Becoming an Early Riser - an Experiment
Today is the first day of a 30-day sleep experiment I am undertaking. Like many people, I’m not a disciplined sleeper - my sleep schedule is not in order. On some mornings I feel well rested, but most of the time, I wake up feeling like I could sleep another night, and go through the day feeling a sore stiffness and pain in my neck and head from not having slept well or enough.
It’s gotten to the point where I find sleep to be the number one problem holding back my personal development right now. The reason is simple: how good I feel every day is a dice roll. I might be well-rested, I might not. I hesitate with committing myself to morning activities because I’m not sure I’ll be able to make them. Sleep is an area of my life that I almost dread, which is far from its intended purpose - to help me feel refreshed every morning, to improve my health, and bolster all the other areas of my life. Yes, I am a student, but that is no reason to have a messed up sleep schedule that I’d be better off without.
Sleep generally isn’t a matter of life and death - you won’t die from lack of it - but it can make all the difference to your energy, health and motivation. Having restful, refreshing sleep each night gives a boost to all the things you do during the day. Everything in your life automatically moves up a notch or three when you’re sleeping well.
So how do you go about sleeping better? In my case, I’ve been having trouble sleeping due to a combination of lack of discipline and anxiety. I haven’t been keeping a strict sleep schedule, and I am usually nervous about not being able to fall asleep - a very self-fulfilling prophecy. From all the reading I’ve done on the internet about sleep, I’ve found the following advice to be most sensible:
1. Wake up at the same time everyday. Don’t sleep in on the weekends.
2. Sleep only when you’re tired and you’re confident you can fall asleep quickly - within 15 minutes. In other words, don’t keep a fixed bedtime. You may, however, set a time when you’ll go to bed regardless of whether you’re tired or not (say, 5 hours before waking up).
3. Avoid stimulating activities before bedtime. This includes working, exercising and surfing the internet. Light bedtime reading shouldn’t be a problem.
The philosophy behind this routine is as follows: When your body gets accustomed to waking up at the same time every day, it will automatically get tired each night at just the right time so that you get the right amount of sleep. It will likely take a few days for your body to get adjusted to this sleep routine, but the potential benefits are worth the effort:
- Spend less time in bed, because you’re not fruitlessly trying to sleep when you’re not tired. Saving just half an hour a day in bed adds up to about 180 hours a year (which is equal to four and a half 40-hour workweeks!)
- Feel refreshed and well-rested everyday because you get just the right amount of sleep every night
- Be able to make early morning commitments and be absolutely certain of keeping them
Naturally, I’ve had my share of doubts and fears about this sleep routine. What if I don’t get tired until really late in the night, leaving me even more tired than I am now? What if I still can’t fall asleep even when I’m tired because I’m too nervous or anxious?
I’m dealing with those doubts and fears by thinking that even right now, there are no guarantees that I’d fall asleep when I’m tired - I feel anxious anyways. And when I don’t stick to a fixed sleep schedule, my sleep times shift to become later and later each day, so that sooner or later, I’m waking up just minutes before my classes begin, which is not only a tight for time, but deprives me of breakfast and exercise in the morning, both of which greatly improve my day. I’ve also heard something from my doctor that further strenghtens my confidence: You won’t die from lack of sleep. I suppose she’s right - many people, particularly new parents with young babies, might get 4 hours of sleep each night, and still get by. So worst comes to worst, I end the 30 day experiment feeling tired, and ready to pig out on sleep. I can handle that. So…
For the next 30 days, I will be waking up at 7:00 each and every morning. That may not be considered early for many (if not most) adults, but it’s quite an unusual waking time for a student. I chose 7:00 for the following reasons:
- I would have enough time to eat breakfast and exercise before going to class - a major lift for my energy levels during the day
- It’s relatively early in the morning - many of the most successful people in the world are early risers
- Early risers seem to be the most satisfied with their sleep routine
- Waking up at 7:00 allows me to sleep at 11:00 pm if I need 8 hours of sleep. 11:00 pm is when quiet hours start in my residence hall. If I had to wake up earlier than 7:00, I might to go to bed before 11:00, when the residence may still be too noisy to sleep in
I woke up at 7:00 this morning. Although I didn’t fall asleep until well past 1:00 am, it felt great to be munching down my breakfast as the sun was rising. Over the next few days, I expect to fall asleep earlier as my body adjusts to its new, fixed waking time. I will report regularly on my progress, and how I feel each day during the course of this experiment. It may turn out well, it may not, but one thing’s for sure: this is a problem of mine that hasn’t solved itself for many years, and likely won’t until I take action and do something about it. I’m ready. Let’s go.