I’m usually in bed each night by 8pm, 8:30 at the latest and asleep by 9pm or 9;30pm.  Yeah on a few rare occasions I might be up later but not often because I will not have quality sleep if I go to bed any later.  Leaving me feeling like crap the next day which is not worth it.

Is this early? Yes.  Are most people stunned when they hear this?  Absolutely.  Do I give a flip what others think? Not at all.

The biggest question I get asked is, “How do you manage to get to bed so early?”  And my answer is because sleep is a priority for me.

Not sleeping well throws my whole system out of whack.  Digestion goes off track and sleep quality decreases.  I wake up more during the night while having trouble falling back to sleep.  The next day I feel like a zombie and have trouble focusing on projects.

Early for me used to be 9pm and I would read until 10pm.  But as I get older I’m finding that 9pm is too late.  Oh I’m sure I’ll be the stereotypical retiree who is in bed by 7pm each night and I’m OK with this.

When clients tell me they have trouble getting to bed early, I’m upfront with them about it.  I don’t sugar-coat when I’m coaching.  The reason you are having trouble getting to bed early is because you are not making sleep a priority and not deeming it as something important to you and your health.

Just like with meal planning and exercising, sleep should be considered important and if need be, put it in your schedule.  Everyone is “busy”.  Everyone has stuff to do.  But in order to work at our best we need that downtime in the evenings.  Body and mind need that time to rest.

So I’ll brush off the comments when someone makes fun of my early to bed routine because I know that I’m doing what’s best for me.  And in the end, that is all that matters.