One Little Word: February 2016

This year I’m participating in Ali Edwards’ One Little Word workshop. My word is “clear.” All of my OLW posts are here.

What’s one thing that would probably make me feel more clear-headed but that I never get enough of?

SLEEP.

When I saw this month’s prompt — to choose something I could do every day this month in the spirit of my word — I quickly realized that going to bed earlier had to be that thing for me.

My goal was to be in bed or at least on my way there — like, in the bathroom brushing my teeth, which is one of the last things I do before crawling under the covers — by 11:00 every night. After months of regularly staying up until midnight, I thought 11:00 would be an improvement.

The good? I’ve been pretty successful, especially on “school” nights, and I do feel more rested.

The bad? I don’t really feel like my head is any clearer, because going to bed earlier means I have less downtime. There is little time to pause, to think, to reflect. After getting the girls to bed, doing dishes, straightening up, and getting ready for the next day I’ve got…an hour? Maybe an hour and a half on a good night? And then it’s bedtime.

Somehow, going to bed earlier has coincided with feeling like all I do is work and deal with the logistics of keeping my family running. I know this isn’t entirely true — I still find bits of time to sew, there’s time on weekends for fun outings, I manage to read for at least 10-15 minutes most evenings. But those times feel very few and far between.

More sleep is a positive thing, and concentrating on it for a month has definitely made a difference. Going to bed by 11:00 feels more like a habit now than it was before, and it’s one that I’d like to continue. But if I don’t figure out how to deal with this perception that I have no free time on weeknights, the habit will be tough to keep.