Sleep Goal

Why?

Joy, focus, accomplishment, gratitude. When I am well rested, it’s easier for me to make choices, prioritize my work and stay focused on the things that are important to me. I am able to make progress in areas of my life that I choose (school, work, physical fitness, play, exploring nature). I am able to side-step distractions and shiny objects along my path that can get in the way. I am more naturally emotionally available to the people around me, and easily feel gratitude for everything. I stay present in the moment and experience life to a full capacity.

What?

Getting enough sleep means sleeping for enough hours before a repeated wake up time. Past experience has shown me the 6.5-7hrs is a good amount of time to sleep. This is what I was getting when I started winding down for bed at 930pm, and sleeping between 10-1030pm with a 5am wakeup. I enjoy quiet time to prep and organize my day in the morning. Waking up at 7am is good, waking up at 6am is awesome. My goal:

Wake up at 630am
Lights out at 11:59pm

How?

The Wind Down Routine

I take 1 hour to wind down. The routine begins at exactly 10:59pm. When the clock changes from 10:58pm to 10:59pm, it’s time. This is a fun game for me to master! 🎯

The wind down steps are:

Turn on the kettle to boil water
Meditate - 10min. If there is resistance to doing this, take 1-10 mindful breaths. It’s ok to skip this.
Clear up what I was doing (set electronics to charge, set alarm, pack backpack for next day)
Make tea or decaf coffee
Prep some cookies or snack
Read
At 10:55pm (exactly when the clock changes over, or earlier), I will put my book away, go to the washroom if needed, turn out the lights, and close my eyes

On weekends, the routine can shift 1hr later (11:59pm wind down, 12:59am sleep). If someone is sleeping over, the wind down routine can skip steps 2-6.

Risks

There are risks. Things that seem small and inconspicuous can completly derail my efforts. I need to be vigilant for these “little things” and acknowledge them as being a “big deal”. I am really smart and tricky; my mind is able to suck me into things under the guise of being good for me. Like cooking healthy food, saving money, planning something, or taking care of long overdue tasks. Before bed is not the time to do this, and I KNOW this. My addict is just trying to trick me (silly addict!). These risk factors include:

the desire to research, lookup, plan, or check something once I am already in the middle of my wind down routine
the desire to continue my current activity beyond my pre-established wind-down start time (e.g. watching a movie/show, homework, admin tasks, researching life improvements or optimizations etc., fixing something around the house, cleaning, taking care of something that has been bothering me for a while)
starting an activity that will continue beyond the start of wind down that must be completed (e.g. cooking)
sex
phone calls with someone that I haven’t spoken with in a while
using mobile apps or having easy access to a device with internet connection (i.e. laptop and tablet)
- This includes using my tablet to read kindle
Not being tired or not falling asleep easily I can mitigate these risks by:
writing down the thing I want to research or look into on a post-it note
planning activities with contingency time
thinking ahead about what it will take to complete the activitiy
leaving activities incomplete, or clearing things up half way to finish later
texting a friend that can help me be time accountable
talking with my partners about what my time boundaries are before they need to be enforced
if I answer the phone, let people know that I have a time boundary
if I cannot fall asleep, I will lie in bed with my eyes closed. I can:
- meditate (focus on breathing)
- think about life

Support Systems

Post-it note with summarized WHY + time goal of wind down and sleep
Check in with Marlies on 14 Feb to report how things are going
Share this plan with Sarah for awareness
Time boundary apps (if needed)

Implementation Plan

Share this note with Marlies, Sarah and Beata
Write post-it note, paste on mirror
Set alarm to begin wind-down
Set alarm to check in on sleep progress every Sunday
- Identify moments of success -> what went well?
- Identify pain points or challenges -> what needs to change to accomodate?
This plan will start 10 Jan 2023