The Ten-to-Six Experiment

A couple weeks ago, Jen, Brooke, and I decided to try something new... going to bed at 10:00 pm and getting up at 6:00 am.  Eight straight hours of sleep a night.  We decided to try this for one month.  We would be a little lenient on weekends - like maybe 11-7, or even 12-8, but making sure we're not going to bed excessively late and that we're still getting in 8 hours of sleep (not less, not more!).

Well, the going to bed at 10:00 has been decently easy for me.  It definitely has been weird when I've had something going in the evenings (like tonight - I just got home from visiting teaching at 9:30) and thinking I don't have time to do much before it's bed time.  I previously had given myself a 10:30 bedtime (which meant I was usually in bed between 11 and 11:30!)... but it's been good to be disciplined and just go to bed instead of dawdling away my evening.

The mornings have been a little harder for me.  I have always loved my sleep, and pushed it to the last minute to get up.  I was even to the point where sometimes I would get up at 7:15, when I needed to be across town for work at 8:00!  But I have been doing well most mornings, getting up pretty close to my 6:00 am wake up call.  And it has been wonderful!  I am not rushed in the mornings.  I have had time to eat breakfast, make my lunch, clean the kitchen, do laundry, harvest my garden, etc.  I've even been to work early almost every single day.  I feel like my mornings have gone so much smoother, helping start me off on the right foot for the day.  And I've felt so productive!  Even on weekends, I've been doing better.  Take Sunday for example - I have 2:00 church right now (I know, that sucks!), so it was easy to really sleep in.  Sometimes I felt like I slept away my entire morning.  Well this Sunday I was up around 7:00 am, and rode bikes around downtown with Jen, enjoying the beautiful Sunday morning.  I was home and changed and was able to finish a book I was reading before church.

So our experiment isn't over yet.  We're only about 2 1/2 weeks in to our month.  But I've felt good, and I plan to continue with this routine.  So here's to a good rest of the month, and to one more healthy lifestyle change!