Tiny steps: Go to sleep

Sleep. Curl up in bed after a long day. Get warm and cosy under the covers. Close your eyes and drift off. Let go of control, stress and consciousness and let sleep find you. Just - go - to - sleep.

Sleep is a necessity, in the same league as eating and breathing. Still, why are so many of us staying up late, stretching bedtime far later than we intend to? This post is not directed at you night owls out there, but rather those of us who are tired, sleepy and probably should just go to bed, but who stay up late anyway.

We all have our own reasons for stubbornly staying up even though we're tired. Perhaps you suffer from insomnia, and avoid the failure of not being able to go to sleep. Perhaps you have a lot of thoughts swimming around in your head, and don't want them to haunt you when you turn off the TV and silence finally sets in. Perhaps you have so much work to do that you feel that you have to stay up until midnight to get things under control.

Figuring out why you are pushing yourself beyond your (sleep) limits is key to solving the problem. If you find out why you are ignoring your body's wish to go to sleep, then you may be able to come up with a solution as well. While not pretending to have the answers to your sleep procrastination, I think I have found some suggestions, especially for those of you with small kids and lots to do.

After thinking for a few days about why I actively avoid sleep, I found that my reasons are:

• Chores
• Paperwork (I'm a teacher, need I say more?)
• Need for me-time

As a single mother to a 5 year-old, my days are quite hectic. Getting ready in the morning, dropping Little A off in kindergarten, going to work, teaching, attending meetings, picking up in kindergarten, grocery shopping, dinner, Little A's bedtime... There are few breaks in-between these. When Little A is asleep a bit after seven, I clean up in the kitchen, tidy the house and hang laundry. Then there may be some paperwork for my job and then it's usually nine or later before I can relax, watch TV, read a book (but let's face it, that never happens due to being too tired) or just be me, with no pressing commitments.

I guess this scenario is quite familiar to anyone with kids, and the problem is that you can't really cut out any of these things without impacting the next day. Let's say that I don't clean up in the kitchen because I'm too tired - that will make the next morning frustrating and stressful, since I'll be fixing breakfast and lunch boxes in a messy kitchen. I also really don't want to give up on me-time, as it is important for anyone to un-wind and have some rest at the end of the day.

So, my solution so far is moving the me-time so that it starts closer to seven, instead of nine o'clock. The method I have used so far (I'm only a few days in) is to move as many of the chores as I can, to an earlier point in the evening. This means being more organized than I have been before, and multitasking a bit more. While I cook dinner, I simultaneously empty the dishwasher, and fill it up again as I cook. By the time dinner is ready, I have filled the dishwasher and wiped the counters. After dinner, all I have to do is put the dishes in the dishwasher and run it. I have also developed a habit of cleaning up as I go along. When I'm going to the bathroom to get Little A's pajamas, I pick up items that belong in the bathroom on my way there, and so on. That way, there is very little to clean up after he is in bed.

In addition to moving the me-time, I have also started doing some gentle stretches and relaxation exercises before bedtime, preparing my body and mind to go to sleep.

This new evening routine has had some nice side-effects:

• I get me-time, and can still go to bed earlier than before.
• I have less muscular pain/head aches. 
• I actually have more time to spend with Little A in the evenings than I used to. This is a delightful surprise, and must be because I am more efficient and focused in my tasks, instead of running around doing a little bit of everything. 

Getting more much-needed sleep will make your days better. It will start you off on the right foot in the morning, allowing you to meet the day with more energy. It will impact your day, perhaps not in a big way, but in many small ways, so that you can pay more attention, give more of yourself and enjoy more.

If you are like me, and read blogs in the evening, this would be a good time to put down your computer and just go to sleep. If you're reading this in the daytime, I suggest that you have a look at your own sleep procrastination habits and how you can change them.

Sleep tight! :)