NaBloPoMo Check-in: Sleep
The other day I listened to this episode of The Girl Next Door Podcast, “Our Early Bird and Night Owl Habits.” Kelsey shared that she’s an early bird, while Erica is a night owl. I actually have a hard time defining myself as one or the other. When I was younger I was definitely a night owl. Whenever my schedule allowed, I loved to stay up late and sleep late. Then I had kids, and we all know what that means. I was forced into an early bird schedule, but I realized I kind of like being up early. On the podcast, Kelsey said that every once in a while as a treat, she likes to get up at 4 am on a Sunday and go to Starbucks. She’ll sit there for several hours working and return home before anyone else in her family is up. Erica said the thought of that made her nauseous, but I thought it sounds kind of fun- think how much you could get done! But I would want to take a nap later on in the day. I think my ideal schedule would be this: wake up early. Nap in the afternoon, then stay up late at night. Is there a name for that? What animal does that? A “cat-napper?” Let’s say I’m a cat-napper. This all brings me to my NaBloPoMo check-in. On November 1st I shared my NaBloPoMo theme, “Every day Counts,” and listed ways I planned to fully appreciate every day. One of them was getting enough sleep. So, how is that going? Frankly- not so great. I’m still staying up too late, and the latest I can possibly wake up on weekdays is 5:30 am. I’m probably averaging around six hours of sleep a night. BUT! I’ve had a mindset shift. A couple months ago I heard some advice on a running podcast: Align what you say with what you do. If what you’re saying and what you’re doing aren’t in alignment, then change one or the other. I’ve been talking about getting more sleep for a long time now. It was one of the components of my word for 2023- “Nourish”-as in, I’ll nourish my body with adequate sleep. Every time I do any kind of review to see how things are going, I say “I HAVE to start getting more sleep.” But I continue to not do it. Now I’ve decided to just be honest with myself. November is a busy month. I have work, my daughter to take care of, workouts, reading, NaBloPoMo, and to cap it all off my son will be home next week. Sleep just isn’t a priority right now. I know this isn’t ideal! It would be healthier to get more sleep, and I’ll address the issue again soon. For now I’ve revised my goals: I aim to get six hours of sleep a night. If I get less than that, I really don’t feel good. I take a nap most days- usually 30 minutes, but sometimes if I end up sleeping less than six hours, I’ll manage to squeeze in a 90 minute nap, a full sleep cycle. This is working well enough for now, and at least my words and actions are finally in alignment. Are you an early bird or a night owl? Is anyone else a “cat-napper” like me? Header photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash