New Years Resolution: Get More Sleep, Wake Up Earlier

I read somewhere that it takes 22-24 days to develop a habit. So in theory, I should be able to create a new habit for myself by the end of January, and keep it going from there on out. What do I need to resolve?  My sleeping pattern. I hate to admit it, but there were days last year where I wouldn’t get up until 1PM. Those days would have been preceded by all-nighters, where I wouldn’t hit my pillow until 5AM, and that’s something I want to fix too. By getting a good night’s sleep, I’m hoping to improve my health, my work and family time. My biggest beef for starting life late every day is that I don’t get to hang with my family when they’re finished their work/school, and may only get an hour’s worth of time spent with them, generally when we’re all having dinner. I also feel like my work here, and elsewhere online is affected by not keeping similar office hours to when everyone else is working as well.  So, here’s my plan.

Improving My Sleep Plan

1. It’s generally accepted that a person needs to have 6.5 to 9 hours of sleep to function during the day. So, whenever I choose to get my sleep, I need to make sure to get 8 hours of it.  Right now, I’m thinking the best time for me to sleep is between 10:30PM and 6:30AM.
2. These hours are going to happen everyday. If I want to be able to sleep/wake at a specified time, I can’t let things slip on the weekend.
3. Handheld devices, smartphones and tablets, must be off or out of reach for those 8 hours. Same goes for any books, which makes me sadder than shutting down my phone.  Some smartphones have an app that allow you to block all calls/messages, except from a specified list (in case of emergencies,) such as Do Not Disturb, and Nights Keeper. The trick is to have the phone far enough to not be tempting to use when you’re supposed to be sleeping, but close enough to hit the alarm when it goes off in the morning!
4. Breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day, and I frequently miss it, especially when waking up at 1PM. With a 6:30AM start to every day, I’m going to make breakfast my first order of business, to give myself a task that will hopefully get me going (and keep me going) for the long day ahead.
5. Find a better mattress. Ours suck, its lumpy, and I tend to wake up sore, but this will be a long term goal. I plan to budget for us to get a new mattress by July.

Here’s to a new year, and a new us!  Did you make a resolution for 2016? Would love to hear what you intend to resolve!