Sleep Habits

It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.  - Aristotle

I work till 7:00 pm Tuesday through Friday.  This doesn't bother me much until I wake up tired after staying up till 1:00 am.  "Don't stay up so late," you might suggest.  Well, since I don't get home until 7:15 pm I'm usually not unwinding until around 10:00 pm.  If I do some studying or watch a movie midnight seems to creep up before I know it.  I pay for it with limited morning productivity.

Steve Pavlina has some advice:  "Are morning people born or made? In my case it was definitely made. In my early 20s, I rarely went to bed before midnight, and I’d almost always sleep in late. I usually didn’t start hitting my stride each day until late afternoon.  But after a while I couldn’t ignore the high correlation between success and rising early, even in my own life. On those rare occasions where I did get up early, I noticed that my productivity was almost always higher, not just in the morning but all throughout the day. And I also noticed a significant feeling of well-being. So being the proactive goal-achiever I was, I set out to become a habitual early riser. I promptly set my alarm clock for 5AM…and the next morning, I got up just before noon."

Steve feels the best solution is to go to bed when you're tired and get up at the same time every morning.  He gets up at 5:00 am. 

Read Early Riser I.  Read Early Riser II.

(HT:  KC)

Comments

[Hale-Yeah!]

I feel you on this one. I am a financial advisor, so I'm at work when the market opens: 6:30! I've been doing this for several years, but it's still hard not to hit that snooze at 5am. I have to go to bed around 9pm for the system to work. Hard to do especially when your wife isn't on the same schedule.

But, what's funny is when we went to Vegas with Los and H, we stayed out really late, usually past 2am, but then I'd be wide awake at 6am while Los slept for another 4 hours! Got some good reading time in.

[James]

That's hilarious!

I hate to let musicians off easy but somtimes I think it's more than laziness or a lack of discipline that separates creative-artists from the rest of the world.

That said King David was a skilled musician who woke the dawn.

[Sabrina]

The problem is I am not a morning person but I still have to get up at 4 in the morning but because of how busy I am I can not get to bed at 9. It is one vicious cycle! I also don't want to. It is like the kid who thinks she is missing the party downstairs that most of the time is not goin on. I can feel your pain Jim! maybe after reading this I will go to bed on time!

[Paul Loeffler]

Great article. I wasn't able to read the first one - computer couldn't find it for some reason. But the second one was fantastic. Currently, I'm with him on the kid thing, but that season, too, will pass. I certainly enjoy it a whole lot more when I'm in bed by 10:00 and up by 5:30 or 6:00 (at the latest). I even get some exercise in... or used to, again, before Benjamin. I'm looking forward to a full night's sleep some day in the near future.