The boys have officially started 1st standard which means more hours in school. They have to leave the house before 8am, which means I need to be up at least by 6 to get their breakfast and lunch ready.
Let’s just say it’s a new kind of crazy around here!
After a pretty laidback summer schedule, I’m struggling to wake up on time in the mornings… especially if I didn’t get enough sleep the previous night. After much deliberation, I realized I had to forgo my late nights if I wanted to wake up on time. {DUH!}
You see, I religiously guard my time after the kids are in bed. That is MY time – to wind up my work online, blog, eat in peace, watch TV and just relax on the couch. I DO NOT want to go to sleep until I really have to! {Wierd, I know!} 🙂
Well, sacrifices had to be made…
But surprisingly, I found that even if I went to bed early some nights, I would stay awake for hours before I actually went into a deep sleep.
I took a hard look at my activities during the day, and found that quite a few of them were directly responsible for my disturbed nights.
So, without further ado, here are my top 5 tips to sleep early!
1. Wake up early
I know… I know… the reason we need to go to bed early is because we want to wake up on time. But I’ve found that if IÂ start waking up early, I am more likely to go to bed on time.
2. Skip the evening coffee
This is such a struggle for me, because I think coffee is one of my love languages. I’ve begun to make do without my evening coffee. I substitute with lots of water… or a tea with milk if I desperately need a pick me up in the evenings.
3. Stay away from lighted screens
If I watch too much TV, or stare at the laptop screen or iPad for too long, my mind doesn’t wind down even after I hit the bed. So now I watch just a little TV after the kids are in bed, and then go to bed a half hour before I actually need to sleep. Then I read a book on my iPad (using the Kindle app) with the brightness set really low. I usually fall asleep before I complete a chapter.
{The exception is if I start reading historical Christian fiction. Somehow, I am never able to put those down until it’s WAY past my bed time.}
4. No sugary foods late in the evenings.
I had a bad habit of diving into my hidden stash of chocolate after the kids are in bed. On those days that I eat lots of chocolate or ice-cream (or the Indian sweets my mother faithfully brings when she visits), I take much longer to fall asleep. It’s easier to do abide by the ‘no chocolate rule’ now because there’s no chocolate in the house. When the fridge does get stacked again, it will be a true test of my determination!
5. Give yourself a cheat day.
I cheat on the weekend. I do not get up early because the boys don’t have to be in school. I usually stay up late on Friday and Saturday nights and sleep in on the weekends. This allows me to catch up on sleep and gets me back to the ‘wake up early’ routine on Monday morning.
So, what do you give up in order to sleep early? Got any tips for me?
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