Get More Sleep!

Getting the proper amount of sleep has always been an issue for me, but it has truly gotten out of control this year. There were weeks when my fitbit would tell me that I averaged about 4 hours of sleep per night which is ridiculous. I set a 7 hour goal for myself in my fitbit app hoping that the bedtime reminder would help, but it didn’t. Every single day when the reminder would pop up I just swiped it off my screen and went back to what I was doing. In August I only hit my goal 5 times and each of those times were during the weekend. After looking at that I could understand why I was so dependent upon coffee every morning. I would be up all hours of the night, wake up begging for more sleep, and by the afternoon my coffee would wear off and I would be ready to go to sleep. I would go home promising myself that I was going to go to bed early and by 2am I was counting the hours before my alarm was due to go off at 5:30am.

Once I started my detox in September I couldn’t drink coffee at all so my only other alternative was to try and get more sleep so that I could function. I set a new goal for myself that I thought would be more realistic which was to get to an average of 6 hours of sleep per night. Initially, it was super hard and I still had my days where I was up late, but over time I started to make progress. Over the past few weeks I’ve been averaging about 6 ¼ to 6 ½ hours of sleep per night which is a drastic change for me! That puts me very close to the recommended hours of sleep for an adult.

After making these changes it has been much easier for me to get up in the morning and get moving. As an added bonus I no longer feel like my head is going to hit my keyboard in the middle of the day which is definitely a plus! After detoxing and not having coffee for a month and a half I have finally gotten to the point where I don’t NEED it to start my day anymore. I had my first cup of coffee about 2 weeks after my detox was over, but I’ve been disciplined enough to limit myself to no more than a cup or two each week, if at all.

Making these changes have been really difficult for me because I’ve always been a night owl, but I’m so glad that I did because I feel so much better. My progress so far has been great, but I’m still pushing to get to an average of 7-8 hours of sleep each night.  I’m hoping that I will get to my next goal before the end of the year. It’s not going to be easy, but it’ll be worth it!