It’s dawning on me more and more how important it is to get enough sleep and wake up early. When you go to sleep late you are more likely to be tired when you wake up. It throws you into a state of reaction where you are responding more to external things rather than approaching the activities of your life with planned action. For example, if you go to sleep late, you are more likely to hit snooze until you absolutely have to get up. This puts you in a rush, which stresses you out, and makes you more likely to miss important things. You will hurry to find an outfit, you will hurry to shower and do body maintenance things, all the while under stress. You are more likely to forget things in your rush out the door, and you will not have time for unplanned events like heavy traffic or leaving something at home. Your whole day could be affected by the lack of sleep and the need to rush through things. You may arrive at work late and looking worn out and feeling tired even before your day has begun.
Going to bed in a timely matter is hard for me because I often lack the discipline to tell myself, “Okay, time to stop what you’re doing and prepare for bed.” To this end, I’m going to limit my computer usage at home especially in the few hours before I go to bed. If I really do need to work on something (which I usually do not) I can do it when I get up in the morning. Having to go to work is a better deadline than having to go to sleep.
It’s so much better to be up early before you have to be anywhere. You can plan a breakfast, listen to the radio while you get ready, iron your wrinkly pants, and even maybe make the bed. When I get to work early I feel a lot better about everything in general and more positive and optimistic. I’m not worried what people will think about me rushing in. I’ll have an easier time finding a parking place. And I can feel more peaceful as I meet the day instead of running to try to keep up with it.