I am getting tired of my shit. I have been trying to go to bed at a reasonable hour literally for about 10 years. But now that I'm in my early 30s, I need it more than ever. I would love to get a good 8 hours, be able to wake up on time instead of hitting snooze and not constantly having rushed mornings and being late to work. I'm tired of feeling tired and low energy all the time, but especially during the afternoons when the slump hits me HARD. I also want to feel the benefits of adequate sleep on my body, health, energy, and temperament.
The biggest barrier is getting started on my getting ready for bed routine. It's very long because I take a shower at night and it is impossible for me to take short showers (I also don't want to and want to enjoy my long showers). But when I think about all the steps of getting ready - taking off my contacts and clothes, showering, drying off, putting on oil and lotion, skincare routine, flossing, brushing my teeth and putting on my pajamas- I get overwhelmed and can't bring myself to just get started. By the time I get home from yoga or the gym, it's already late - like 8pm. I think I would need to start my routine at 9:30pm to be in bed on time. But I feel like that doesn't give me enough time to myself (social media, funny videos, reading articles, reading my book, or watching my show while eating dinner, cleaning up, etc). And because I want to keep enjoying these things, I ignore the clock and procrastinate and don't get started until at least 11pm. And then I fall asleep anywhere from 1am-2am. I honestly don't really understand the time vacuum and exactly why my routine is sooo long. I don't know how to shorten it because each step feels necessary. I'm envious of people who take 10-15 minutes for everything but I just can't. By the time I get out of the bathroom, I'm always shocked by how much time has gone by.
Even the two days I work from home, I still end up doing the same thing.
But I'm sick of it and want the feeling of being consistently well-rested.
For those of you who have had similar struggles but managed to overcome them, please share your tips on what worked for you! I know I'm capable of changing very long-term bad habits that seemed insurmountable (first with working out and more recently with cooking meals regularly). But for some reason, I haven't been able to crack this one.