Throughout our day we have different jobs and tasks to perform. One of the most critical, yet often neglected, of these is sleep.

Over the past week, I’ve attempted to use my current habit of shutting down screens at 10 PM to get to bed earlier. While this has helped me get to sleep earlier, I still seem to struggle to get my morning started. Part of the wrench in that gear is the impact weekends and the holiday – Happy Independence Day – has had on my sleep cycle.

How to Deal with Distractions

Every night I’ve found myself struggling to juggle the distractions available at any moment and doing what I’m supposed to, most often going to bed. I can watch a video, play a game, talk with someone, read articles or books, and the list goes on and on. The last thing I want to do when it’s time for bed is sleep.

I have been good at getting to bed as needed on a typical workday, but days off I have tended to slack. I feel I am on a tightrope of duty and decompressing. I’ve been able to step away from time with friends online once the clock turned 10 on a Monday, but on Friday or Saturday, that discipline just isn’t there. I found myself up until nearly midnight, something I haven’t done since starting this past weekend. The midweek holiday hasn’t been as bad as the weekend, but I have let myself get distracted far too much during the day and now I will barely finish this post in time.

While my weekday habits might be better than those of my off-days, I still have some struggles to work through. I’m trying to find ways to wind down, and I think getting away from computers or my phone around 10 PM is helpful, but I think I need to continue cultivating a routine to get my mind and body ready for sleep.

New Routines

A trial I pursued a couple months ago was trying out different morning routines to see what worked out. During it, I thought a lot about the impact of the evening ritual.

Recently, I’ve found getting out of bed difficult due to stiffness and pains in my joints. To try and prevent this, I am going to try and add a few minutes of stretching to a nightly routine. Just like brushing my teeth and flossing, I’m sure it will eventually become natural.

I might start experimenting with a few other habits to make not only my evening nicer but for the rest of my day as well. If you have any recommendations, let me know if the comments below!!

If like me you have had trouble getting to bed on time and waking up in the morning, I can’t recommend putting away the distraction devices we carry around 24/7 for at least an hour before bed. In my experience, there is seldom something critical enough that it can’t wait until tomorrow.