I have been a night owl, all through my life.
It was January and it was time I did something to change that. With the changes I have made I can swear ‘early to bed- early to rise’ is making me a better person.
Why stress on sleep, one may ask? Read it in reverse – Sleep, no stress. Well, for a person like me it defines how my family functions the whole day.
Less sleep makes me irritable and grumpy, it has a dominoes effect on us.
When I am grumpy, my husband is not in his best of the moods. He snaps easily at me and our children.
And my little ones can sense that something is amiss and get cranky.
So, we end up having two cranky and restless toddlers which in turn leads to two loud and angry adults. Certainly not a place we want us to be.
That leaves me with a lot of resentment and the guilt that follows. It also throws a spanner on the day’s simple chores, things get chaotic and frustrating.
One day I realized that all this can be solved by just one simple step- going to bed early. And I believed so.
Or rather should I say to sleep when my kids sleep. Which still hasn’t happened. But I am pretty much closer to it.
I still have a toddler(turned 1 last week) whom I feed every 1-2 hours at night. But I have pretty much got myself covered.
Here are my pointers that helped me if you are looking to get more sleep.
1.Switch off all the lights early. I had to replace all the dim white lights in my home to mild yellow bulbs. Also I have an alarm on my phone, which reminds me to turn off all the lights at sharp 8. ( sometimes mom life makes me a forgetful head😉)
2.Put the kids to sleep and start the bed time routine earlier. It doesn’t mean my children sleep sharp at 8. It just makes them understand that we are winding up our day and we will sleep in a few hours.( yes I said , HOURS😉)
3.I turn on my APP “OFFTIME” which lets me watch only Netflix and hotstar post that. This would mean no notifications when someone sends me a whatsapp text or a call. However you can put in your certain contacts on your allowed list and be reachable just for them. I have my parents, husband , sister and my bestie who will reach me out anytime in case they need me .
4.No hard and fast rules on sleeping time. Earlier I had presumed (mind alarm) I needed my children to sleep by 9 pm and I would by 11 pm, thinking I needed at least 2 hours of me time 😉. But then I realized it only stressed me out.
We let the routine take control now.
1. Lights off
2. Turn on the APP
3. Change lil guys’ dresses( sometimes I am too lazy and I skip this part – no guilt there)
4. Read some books for D and let him doze off.
5. Then feed little one and have him snooze too
6. Watch Netflix and I usually doze off to sleep
I haven’t been consistent and on some days life just happens and our rhythm is all messed up. I do not care much on those days and wake up late the next day while my husband takes care of the morning chores on those days.
It did take me more than two weeks to realize, how stress free my day could be if I get to sleep like an average person (on most days) and how better my life would be. Moms need sleep too.
Do you get you share of sleep? Or is it a history still? Share your rhythm in here and we will get to know each other 😊
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