Nothing Good Happens After 2AM.

The Obsession | Edition - 039

Going to bed early has been one of the best habits I've started.

I'm usually in bed by 9 or 10 now. And honestly, it's changed more than just my sleep.

Avoid poor decisions:

From what I've observed, most poor decisions happen late at night. I think of the time I decided to pierce my ear and bleach my hair at 2 AM in college. Nothing productive was happening at that hour.

Going to bed early has helped with just better life choices in general. Not snacking late at night, not playing video games until 2 AM, not doom scrolling. My morning self the next day has very much appreciated this.

I also tend to find that when I stay up too late working, I actually get less done.

Break the stress loop:

When I stay up late for work, I often fall into a stress loop. Analyzing decisions I already made, obsessing over my to-do list with no time or ability to actually change anything. There was actually a study done on this at Baylor University that found writing a to-do list before bed helped people fall asleep faster.

Going to bed early has been a great way to wrap my day before I fall into that loop. A great exercise for me has been to make sure my house is in order and I have a to-do list written out for the next day. Once it's on paper, I can let it go.

Get up earlier:

This is the obvious one. Going to bed early gives you the ability to get up earlier without losing sleep.

I have always found that working out in the morning or getting something personal done before I go to work gives me the most momentum for the day. By the time I sit down at my desk, we have gotten the ball rolling and can cary that into the day.

What structure for your day has worked well for you?

THE WEEKLY 3

1) One Question I Asked Myself

What am I doing after 10 PM that's actually making my life better?

2) One Idea That Shifted Me

Going to bed early isn't about sleeping more. It's about avoiding the stress loop, the bad decisions, and the wasted hours that come from staying up too late.

3) One Challenge to Take Into Your Week

Go to bed an hour earlier than you normally do for five nights this week. Write your to-do list before you lay down. See how your mornings feel by Friday.