Zzzzzz

Sleep is one of my favorite things in the entire world.  And most of the time I don't feel like I get enough of it.  I am a night owl by instinct, so I usually stay up way too late into the night and consequently I either sleep too late the next day or I have to wake up early for something and wind up feeling like Death all day.

If you've read anything I've written before, you might remember my attempt to significantly lower my coffee intake.  So far, this is going fairly well.  I'm at least at the point now where I don't feel like I need it in the mornings anymore.  It's just a nice treat to sip leisurely if I have time.  And I'm definitely not drinking as much of it as I used to.  On a side note, this means that I have been putting the money I would have spent on coffee each week into my savings account instead.  Yay me!  But I only put this money away if I haven't already used it, then I don't feel like I'm punishing myself if I do decide to enjoy some coffee.  (If this makes any sense) I see it as only putting away money I've truly saved, rather than putting it away first and then dipping elsewhere in the budget for a treat on impulse.  Of course it's not much money at the moment, but every little bit helps.  And a few weeks ago I calculated roughly how much money I've spent on coffee in the last year, and you don't even want to know.  The number was shockingly high!

But I digress!  This post is about sleep, not coffee or money!  But the coffee detail is a jumping off point for the real reason I felt like blogging on this cold, rainy morning.

When I embarked on this "drink less coffee" thing, I was really worried about how I would get through the days when I need to wake up earlier than I would like for class (or whatever else comes along).  For someone who stays up until wee hours of the morning and then wakes up at 6:30am for a workout before school, coffee can be a neccessity!  So I also decided to try making a habit out of going to bed earlier.  Of course there will be exceptions as the semester goes by: reading for class, writing papers, etc.  But as a general rule, I'm trying to get myself in bed and asleep earlier at night to try and counter the lack of caffeine.  If my body is not getting that boost in the mornings, it needs to be well-rested for the day ahead, right?  So my target time to go to bed is sometime between 10pm-midnight, varying of course night-to-night.  Sometimes I get to bed pretty early, sometimes I need/want to be awake a bit later.  But those hours are the goal.

Let me tell you something.  I feel like I've been let in on some big secret.  Seriously.  Why have I not made this a habit before?  This morning my alarm went off at the usual time, and instead of hitting snooze for half an hour as I usually do (it tends to take that long for me to register than I am awake and it is time to get up), I felt wide-awake and ready for the day!  I am not at all a morning person, but I certainly feel like one lately!

One hitch in this transition is that I still get that really sleepy I-need-a-nap feeling in the late afternoon.  I've also been avoiding taking naps during the day as I'm accustomed to doing (which is probably why I am a night owl).  So far I've been pretty successful at keeping myself awake, but just barely.  I need to figure out a good afternoon pick-me-up routine or snack that will help alleviate this.

Yes, I just wrote an entire post about sleep.