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Little changes do matter

This month at WW, our "Routine of the Month" is on getting enough sleep (7-8 hours) ...... an area where I am WOEFULLY deficient, at least in amount of sleep. As far as quality, I suppose it's pretty good. When I fall asleep, it is nearly immediately, and always a good deep sleep. I might get up once during the night for a potty break (sorry, TMI), but I more or less do it sleepwalking..... meaning, I wake up just enough to make my way to the bathroom, do what's necessary, and go right back to that deep sleep.

But quantity is sorely lacking. I fall asleep around 11:30 at the latest, and wake up around 4:40 each morning. Yes, you are reading that correctly. I am averaging 5 hours a night. Yes, I crash on the weekends occasionally (but I have to wake up on Saturdays at the same time for my weekend work). I do nap on occasion (usually weekend afternoons) -- and still go to bed at the normal time.

So this month, to help myself and to "test" the routine, I'm making some small changes. Trying to be in bed no later than 11:00 is my big challenge. It means I might have to cut out the end of a game (nooooo!) or just force the issue and do it anyway. Knowing me, I doubt I'd have much trouble falling asleep anyway!

So how is it working? Pretty well so far. I think the latest I've gone to bed was 11:15 (but only because I was dozing in the recliner already). Admittedly, I got a lot more rest than I expected this weekend, but you don't want a migraine in order to get said rest.

What are the benefits so far? A little less stress, or at least I'm handling it better. It may be a combination of many things helping me handle my stressors, but an extra 15 minutes of sleep a night can't be hurting.

So this week, I'm going to continue with this -- maybe even push it back to 10:50? We'll see. But in the meantime, see you in Dreamland!

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