Weekends used to be an opportunity to “catch up” on sleep after getting only six hours of sleep a night during the week. Often times I would oversleep on the weekends. It seemed like a good idea, but I’d end up feeling crummy when I eventually got out of bed. And I’d regret wasting the time instead of accomplishing something productive or fun with my morning. When Monday rolled around, I struggled to get out of bed and often muddled through most of the day with very low energy. I had come to accept this as the reality of not being a morning person and having a job requiring me to arrive at 7:00. That was until I watched a Masterclass by Dr. Matthew Walker, a sleep scientist, and learned about the impact of getting up at the same time every day.

For a few weeks now, I have been going to sleep and waking up at about the same time each day. This practice has resulted in an amazing improvement in my life. I’ve switched to showering at night and made my morning routine more efficient so I can sleep until about 5:40 each workday (about a half hour later than I used to). On weekends I get up at 6:00. I do go to bed a little earlier than I used to on the weekend, but I never really stayed up too late anyway. Each night I’m typically in bed around 10:00 and I read for 30 minutes. The most noticeable result of this new routine is my Monday mornings are no longer a struggle and I have plenty of energy throughout the day. I consistently feel like I’m getting better sleep and I often wake up before my alarm goes off. In addition to the weekday benefits, I’m enjoying the early mornings on the weekend. I typically have an hour or two before my wife gets up and sometimes three hours before the kids get up. I use this time to be productive, go for a run, or watch some TV without taking away any of my weekend family time.