A few weeks ago, I posted about finding joy and happiness through healthy habits. I said that a healthy body leads to a healthier, happier mind…and I stand by that. But…well, I blithely said that I would start by improving my sleep habits and signed off.

It hasn’t been that easy. Not even close. Turns out, I like to stay up late. I also feel happier when I get up early. So the only problem is not getting enough sleep and being a zombie through half the day (and I am not one of those people who can get a few hours of sleep and function well—if I don’t get seven to eight hours regularly, I’m useless).

Going to sleep earlier hasn’t been easy. I should mention that those days when I went to sleep earlier, I felt better the next day. You can still sleep eight hours and go to bed at 2 a.m., but that eight hours doesn’t seem to be nearly has restful as eight hours starting at 10 or 11 p.m. So I have to problems: how to make myself want to go to sleep earlier and then how to do it regularly enough to form a good habit.

One reason I love going to sleep late is that I curl up in bed and read for a few hours. I guess I could not read in bed, but then I’d lay there wishing I could read with a mind going working on this problem or that (I guess it’s that pesky anxiety—reading soothes that; it’s my escape. Sometimes I wonder if excessive reading hurts me instead of helps). I could give myself a time limit, say 30 minutes, for reading, but if I’m at a good part, I blow right through that without blinking.

Any ideas? Do you like to go to sleep early or do you struggle? What do you do to calm down your mind? Let me—and everybody else—know.

Choose Joy.

—A