Fran and I have been like zombies this week; old school ones that groan and move slowly rather than the upgraded version that can sprint etc.
As I’ve written many times since our children moved in, sleep hasn’t been great. Our boy still comes in to us every night, he needs the reassurance that we’re there.
He wiggles a lot when he sleeps and that has led to us not getting that much rest in the past 18 months.
We had been feeling tired any way but a new level hit us with the clock change at the weekend.
I’ve spoken to a few people this week that are feeling the same.
Sleep is so important to your overall health yet we all let poor sleep become the norm.
There is a way to use the clocks springing forward to your advantage.
If you’re used to going to bed at 11pm, your body still thinks it’s that time at the new 10pm. Go to bed at 10 and get an extra hours sleep.
I’ve ignored that and tried to still be an adult and stay up “late”, making me even more tired.
It’s much better for you to add an extra hour on to the start of your sleep than it is wrestling with the snooze button to gain a few minutes extra in the morning.
In Eastern medicine, they state that an hours sleep prior to midnight is worth 2 after. I tend to agree, I always feel better the next day when we have had an early night.
The worse that can happen is that you wake up early and before everyone else.
It’s actually a really productive time of the day.
Not much is going on and you can get lots of stuff done without any interruption.
We are up early every morning due to the boy and one of us leaves for work around 6am each morning.
When I walk the dogs early, I get lots of thinking done. There are no distractions, when the mornings get lighter I’m going to take advantage by walking them a little further and listening to a podcast or audiobook.
I’ll write some more specific steps regarding sleep in general tomorrow.
Start by listening to your body and not the clock and having an early night.
Darren ‘snoozy’ Checkley
PS Our next bootcamp starts next week – www.achievebootcamp.co.uk
