My 5 sleep goals

Akrasia
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I was thinking about how to best beemind sleep. I was frustrated about how to do it until I realized that the key is to beemind specific actions that I can actually take, so I came up with a 5-goal system that covers the important actions.

Here are a few key things I realized:

  • it doesn’t work for me to try to sleep or wake up at the same time every day because each day’s needs and schedule is different.
  • but I still need to predetermine the time a bit ahead of time or I won’t stick to it.
  • I need a “wind down” time where electronics are off to help me get to sleep.

So I made the following system of goals:

  1. First, I need to choose a time each day to wind down (electronics off), a time to turn off lights and lie down, and a time to wake up.
  2. I then need to set the alarm for wake-up time.
  3. Then, I need to actually wind down at the designated time.
  4. Next, I need to actually turn off the lights and try to sleep at the designated time.
  5. And finally, I need to get up and in the shower when the alarm goes off.

This has been helping me. By separating each specific action into its own goal, I can focus on what I can control, and not worry about what I can’t control or trying to figure out the exact time I fall asleep or wake up.

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Checklists can be quite helpful. I have one on Habitica for my morning routine.
Should probably have a bed-time one as well.

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I got some unorthodox advice this time!

Winding down

I also use it when hosting D&D campaigns and for focussing.

Falling asleep

I tend to just pass out in front of the computer and then eventually drag myself to the bed where I fall asleep instantly. Not having regular lectures or fixed working hours does have its downsides, too :wink: Which also led to me creating a morning routine goal recently. And I’m glad I’m not the only one who beeminds that.

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Very interesting , thanks for the write up! I assume that…

  1. Then, I need to actually wind down at the designated time.
  2. Next, I need to actually turn off the lights and try to sleep at the designated time.

point to different designated times, right?

I guess I’m lucky that I can make a consistent schedule work, where I always have to go to sleep before 1 a.m. I stick to this during the week and am able to sleep in on the weekends without it bothering me or throwing off my rhythm.

My goals:

  • Sleep before 1 a.m. (Deadline set to 1 a.m.)
  • Wake up before 9 a.m. (Deadline set to 9 a.m.)

I btw. use alarmy as my alarm clock[1], which has a feature where you can only end the alarm when taking a photo, which has to be very similar to a photo I’ve taken before. I have taken a photo of my radiator in my bathroom, so I have to wake up and actually stand up and move to the bathroom and take a picture there. By this point I’m awake enough to exercise some discipline and will not go back to sleep.

Right now I’m working on getting up half an hour earlier and will try to move my deadline for my goal a little bit closer to that soon.

  1. Actually, I use 4 alarms every morning: two from the native iPhone application 10 minutes and one minute before 8:30 a.m., a sleep cycle alarm between 8:00 and 8:30 and the alarmy alarm at 8:29. ↩︎

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I love the idea of a photo-triggered alarm clock. That’s just great!

Back when I felt like I was glued to the bed in the morning I used this crazy sonic bomb alarm clock. You put the shaky bit underneath your mattress or pillow and the next morning you’ll be close to a heart attack. Also makes for a great prank.

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That video… so full of anticipation. Or as a youtube commenter wrote: “Jump scare clock”.

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I’m telling you! This clock is so intense sometimes I sank back into my bed exhausted from the alarm :wink: Which is ultimately why I stopped using it.

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Yeah, part of my system is that every day I choose 3 different times: a time to wind down, a time to go to bed, and a time to wake up.

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