I do not have good sleep. Good sleep being key to living well, especially where my depression is concerned, I need to develop good sleep habits.
I have often tried to develop better sleep hygiene, but I’ve always had one fundamental obstacle; I’m a natural insomniac. Even as a kid, I had a hard time getting good sleep.
When I was in high school, I watched reruns of “Kung Fu” every night until midnight. After each episode I would take a long walk (something in the 5 mile range) and finally get to sleep well after 2am.
Given school started at 9 am, I spent most of my last year of high school in an insomniac, sleep deprived haze.
Now I’m developing new habits, to acquire new skills, to pursue lifelong goals. To do this, I know I need to get better sleep so I’ve returned to basics;
- bed time,
- get up time,
- wind down routine, and
- bed time rules.
In other words, the exact same things I (unsuccessfully) tried every other time.
Being a firm believer in “doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result is insanity,” I needed to try something different, to add a new element.
But what?
Out of pure serendipity I found that missing element: intermittent fasting.
I didn’t set out to start a new “diet,” but conversations I had over the Christmas holiday led me to try out a very basic IF routine, and something happened with my sleep. I started sleeping better, and finding it easier to get up earlier.
Will this be the better sleep habits attempt that finally succeeds?
It’s too early to say for sure, but so far, two weeks in, I’ve had more (and sadly longer) success than any previous time.
