BLOG: New Year’s Resolution

In my last blog, I wrote about resolutions and how to keep them. I’ll admit that I’ve never really been one for New Year’s resolutions though. I just don’t think of them that way. Instead, I try to think of them as lifestyle changes because I come up with them throughout the entire year, not just the beginning.

I do have a resolution for this semester though, and hopefully it will turn into a lifestyle change. I have a nasty habit of staying up way too late at night. I just don’t get tired, and I’m surprisingly more productive after the sun goes down. The problem is, during the day, I am groggy and always just want to sit down for a rest. That makes it really hard to find motivation to workout or think clearly about meals. Lack of sleep results in watching “Pretty Little Liars” reruns and eating whatever is the easiest or cheapest thing to make – or have delivered.

Instead of offering my usual amateur advice, I am going to tell you about my ideas to improve my own sleeping schedulem, and maybe it can help you too.

First of all, the time you wake up and go to sleep needs to be relatively consistent. That means no more sleeping in on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays because I don’t have class until 2 p.m. So far, I have been able to wake up consistently at 9 a.m., just in time for “Live with Kelly and Michael.” When it comes to bedtime, it’s lights out after Jimmy Fallon’s show gets over at 12:30 a.m. That gives me (roughly) the recommended eight hours of sleep. The consistency also counts on the weekends too.

My problem has never been waking up. Kelly and Michael, along with coffee usually does the trick. It’s the falling asleep part that gets me every time. Like I said, during the nighttime hours, I become productive rather than sleepy. I have found that keeping myself consistently busy during the day does contribute to an earlier bedtime, and not having the option to sit down and be lazy throughout the day makes my bed look so much more comfy at night.

Even then, that doesn’t always work. So what does one do when even though they are tired and can’t fall asleep? First, take a shower or a bath and get totally relaxed. After doing so, write out a to do list. Making this list will put your mind at ease when you go to lie down instead of keeping you awake. After all that, do some yoga. No, I don’t mean workout right before bed, but do some easy stretches that will relax your body. I found four different stretches while looking around Pinterest that have worked out very well so far.