My Hapiness Project - (Throwback) January - Energy - or how to (try) to get more sleep
We're hitting a bit of a time warp here and travelling to the beginning of my Happiness Project for 2022. It's January and I pick up a second hand copy of Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project from my local Salvation Army. I've just finished the amazing book Four Thousand Weeks so am in the right frame of mind for some personal development and take the book home.
In an uncharacteristic move (that I must admit I am quietly proud of) I decide to read one chapter a month to coincide with the months in the book and make the book last the entire year. This also means I have time to put the ideas into practice and see what works for me.
Gretchen decided to start the year by focusing on energy with the reasoning that more vitality will make it easier to stick to a resolution. That included more sleep, more exercise, and mental and physical decluttering.
For the parent of a three year old (or anyone that has children/a full extracurricular load/a full-on-no-breaks kind of job) the idea of having more energy was perhaps originally aspirational to me. I thought - yes there are things I can do but also I am so tired. All. The. Time. How to get past this mental (and physical) hurdle was a challenge and the result rested in some of the good advice Gretchen discovered throughout the month.
Spoiler alert - I'm still tired and probably will be for I don't know, the next 15-20 years?...but! I have made some improvements.
My aspirational goal for the month above!
Anyone with young kids (or a needy pet!) will tell you that sleep is the most important thing. When my son was four months old and started waking up only once in the night I felt like a fog had been lifted. To this day we have good nights and bad nights, and I think that's what people don't tell you. That yes this is a phase but it's followed by another one until forever, so just get on with it.
I had to come to terms with things that were within my control. I can't control when my son wakes up, or when our cat decides she wants more food, or when my bladder alerts me that my 9pm tea was a bad decision at 3am. But I can do little things and make little choices that altogether help calm myself before sleep.
I found a 30 minute wind down and prep for the next day got my worries out of my head. Quiet time and phone away, warm socks and a few nigh time rituals. i.e. all the things experts tell you that you might never actually do, or do once to see if they work. For me getting into the habit was the trick which helped train my body to wind down a bit earlier meaning a bit more sleep overall which did boost energy. And when the stars align and all the above works AND everyone else sleeps through the night I have to say - I feel like a million bucks.
2021 was my year of exercise and 2022 to some extent has been an expansion on that, although I must admit I've been a bit lax lately. I've also expanded my exercise to include some more easy options - in that they are easier for me to fit in around other commitments. Like a brisk walk with a friend, a bike ride that is also a catch up with a friend, yoga that is also a catch up with a friend - you see where I am going here.
Research and my own personal experience supports that doing anything with a peer or friend encourages you to actually follow through on the task. This improvement - by adding another person - and also getting some social gain into the mix really is a happiness booster and I'm certainly going to try retain this.
Gretchen also found out that one of the best ways to lift your mood and boost your mental energy is to engineer an easy success like tackling a long-delayed chore.
The happiness associated with these successes should energize you. Subsequently, feeling energetic will improve your self-esteem and ability to engage with more tasks.
I could not agree more!
Gretchen instituted a 1 minute rule - if it could be done in a minute, just do it now. This in particular was a bit of a breakthrough for me because I've noticed I have a tendency to procrastinate on certain tasks. This helps push me through that and just get to the other side. And it saves a lot of time that would have been procrastinating!
Another important take-away for me was the human tendency to overestimate what you can accomplish in an hour and underestimate what you can do in 5-15 minutes. Short periods of time add up when connected into a habit so for me putting aside 15 minutes a day for writing or training or doing some dinner prep means big gains at the end of the day or week. It's also shown me the power of making a habit in the long-run which has helped solidify some of the other teaching I've been learning in Gretchen's book.
The result of more energy and time for outdoor activities (please ignore the world's ugliest yet most sun-smart hat on my head!)
?