I’ve started getting enough sleep.

Maybe that’s a funny way to start a blog post, but it’s true. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely NOT perfect, but this new habit is starting to have a major impact on my life when it comes to productivity, focus, and overall happiness.

Here’s what I used to do:

I’d start to feel like I wanted to get MORE done during the day, so I’d make a resolution to start getting up earlier. Way earlier. The problem was, I didn’t adjust the time that I was going to bed. Six hours of sleep? I can do that! “I don’t need sleep. That’s what coffee is for,” I thought. “I’m invincible!” I thought that being tired was a mindset that I could beat by repeating over and over again that I was fine… even if I wasn’t.

I used to have a rather embarrassing problem. I routinely found myself dozing off in the middle of the day. Usually it would happen when I definitely should not have been falling asleep: in lecture in university (all the time – it was a feat if I didn’t), during training for a new job (this happened once. It was one on one… yeah), and on public transit (a fantastic way to miss your stop). It even sometimes happened during acting class. I was really embarrassing. I love learning, and I wanted to embrace every moment of my life, but I just couldn’t keep my brain engaged.

Here I was: this eager student with a bag of books and notebooks that weighed at least half of my body weight, and in the middle of the class I was consistently waking up to a gentle poke and drool rolling down my chin. Face palm. Even with all this evidence to the contrary, I was still adamant that all I needed was 6 hours. Forget the mid-day naps, and the inevitable crash and burn at the end of every week. Talk about denial. I felt SO angry at myself because none of it made sense to me. It was incongruous with the perception that I had of myself. I am a hard worker. Not a napping slacker.

Obviously sleep was the answer (at least one of the answers).

Six hours of sleep, consistently changing sleep and wake up times, peanut-butter sandwiches, and an intense workout regimen were simply not conducive to staying awake – or to being healthy.

Over the last few years I have dramatically changed my diet, started meditating (this I just committed to with consistency two weeks ago), and FINALLY (last week) started getting enough sleep. I can’t believe the difference.

It wasn’t an easy transition.

Like everything that I do in my life, my resolution probably leans toward slightly intense (I can’t help it!).

After listening to a School of Greatness podcast, The Power of Sleep for Entrepreurs and Elite Athletes, I decided to start unplugging at 9pm, and turning out my light at 10pm. I then resolved to start waking up at 5:30AM and going to Yyoga for either their 6:15AM or 6:30AM class.

The first three days were ROUGH. As is usual with the start of any new routine, I bounded out of bed with excitement on day one. I skipped down main street in the dark, listening to a podcast on the way, and got to the 6:30AM YFit class 10 minutes early. Everything was going great, but even though I had turned out my light at 10pm… that’s not when I fell asleep. I hadn’t been able to shut my brain off. As a result, not long after the adrenaline of working out and my initial excitement had worn off, I started to fade… fast!

My world felt hazy and I definitely didn’t feel incredibly alert. Still, I had made this commitment to myself, and I wanted to follow through! And I did. Tuesday and Wednesday I did the same thing, but I was still feeling foggy and a little too reliant on coffee during the day. Then, on Thursday, I crashed and burned.

To be fair, Wednesday I went to a scene study class and didn’t get home until 11:30PM. My old thought patterns returned: I am invincible!! Instead, I stayed in bed until 8:00AM, had a slow morning and felt a little disappointed in my weak resolve. I’m still learning how to be easier on myself.

Friday I jumped back on the train, once more getting up at 5:30AM… only this time I felt different. I was awake and I felt fantastic. Saturday and Sunday I gave myself an hour to sleep in — Yyoga is not opened that early on weekends — and got up at 6:30AM (I’d like to keep the 5:30AM one moving forward, but I think having an hour window is probably healthy). The great feelings continued – amplified when I became engrossed and impassioned by a task or project during the day.

Last night, because I wasn’t able to get to bed until 11:00AM (things happen), I put some nice smelling oil on my wrist to breathe in as I fell asleep. It worked amazingly well. I got up at 5:30AM and did everything I said I would. I felt fantastic. Now, if I’m honest with myself, it’s 12:30 and I am starting to fade a little bit.

Here’s what I’m learning:

When it comes to sleep you kind of have to answer to your body. You can’t really cheat sleep… I mean you can (kind of), but only at the detriment to your wellbeing. Do I really want to live my life feeling tired all the time? No. That’s not really conducive to happiness, fulfillment, and living in the present (I’m trying so hard to do all these things!).

The other thing that I’m learning is that cultivating life-affirming habits take time. It will mean exploring: adding this and taking that away. What’s right for one person is not right for everyone. I want to figure out what’s right for me. I know I thrive on consistency. I think there’s a lot to be said for just following through. Slip ups should be the exception. Not the rule.

By making sleep a priority, avoiding those slip-ups is a lot easier. 

I will not always be perfect — did you know that perfection is impossible? — I will make mistakes, I will fail, it won’t always feel awesome, but if I can feel awesome 80% of the time… I’d like to consider that a success.

Let the experimentation continue…

November, for me and this blog, is going to be all about habit exploration. Some of the habits I will be writing about are:

• meditation
• 2 week sugar cleanse (just added sugar)
• mantras
• journalling