One of my worst habits…
Exercise maybe?
Or even my nutrition – not eating the right food?
No and No!!
One of my worst habits is to do with sleep – or lack of sleep should I say.
Not getting enough sleep is a bad habit I’ve had for a long time. As a child, I would kick up a big fuss when told to go to bed. I never wanted to. I never saw the point of sleep. I never saw it as important and thought it was a waste of time.
I never understood the effects of not getting enough sleep.
Well, that was until I got older!
I now understand how damaging a lack of sleep can be. The problem was for me it had already become a habit. So, now I needed to make sure I put actions in place to re-work this habit from a very bad one, to a very good one.
How did lack of sleep affect me?
I would often only get 5 – 6 hours of sleep per night. I would often wake up still tired, pushing the snooze button at least twice before actually getting up.
I would often feel fatigued during the day, making sure I drank several cups of coffee to tried to wake me up. Unfortunately, coffee does not have this effect on me, but I would try.
I couldn’t concentrate, so my work started to suffer. I almost fell asleep at my desk once years ago, that’s how bad it sometimes got.
My workouts were also feeling the lack of sleep. I didn’t have the energy to get though them. I couldn’t lift the weights I could the previous week.
What have I done to fix it?
This is a work in process.
Make no mistake about it – this is still a work in process for me!
But the number one thing I did – was to go to bed 30 minutes earlier then I was.
I know that doesn’t sound like much, but just like any habit – it’s not going to be fixed easily. I’ve always found it best to change one thing at a time.
By going to bed 30 minutes earlier, I was developing a new habit. Once I had that done and set. I added another 30 minutes.
Now I set an alarm on my phone. I set an alarm for 30 minutes BEFORE I want to be in bed. This way I have enough time to get ready for bed and then be in bed but a set time.
I have attached a fantastic article below which really helped me learn the importance of sleep.
Click here to read - I recommend it!
Court