I don’t know about you, but my sleep schedule has been so out of whack since the pandemic started! It wasn’t great before, to be perfectly honest, but it only got worse when the entire family’s schedule was thrown to the wind. After relaunching my website, I decided it was time to take back the reigns and get back on track.
I’m a natural night owl. I get tired around 8pm but always get a second wind because I refuse to go to bed that early. I start watching a show or a movie and get caught up in it then it’s midnight or after when I look at the time. I’m not even watching anything memorable. I’d much rather wake up early and read a good book.
I bought the Apple Watch 3 a couple months back to help keep track of physical activity and I downloaded the Sleep Cycle app two weeks ago when I started to think about what kind of sleep I’m actually getting. I wanted to know how many hours I actually sleep each night and if I’m getting quality sleep. I didn’t want to make any changes at first; I only wanted to track what I was doing in order to find out what needed to change. I learned after tracking two weeks that it takes me 1 hour, on average, to fall asleep once my head hits the pillow. That’s a LONG time to just lay in bed trying to fall asleep! Meanwhile, my husband is asleep faster than I can say, “Sweet Dreams!”
I want to get the best sleep possible so I can wake up before the sun is even out. I want to visit our local bakery when the bread and pastries are still warm from the oven.
I needed a challenge.
So I decided to rip the bandaid off, so to speak, and set my alarm for 5:30am 7 days in a row. In order to hold myself accountable, I told friends and family on social media about this plan. This “plan” that I concocted two seconds flat before announcing it. A few people wanted to join in. Others thought it was no big deal.
To me, changing your every day holds the potential to change your whole life.
So it was decided. Let’s do this! I’m so excited! That first night, I woke up 3 times before my alarm went off but it didn’t even phase me. I was ready! I decided I will not fail this challenge. It’s only 7 days! I can do this for 7 days, right?
But just in case…..I wanted to make it even harder for myself to let myself down. I decided to vlog every day and post on YouTube how I was handling the challenge and what I’m doing with the extra time. It’s been quite fun and I’m learning a LOT about filming and editing. I’ve been up late the past two nights editing the vlogs which has made days 2 & 3 a little difficult to get out of bed (but I did it!), so I’m finding ways to make that process easier. I’m not going to fail this challenge.
Not only will I not fail, I’m going to use it to learn how to film better and edit faster.
Today is Day 3. I’m tired from last night’s editing but I’m energized by what I’m discovering along the way. I know these 7 vlog posts won’t win me any awards, but I’ve been wanting to create more video and this has opened up a really fantastic self-imposed crash course opportunity. By the end of this 7 days I will have hopefully shocked my system into a better wake and sleep cycle as well as climbed a pretty decent hill in the blogging and vlogging worlds.
Stay tuned and join in if you’d like! I’ll see you on YouTube tonight and will be up before the sun tomorrow morning. I already can’t wait to wake up again!
Let me know in the comments below if you plan to join in. I’ll be back with an updated blog post on how this challenge went after 7 days and I’ll be vlogging every day in the meantime!
Check out the Shop The Post carousel below for a super comfy set of grey pajamas I recently purchased as well as a few other things that are helping me find my sleep groove again.
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