A Change In Habits

It's been said throughout the ages that old habits die hard. Breaking those habits to learn new ones takes time and some concerted effort to ensure that one sticks to a plan, but the habits do eventually start to become normalized as part of a routine. Sometimes, these changes are made for a specific reason while others are done just to improve one's life or outlook on life. For me, I'm making a change because thre were far too many days where I was running on empty, and I never could seem to get past that feeling of being in a haze all day.

I decided at the start of May to change my sleeping habits as I was constantly feeling like I was exhausted around 4:00pm. I'll admit that my sleeping habits prior to this change were pretty terrible in that I was staying up late to watch hockey games from the west only to be up before dawn for work. It's not that I couldn't handle it as this was something I had done in high school and university regularly, but the recovery period as I've gotten older seems to be much longer now.

In a study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "about 1 in 3 adults in the United States reported not getting enough rest or sleep every day" while "[n]early 40% of adults report falling asleep during the day without meaning to at least once a month." I feel I'm squarely in the first group where I simply felt like I wasn't getting enough rest or sleep, but it's scary to think that 2-in-5 adults are falling asleep without meaning to at some point in their days.

I can say that my habits during the pandemic weren't the greatest which likely contributed to some of my sleepy days in the post-pandemic world. I would stay up later watching news and late-night TV to break the monotony of pandemic life, and that seemed to be fine with no other major responsibilities to worry about other than logging into work from home at my start time the next morning. Life, however, would slowly begin to return to normal, and it seems my habits weren't as willing to change when it came to being up late.

Beyond that, a few people close to me would comment that I "looked tired" as I resumed normal life. While I normally don't carry bags under my eyes, I do know that I get the pronounced dark circles under my eyes when I'm sleep-deprived, and that's not a good look for anyone. My attention span also is affected as I can't focus very well, and I generally struggle to get out of bed in the morning when I'm exhausted. In short, I'm a walking mess when I'm tired, and I'm tired of feeling like that.

Starting on May 1, I decided that 9:30pm nightly was my cutoff. Unless I was out and couldn't crawl into bed, I started going to bed at 9:30pm or earlier. Nine days into the experiment, I feel like there has been some drastic changes already despite knowing my body is craving more sleep still.

The routine of having a set time where I crawl into bed seems to have kickstarted my circadian rhythm as I feel more rested when I wake up. That's primarily due to the extended hours which I'm sleeping now, but my body seems to be accepting that 9:30pm as dusk sets in is appropriate for sleeping. As a result, I feel I fall asleep faster which, of course, allows my body to reach the non-REM sleep stages faster where my body starts doing its housekeeping such as repairing and regenerating cells and tissues and boosting my immune system.

Sleeping more seems to have affected my overall mood as well as I feel like I can conquer the world when I wake up. A groggy morning usually meant me wishing I was back in bed before drinking a pot of coffee to try and keep me sharp, but I generally feel better about the day's impending events when I'm well-rested. I grumble less about the workday, I have more motivation to work through problems, and I feel I'm pretty upbeat about most things. Being well-rested has a significant impact on my mood.

Am I missing out on anything by choosing to turn in earlier than I once did? I haven't noticed that I've missed out if it's happening. Sure, I'd love to watch the Kraken-Stars series just to see if the Kraken can pull off another upset, but I also know that I'm feeling better and more rested over these last nine days and that I can catch the highlights in the morning. Anything that happens in that series won't change my life in any meaningful way, so I'm better off taking the sleep than I am staying up watching the events unfold in real-time.

For now, this experiment will continue. I realize that there may be factors that get in the way - social life, sports, other events - of my crawling into bed at 9:30pm nightly, but I plan on sticking to this schedule as closely as I can throughout the month of May. I'm curious to see how I feel on May 31 compared to today, but I can honestly say that I feel more rested after nine days of trying this new sleep schedule than I had during the month of April. If there are health benefits that come with it, I'm not complaining about those either, but feeling generally better every day should be something for which we all strive in our lives.

When people say that one should "sleep on it", I'm embracing that way of life and it seems to be working!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!