This CCC has really got me excited about a few things. I can feel myself forming new habits. Strangely, they are taking effect much sooner than I thought they would. Take my sleep, for example.
I really want to get my point every night for a full 6-8 hours of sleep. I realize the importance of it and plus, it is the ONE thing I got. It's my ONLY gimme point. While I'm going to miss a bunch of points for drinking diet soda - others will have a hard time sleeping like I do. I'm a pretty good sleeper. Takes me forever to fall asleep, but when I do, FREIGHT TRAINS could plow past my window nightly, with horns a blasting and it wouldn't wake me. Seriously, I have a gift.
But I want to do better.
I like my sleep and I have noticed that after about 4 am I wake periodically to check the time. Mostly, I'm concerned with how much sleep I have left. 4:30 am, "Whew! 2 hours left - woot!" 5:15, "Plenty o time!" 6:00, "Half hour left - can I get a HELL YEAH!"
The other day, I read about a guy who says this is bad. He claims it takes away from your rest time. And that you can train yourself to sleep longer, deeper and with more rest if you simply do one thing. Get rid of the clock!
It makes sense. But could it really work? For MORE/BETTER SLEEP it's worth a try.
Starting Sunday night, I got rid of my alarm clock. I figured I'd have nothing to lose.
Wrong!
It's rough. I actually got out of bed that night to search out a clock to find out how much more sleep I had left. I got a pretty bad sleep that night. Was tired all the next day. It didn't seem worth it.
Monday, I remember waking up a couple of times, but I didn't get out of bed. To my surprise I fell back to sleep pretty quickly. ONE night and already there was improvement? "Nah," I figured "It's probably cause I was so sleepy from Sunday.
Tuesday, I only woke up once. Very briefly. I got the best night's sleep I've had in a very long time. But Wednesday topped it.
Wednesday, I got the best night's sleep I've had in a lot of years. Didn't wake up once. Not ONCE. I feel like it must feel to strike gold! Like I've discovered a new planet or asteroid. And had it named after me. I found myself walking around all day feeling bad for all the people who have never slept through the night like I just did. I mean, I'm almost smug about it.
Feels good, man.
Who'd have thought something as simple as getting rid of that clock could make such a profound change? In such a short time, too. I get that I will have ups and downs with this, but I tell you. If I NEVER sleep another night like that again, I feel it was worth it. Because May 9th, 2012 I had one of the top 5 sleeps of my life. It feels better that I planned for it. Even worked for it a little. So, it makes it that much more cool.
Want to get a better night's sleep? Try getting rid of your clock. It is working well for me. I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing with it periodically. But, I have high hopes for this thing. I'll try to keep the "smug" to a minimum.
If you have some experiences you could share about getting a better night's sleep. Please do in comments. Every little bit helps.