Good habit the first

A great habit to have is being early to bed and early to rise. I've (obviously) never formed this habit.

I have a great deal of nervous energy that keeps me from going to sleep when I should. My to-do list never feels complete (and to be fair, usually isn't) and in turn that makes me feel like I cannot - or may not, as in, "not allowed to" - go to sleep. Plus, I also enjoy late nights and feeling like I'm the only person awake, so there's that.

This wouldn't be an issue except that I love to wake early, funnily enough for the same reasons that I enjoy late nights. When I was younger, this was no trouble at all. In college, I had the world's most obnoxious roommate, so I frequently stayed away from the apartment between 6:30am and 11pm, coming home only to shower and sleep. Six hours was fine. More than fine; it fit with my sleep cycle precisely and I was so productive that I finished a dual degree in three years.

But as I've gotten older, 6 hours just doesn't cut it. Now I really need about 7.5 hours, a difference I attribute to a stretched sleep cycle. Any less and I'm tired and pretty down all day, but any more and I'm a head-achey mess. It's been hard to admit to myself that my increased sleep need is ok, and doesn't mean I'm lazy.

By getting to bed earlier, I'm going to make those early mornings more pleasurable. But I think what's more important in my case is learning to let myself relax and understand that sleep is not something one earns, but is, in fact, a need. And since it is a need, fulfilling it shouldn't make me feel guilty about whatever it is I imagine I should be doing instead.

To those without sleep issues, this probably sounds nuts, but for me, forcing this habit might be the way I learn to relax. And it might help with the bags under my eyes, too.