Last week I posted that I was going to try this crazy new concept called ‘having a bedtime’, and I’m happy to report that I’ve managed to adopt and continue this life-changing habit!

In a nutshell: having a bedtime is glorious.

I could have posted a picture of me sleeping, but this cat is way cuter. You’re welcome.

I firmly believe that I’m a better mother, wife, friend, etc. when I’ve gotten enough sleep. Who knew?! (Actually, I am quite certain everyone on Earth except for me had figured this out by age eight.)

Now, I haven’t exactly stuck to the 11pm rule, but I have gotten really, really close. One night I was up until 11:30pm and one night I was up until almost 2am, but that was because Tim and I have started hosting an Airbnb and let’s just say it got off to a rough start. More on that at a later date. Maybe. 

So 5 out of 7 nights I was able to stick to my goal, and I’m considering that a win! I’ve noticed that when I’m able to fall asleep right around my bedtime of 11pm, I feel much more refreshed in the morning and have way more patience with Clara all day. With about 7 hours of sleep, I’m able to begin my day with an energy I’ve been lacking, and have more motivation to get things done around the house, workout, cross things off my to-do list… you get the idea.

So I guess sleep is pretty important and I’ve been missing out on it for far too long! For me, having a strict bedtime is the only way to ensure that I’ll get a proper amount of sleep. I tell myself that at 11pm I need to put down whatever I’m doing and go to sleep, and it usually works. The idea of an absolute bedtime helps me to limit mindless social media scrolling or trying to finish an entire novel in one night. It also takes one more decision out of my day, since I don’t need to think about how much I need to sleep or whether whatever I’m engrossed in late at night is worth the sleep deprivation it’s going to cause.

Quite simply, having a bedtime has turned into an essential for me, and I’m certainly going to stick with this habit going forward. In another 2 months I’m actually going to make my bedtime 10pm so that I can prepare for this second baby, but I won’t get that far ahead of myself.

Right now I’m celebrating that I managed to make it a week into this new habit, and have zero thoughts of going back to my old, unstructured ways of going to bed. YAY!

Do you have any habits you’ve recently adopted?