November is "Ipecac Gets Some Sleep" Month!

I don’t get enough sleep. During the week I average between five and six hours of sleep a night and then try to make up for it on the weekend, often sleeping up to ten hours. It’s not healthy and I need to do better. I’ve lost weight, my blood sugar is excellent and I’m generally in good health. Getting more sleep is the next step in improving my health.

The funny thing is that I love to sleep; I’m definitely not one of those, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” types. I also love the time just before sleeping. I have a great nightstand with an open bookshelf and every night I drink a bottle of water as I look through various news apps on my iPod, check the next day’s weather, and then read until I fall asleep. (I just finished Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and I’ve started The Arabian Nights). It’s a very comfortable and relaxing way to end the day. But I also love that time at night when everyone else has gone to bed and I can play Xbox, work on the computer or watch TV undisturbed. And that’s why I don’t go to bed on time.

For some months I’ve been meaning to dedicate a month to catching up on sleep but I keep pushing it off because of things I “need to get done”. Well, for good or ill, I’m committing and that month is November. Every night during the week I’m going to try to be in bed by 11:30 and lights out by midnight. This will get me around 7 hours of sleep a night, a marked improvement.

Of course, there will be exceptions, for example this very weekend when we’ll be at a game convention. I’m giving myself permission to stay up late. But aside from that, I’m going to hold myself to this schedule. I’m hoping to establish a new routine I can stick to.

I’ll let you know how it goes.