Comments on: The battle over bedtime, continued (or: Imperfect progress is still progress)

By: Janet Bailey

Janet Bailey — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:04:58 +0000

@Yumminess – The combination of light from the monitor and the mental stimulation is definitely not conducive to sleep. I have to turn the computer OFF or I am drawn inexorably toward it…Good luck with your own imperfect progress–

By: A Little Yumminess

A Little Yumminess — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:17:25 +0000

So many of us struggle with this. The computer needs to be turned off. I feel so wired afterwards that sleeping is tough! Goal is 11 pm every night and I often fail!

By: Web Wanderings 3 | Songtaneous

Web Wanderings 3 | Songtaneous — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:24:26 +0000

[...] Here is one post I don’t have to write thanks to the Mindful Time Management blog. (Don’t forget to read part 2.) [...]

By: Janet Bailey

Janet Bailey — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:28:22 +0000

@Char – Yay for recognizing it, and for signing off for the night!

@Clay – For me, there’s a difference between focusing on going to bed early and falling asleep quickly. Earlier bedtime does require focus because it means changing an ingrained (default) habit. But yes, stressing about sleeplessness is indeed self-defeating. NYTimes blog has a good post on the problems inherent in making the goal about falling asleep faster: http://nyti.ms/aE4AZI

By: Clay Ward

Clay Ward — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:28:53 +0000

I find that the battle to go to bed early is insolvable as long as I treat it as a battle. Why? Because the way to promote a restful mind-state is to promote feeling restful. So stressing about sleeplessness is the worst way to fall asleep.

Instead I simply wait to become tired. Or read a book till I feel tired. Sometimes I don’t get as much sleep as I’d like. I applaud you for turning your laptop and television off early if that helps you begin to feel restful. We all are unique.

By: Char

Char — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:23:51 +0000

i like following your progress with this and seeing how you use mindfulness as a way to work with sleep patterns.
i particularly enjoyed this line:

although shutting the computer off by 9:00 doesn’t guarantee I’ll meet the early bedtime goal, not shutting the computer off by 9:00 does guarantee that I won’t fall asleep until much later than I want to.

that definitely is true for me too – i just hadn’t realized that was the case until right now at 11:30PM as I sign off for the night.

see i can do it too.