Going to Bed On Time

[Maryland_Mike]

When I first started CPAP I was meticulous about my sleep hygiene, but as time has rolled on I've slacked off. If I don't go to bed early enough to get the full eight hours I really feel it the next day. Video games, TV, the Internet, etc. are so tempting when it's time to go to bed, though, and I can be terribly undisciplined. Does anyone have any particular tips for staying "on the wagon" so-to-speak?

[Uncle_Bob]

Mike i try to get home from work and get all the errands taken care of by a certain time. Then i like to leave enough time to do anything i like such as internet, reading or a soak in the tub etc before bedtime so that it does not eat into my regular bed time. What helps keep me on the wagon is in the back of my mind I know that i have a 3 year & 4 year old alarm clocks that will be running into my bedroom at sunrise each morning.

But i must admit holiday times are tougher as far as good sleep hygiene goes.

[RipVW]

Gotta have my 8 hours as well! So, I just force myself to do it, though I'm usually not ready to go to bed at bedtime. For me, the incentive to get me to bed is recalling how poorly I feel after a night of too little sleep!

[GaryG]

Now this may sound obvious, but if you have problems getting to sleep at a certain time, consider if possible sleeping later in the morning. I've done this myself to an extent. Used to get up at 6AM, but found I really needed 7.5 hours of sleep, so now I get up at 7AM, and just get to work an hour later, and work an hour later in the afternoon.

[carbonman]

Does anyone have any particular tips for staying "on the wagon" so-to-speak?

MM, this has troubled my mind all day.......this is what I have come up with.


Young Man.....GO to your room........not one peep out of you.....

......and do NOT make me have to come up there.

It may not be as technical to implement as the other suggestions.
.....hope this helps.

[rubymom]

Carbonman, that's too funny! And has given me the courage (?) to give the answer I'd been thinking of for hours:

Like my mama would have said: Just put on your big boy pants and do it!!

[jnk]

If you tend to think of going to bed as being the end of something, it may help to think of going to bed as the start of something wonderful, instead. About an hour before your target time for going to bed, you may want to start visualizing how great it is going to feel to be there, where the stresses of the day melt away to nothing and you slip into the land of dreams. Begin imagining the feel of the sheets against your skin and how content you will be in the soothing darkness all curled up with that PAP machine purring right beside you. Then nothing should get in the way of your getting there on time.

(That didn't sound anywhere near that weird to me when I was writing it as it does right now when I reread it. I hate it when I weird myself out like that. )

Thanks for the childhood flashback, carbonman. Are you sure you aren't my big brother?

[Maryland_Mike]

Carbonman - that's exactly how I was raised! Even though I'm 45, staying up late still feels like a, "Your not the boss of me" thing. I'm sure there's plenty of psychoanalysis potential in there.

I think I'll go with JNK's thought process for a while...

[Scarlet834]

One thing that's helped me--HULU. There are a few 10:00 pm shows I love, but most of the time I've been able to convince myself to wait.

[Rebecca R]

Young Man.....GO to your room........not one peep out of you.....

......and do NOT make me have to come up there.

Ahhh...childhood flashback is an understatement. You just traumatized me. I heard that so many times every night in my sleep disordered childhood! (I guess I kept everyone else up too). Sorry Carbonman, your method doesn't work, because if it did, I would be asleep right now instead of

imagining the feel of the sheets against your skin and how content you will be in the soothing darkness all curled up with that PAP machine purring right beside [me].

[LinkC]

(That didn't sound anywhere near that weird to me when I was writing it as it does right now when I reread it. I hate it when I weird myself out like that. )

Not at all, jnk! I think we all enjoy the feel of a cozy bed and the prospect of a good night's sleep ahead of us. It's a good thing.

(Now when the damn alarm goes off at 0430...THAT's the "weird" part! )

[SingleMom]

My method is setting things to shut off. I don't use the Admin profile on the comp. I set up a user name and have it time blocked. So when it's bedtime, I get booted! TV is also set to turn off before the next show starts so I don't get too interested. And the best help has been that my couch sucks for sleeping! I have a small apartment, and because of my crappy couch, the ONLY place to sleep is my bed.

[SleepyT]

Hey Maryland Mike,
Lots of folks in your boat! My hang up occasionally is the TV. Mostly CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds type shows. Has anyone noticed they don't take a lot of time rolling the credits these days? One show ends and 2 seconds later the second show starts! Before I can even get off the sofa I'm sucked into another show!! And before you know it....it's past bedtime!

[jnk]

Personally, I think Carbonman's method would work perfectly well for me, especially if he said it while wearing his winter-ninja-biking suit.

[carbonman]

alternate idea:

I PITY the fool,
that ain't in bed.