Night Owl’s Story - Early to Bed, Early to Rise

A Night Owl Amidst Early Birds

All my life I’ve been a night owl amidst early birds. It’s my nature to prolong the day. There is something about the quiet of the house after the commotion of the day that I find soothing. During these hours I have the peace of mind to hear my thoughts, to fully absorb the events of the daytime hours, and to settle with focus on reading or writing. Despite attempts at "sleep hygiene" (the now-a-day term for evening rituals or habits that lead to peaceful sleep), I don’t seem able to get to bed until well past midnight. To no avail, I reason with myself that humans were meant to fall asleep with the sunset and awaken with the sunrise, that we’ve done away with that natural cycle with the use of electricity.

Recently, I have committed to move my bed time to 10:30 - 11:00 p.m. But, just the thought of cutting into my night hours unnerves the night owl in me! Still, I’m going to try to get in sync with the rhythm of the majority.

So much of what we do, or don’t do, is the result of our attitude. When it comes to better sleep pattern, mine needs a little tweaking. (Or so the smug early birds have convinced me.) To move toward this commitment I need motivation and for this, I’m soliciting your help. Below is a list of common sleep hygiene rituals. I’d like you to let me know what works best for you. I’ll try whatever you think is most helpful.