I'm on the tail end of
my current goal: Sleeping 8+ hours a night.
I've been tracking the
hours that I sleep and whether I hit snooze in order to not only evaluate the
duration, but also the quality of the sleep I get. I also wanted to
identify if I had any bad habits that were making me stay up later than I
needed and to correct them using micro habits.
Tools:
- At first I was just recording my time and observations
in my Success Journal (a tool utilized by the Total Body Reboot program).
- On 4/2/2015 I downloaded the Sleepbot app, which allows
you to "Check in" on the app when you are sleeping and
"Check out" when you are awake. It can monitor your movements
and sounds, but I only do movements (I keep the phone under my pillow so I
don't see the light). Once you start moving in your sleep toward the end
of your REM cycle, it tries to wake you up in a more natural manner that
aligns with your normal sleep cycle. On mine, it is a very gentle alarm so
it doesn't jerk you awake. I intend to only use this for a short period so
that I can begin to recognize when I should be waking up and do so without
hitting snooze, instead of relying on a traditional alarm clock that is
just dependent on time.
Below is the data and
chart that represent my sleep. The hours are in increments of six minutes. And
yes, this is me geeking out a bit.
| Date | Hours | Snooze? | Percent of Goal Achieved |
| 3/17/2015 | 8 | Y | 100.00% |
| 3/18/2015 | 8.1 | Y | 101.25% |
| 3/19/2015 | 7.6 | N | 95.00% |
| 3/20/2015 | 8.1 | Y | 101.25% |
| 3/21/2015 | 10.5 | N | 131.25% |
| 3/22/2015 | 8.5 | N | 106.25% |
| 3/23/2015 | 8.1 | Y | 101.25% |
| 3/24/2015 | 8.6 | N | 107.50% |
| 3/25/2015 | 8.2 | N | 102.50% |
| 3/26/2015 | 8.6 | Y | 107.50% |
| 3/27/2015 | 7.5 | Y | 93.75% |
| 3/28/2015 | 9.6 | N | 120.00% |
| 3/29/2015 | 8 | Y | 100.00% |
| 3/30/2015 | 8.2 | Y | 102.50% |
| 3/31/2015 | 8.3 | Y | 103.75% |
| 4/1/2015 | 8.3 | Y | 103.75% |
| 4/2/2015 | 8.2 | Y | 102.50% |
| 4/3/2015 | 9.5 | N | 118.75% |
| 4/4/2015 | 7 | Y | 87.50% |
| 4/5/2015 | 7.6 | Y | 95.00% |
| 4/6/2015 | 8.5 | Y | 106.25% |
| 4/7/2015 | 7.8 | Y | 97.50% |
Observation from data:
1.
Last week, I noticed
that when I hit snooze, I end up feeling really groggy and less well rested, so
I am going to tweak my goal to include 8+ hours a night without hitting
snooze. I should also add a column for how rested I feel.
2.
Those big spikes tend to
be weekends, though toward this past weekend they tapered off because we stayed
up late watching Seasons 3-5 of The Walking Dead when really we should have
been hiking or being active (a later goal).
I am definitely doing
well with only 5 days with less than 8 hours of sleep. This is really great
progress and lays a really nice foundation for overall health. At
some point I'd like to test how my body reacts to caffeine levels and how
certain foods affect my sleep as well.
Observation from habit
evaluation:
a. This is a goal I am currently working on and
will post about soon. As I mentioned above, I am curious to see how the things
I am putting in my body are affecting the quality of sleep I am getting. At
present, I am limiting my caffeine intake to 16 oz of coffee a day. I will be
testing this amount in the near future.
2. Be upstairs, getting ready for bed by 9pm.3. Lights out at 10pm.
4. Put things out of mind between 9 and 10
a. I run into the hamster wheel of worry around
this time and so I’ve had to put special effort into keeping my thoughts light
before bed. If I am really having issues, I’ll do a quick brain dump into my
journal.
Having trouble sleeping?
Check out Kevin’s REM
Rehab ebook to get back on track.
Upcoming Goal:
·
Avoiding ANTI foods
o
Journaling foods
consumed and challenges
o
Evaluating habits and
implementing micro habits to make better (i.e., more varied and nutrient dense) food
choices
o
Tweaking amounts of food
depending on energy levels and expenditures
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