Going to bed on time...
So you can wake up when you ought!
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I alone am left to tell you:
One thing that might be thwarting you if you want to get up earlier than you are now is going to bed too late. Are you the kind of person who really only falls into a deep sleep sometime after 5am? Follow me to change this.
Your wakeup time is up to you! But if you want to change it…
…There are three essential things (by no means all, keeping it short here) you need to manage to go to bed at a good time (I’ll talk about getting to sleep another day):
Schedule supper early enough so that you can be done with all the cleaning up and bedtime tasks earlier. This means making menus and setting a time for supper and sticking to it, including scheduling all the prep necessary.
Put your kids to bed in good time. One of the most misery-inducing ideas is that kids will somehow put themselves to bed or that it’s mean to impose a nice early bedtime. Spoiler alert: they will not and it is not. Adults need quiet time in the evening and will get it; meaning, your own bedtime will always be at least an hour after your kids finally collapse. So take a deep breath and figure out their earlier bedtime routine.
Stop drinking anything with caffeine by 11 am. It’s going to be hard at first not to have that little boost in the afternoon, but power on through for a brighter day.
Homework: For the coming week, work on these three points. Remember to set your alarm according to my plan that uses the Psychology of the Individual to work yourself backwards to a good rising time. And take a shower and get dressed upon rising.
As with everything here at the SFH, the best thing is for you to take my ideas, which come from my experience of escaping feminism to enjoy the gift of 45 years of marriage, seven children, and more than a score of grandchildren, and apply them to your situation with discernment, prudence, and confidence — and a sense of humor!
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For the longer version:
My book on how to live with the Liturgical Year: The Little Oratory
Love this!!!
Any further tips re #2? We are struggling with putting small kids to bed who are too little to read themselves to sleep but need to use the toilet, want a cuddle, need a glass of water … any ideas for adorable miscreants? …TIA!
Cutting caffeine in the afternoon was a total game changer for me. Caffeine does not affect me so I didn’t think it was necessary to stop after the morning tea. But my doctor said it changes your internal body clock so I would go to sleep easily but would wake up at 3 am and not get back to sleep for an hour or two
Another important reset is to get some natural light before noon. It also helps reset your “clock.”