Life>stress<Sleep
In this article, I will address how:
It’s possible to step seamlessly into your day.
Good habits around your sleeping and waking hours can change everything.
As I slipped into the fall semester three months ago, I noticed that the cadence of life was changing. It was changing for me. It was changing for family. It was changing for friends and peers alike. The change of cadence may have something to do with our cultural habits regarding the summer. Many people will attempt to cling onto the the same cadence of life they had during their years as a student. The summer tends to be a season that people are more likely to spend long weekends and take vacations. Then when summer ends, the cadence seems to pick up a little bit. Deadlines fast approach; we overbook our schedules and expect to have the same relaxed attitude toward our schedules that existed in the summertime.
This feature of the Fall to Spring hyperdrive cadence becomes extremely apparent when we start to wish for more time in our days. I can think of a couple ways to buy more time… One way is to take count of your responsibilities and adjust your priorities; this approach often includes letting go of certain responsibilities. This is an all-to-common sacrifice that is needed in order to focus on the of the areas of your life that deserve more respectful attention. Another popular response is for someone to say,
“WELL, I GUESS I’LL JUST HAVE TO BE A MORNING PERSON NOW!”
And what does that person do? They do what I used to do… They’ll go about life as normal and they’ll add a new alarm clock for 5 or 6 in the morning, and they’ll stuff the starving areas of their life into wee hour blocks of their day-planner (if they even have one…) More likely, if they are like I was, they’ll use the notes app on their phone to manage their affairs. I’ll explain more later on why this might be their first mistake. Once their alarm is set, they’ll nod off to whatever social media they enjoy.
I’ve found that waking up early only matters for three reasons:
You’ve gotta place to be and you know where it is.
You’ve gotta thing to do and you know what it is.
You knew last night that you had to get up early, and you planned accordingly.
Plan your next day the night before and do it on paper if you can; the gravity of other parts of your phone’s digital space is a heavy pull, especially in the morning. You had just spent a full night sleeping and you are craving stimuli. You could be hungry, and you’ll misinterpret that stress hormone for the need to hunt down intel and social interactions in the digital world. Begin the day with this world.
Ideally, you have a few things that are automatic upon waking. For instance:
Turn off alarm
Swig water
Dunk head in water
Relieve yo’self
Wash your hands, you monster
Brush your teeth
Step into clothes that were laid out the night before
Read a lil scripture (or self-help, you heathen)
Begin to tackle your agenda!
I like to have my clothes set out the night before, to reduce the friction of choice in the morning, when my brain really doesn’t feel like making decisions. Since my brain doesn’t like making decisions in the morning, I also like to be able to step into a day that is pre-planned, rather than making a groggy attempt of deciding the whens and wheres first-thing. By having the tasks planned the night prior, and the themes of the tasks planned weeks or months prior, I find life to be more akin to the days of life as an athlete.
While the morning routine is important, I’ve found the evening routine to enhance the mornings by ten-fold. An ideal evening routine for me looks something like this:
Brief clean-up (to audiobook, silence, etc.)
Journal
Tomorrow’s plan
Set out clothes and things for tomorrow
Set alarm clock
Turn off main lights
Set timer on sleep light
Turn off Screens
Protein Shake/ final grubbing
Turn on classical music and set sleep timer for 45 minutes to an hour
Floss
Brush teeth
Shower, if not yet
Read a chapter of an entertaining/educational book
That all said, it’s time for my brief clean up. I hope you have a good one, I’ll try to do the same.
Best,
Christian