One of the really annoying great things about my cell phone is the alarm.  When I set it, it likes to mock me make sure I’m setting it for the right time by telling me, “This alarm is set for __ hours __ minutes from now.”

When I see something higher than 8 hours, I do a little internal dance of excitement.  I love my sleep, and try to get at least 8 hours each night, but it’s really difficult.  There are simply too many things I like to do with my time, and not enough hours in the day to accomplish them all.

I’m naturally a night owl.  If I have a long stretch (like a vacation) without a scheduled time to get up, I naturally adjust to staying up until about midnight and waking up at 8:00 or 9:00.  I have to fight like crazy to make my sleep schedule any different than this.  If I don’t pay attention to what time it is, suddenly it’s 10:30 or 11:00 and I should have been in bed hours ago.

Since my ulcerative colitis diagnosis , I have noticed an increase in the amount of sleep I need.  Freshman year of college, I could easily stay up until 4:00 am and make it to my 8:00 class.  Once I got sick, 8… 9… even 10 hours of sleep never seems to be enough.  Add in Half Ironman training and I am one tired cookie.

It is even harder in the summer, when the sun stays out so late at night, but my new goal is this: no less than 8 hours of sleep at night, preferably closer to 9.  It might sound easy, but that means being asleep by 9:00 pm at the latest Sunday through Wednesday nights!

Maybe putting it in writing will help hold me accountable to the clock, hmm?

Are you a night owl?  A morning person?  What are your tricks for getting enough sleep?