From the 52 Small Changes book:

Sleep is the best meditation

– Dalai Lama

Last week’s small change went fairly well – bar the odd day on which one coffee just didn’t sort me out. By the end of the week, I was reaching instinctively for my 600ml bottle of water to kick start my day, before anything else. The slightly harder challenge was staying off the cokes, which I did for the most part except for two days – along with a green leaf salad for Wednesday for lunch and on Friday afternoon during my monthly catch up with O. at Nandos. All told there has been noticeable improvement in the quantity of water (and green tea) I drink, which can’t be such a bad thing.

Sleep has never been my forte. For as long as I can remember, I have been a terrible sleeper. My fitbit data only buttresses that fact, which makes the timing of small change #2 particularly apt.

The Plan

1. Buy blackout blinds for my room to eliminate outside sources of light
2. Stream smooth jazz music primarily to create a sleepy ambience as sleep time draws near
3. Adjust my sleep schedule – I currently wake up around about 5am regardless of when I go to bed. The idea is to try to go to bed by 10pm at the latest.
4. Drink a cup of decaffeinated herbal tea to ease off into sleep.

Currently listening to: Forward Motion – Thousand Foot Krutch