in assignment 7 is waking up late. I’ve targeted some things I can do to get better sleep and wake up earlier. For example, take my meds earlier and turn off the computer at least an hour before I want to go to sleep. I’ve struggled with my sleeping habits for quite some time. I think I will also include many of your great suggestions.
I focused on sleeping better a few years ago Lety and I can honesty say it CHANGED MY LIFE. Good luck with your changes too. 🙂
Thank you, Michele 🙂
I got so excited when I saw that today’s topic was sleep. Since moving to our new house nearly 3 years ago my sleep patterns haven’t been great. I am often on the sofa for a few hours in the middle of each night trying to get back to sleep. Part of my sleeping difficulties have definitely been stress. I often find myself at night thinking about all the things that need to get done, things I’ve forgotten to do and all the things that are overdue. I am definitely going to try the clearing everything down both physically and in my head before I go to bed tonight and also start to ensure that I am always in bed by 1030, I get up at 5:30, so that should give me enough sleep each night. I can also associate myself with the procrastination issues like playing games, Facebooking and watching rubbish TV. Like you say Michele it’s a question of choice and I choose to spend my time more carefully on the things that matter most.
And sleep is a vicious/virtuous circle Amanda. As you get better sleep you’ll do less of the late-night, too-tired-to-make-myself-go-bed procrastination.
As a fibromyalgia sufferer, my sleep is something I guard very closely. I’m in bed by 10 pm everyday and I usually try to sleep until 7. On nights when I don’t sleep well, I often need a short afternoon nap. I’ve stopped fighting that and started listening to my body and doing what it tells me. Makes a HUGE difference in my symptom level and my cognitive functioning!
“I’ve stopped fighting that and started listening to my body and doing what it tells me”. I love this comment, Cheri. A wise and simple plan. 🙂 Kylie ~ Community Manager
Having clothes laid out and ready for the next day in my BR at night makes me feel less anxious about the next day. I will go to sleep and anything similar to that helps me STAY asleep 🙂
Baby woke me up early. Am going to get Landry off floor, and remove some use to be important stuff off my walls. All furniture already moved out.
Also need to put kids and me to bed earlier.
Baby woke me up early. Am going to get Landry off floor, and remove some use to be important stuff off my walls. All furniture already moved out.
Also need to put kids and me to bed earlier.
I think I have this one down pretty well. I have a comedy show I watch after the kids are in bed, and usually go to sleep afterwards. It relaxes me and I drift off easily (and I’m usually pretty tired). Occasionally I will stay up late reading, surfing, or watching something with hubby. But it’s once in a while on the weekends. My bed time routine is pretty regular. Unfortunately, this means I often don’t get my evening list of tasks done.
There’s always some compromise Lisa. Choose the path that offers the simplest, happiest life. 🙂
I think I have this one down pretty well. I have a comedy show I watch after the kids are in bed, and usually go to sleep afterwards. It relaxes me and I drift off easily (and I’m usually pretty tired). Occasionally I will stay up late reading, surfing, or watching something with hubby. But it’s once in a while on the weekends. My bed time routine is pretty regular. Unfortunately, this means I often don’t get my evening list of tasks done.
There’s always some compromise Lisa. Choose the path that offers the simplest, happiest life. 🙂
After 9 pm, I don’t respond to emails/phone calls or talk about anything that takes longer than 5 minutes to settle. I “pick up” things that are easily put away and set out things for the next day. I consciously tell myself that today (with all of its failures, surprises, and accomplishments is over BEFORE I get into bed. I do my prayers/meditations. By the time I crawl into bed (10-10:15), I’m looking forward to resting well. I do some deep breathing, stretching, turn on soothing music and am always asleep within 15 minutes. It took a lot of practice and patience to get to this, but my productivity and peace-of-mind are much better for it. I wish I had employed this routine when my children are still at home, instead of “catching up” and worrying about things that I couldn’t do anything about between their bedtime and the next morning.
Sounds like a super process Brenda! Well done to create this habit.
Sounds like a super process Brenda! Well done to create this habit.
I’d like to remove my almost-9 yo son from our bedroom. We’ve tried every strategy we’ve come across, and none worked.
Oh yes that sounds like a good plan Marla. You may need some professional help to make the transition, but it will be worth it for you all.
Oh yes that sounds like a good plan Marla. You may need some professional help to make the transition, but it will be worth it for you all.
This has been an on-going challenge for me. Two changes I’ve already started working on to help me get to bed earlier are 1) single-tasking because I’ve found that multi-tasking takes more time, especially at night when I’m tired, and 2) getting to the gym earlier so my workout doesn’t delay my supper or stimulate me to the point where I can’t sleep. I need to work on: decluttering my bedroom, getting my work done earlier, and generally avoiding late-night-procrastination.
And the more tired you are Ellen, the more late-night procrastination is a problem. Because going to bed takes MORE ENERGY than staying up watching TV/Facebooking/looking at pictures of cats on the interwebz. That one might even take care of itself when you’ve got the other stuff sorted.
And the more tired you are Ellen, the more late-night procrastination is a problem. Because going to bed takes MORE ENERGY than staying up watching TV/Facebooking/looking at pictures of cats on the interwebz. That one might even take care of itself when you’ve got the other stuff sorted.
So true, Michele. It takes no energy for me to remain stagnant 🙂