Life App: Sleep

One of my goals for 2011 is to transition from life as a college student to life as a young professional. This includes forming healthier habits. As I mentioned in the previous blog post, the way I’ve decided to take on this new phase of life is through a series of Life Apps. My first Life App download is Sleep. I’m in the midst of changing my sleeping schedule.

Here’s what I’ve learned about my current sleep schedule:

I’ve spent the last 4 years of my life sleeping in, staying up late, and taking late classes. This was the “college life”. Then I piled on a new life as a freelance designer. In other words, I spent most of my late nights designing for clients. I would go to class between 2pm-6pm, come home and eat, work on projects until 2am, sleep in until 12pm, and do it all over again. That worked for quite a while, even though most of my college years as a young entrepreneur was bootstrapped and bootlegged. lol. However, as a recent college graduate, I’m beginning to see the negative effects of this habit. I’m finding that I’m less productive, more tired, and less likely to try new things.

This brings me to the Life App:

I’m downloading the Sleep App to my life mainly because I need it, badly. Even after college, I still usually stay up until 3am and sleep in until 2pm. Totally missing my mornings. I refuse to keep doing this. So, it’s time for a “life-renovation”. There are several new things that have transpired in my life over the past few months, and I would be an idiot to waste my time and not maximize my day to take advantage of them. Making this transition and changing this habit will definitely liberate me and give me back my mornings.

After having an engaging conversation with my creative mentor ( Vincent Hunt) about how a person’s sleep schedule can impact their life, I decided to develop a new sleep schedule that fits into the new lifestyle that I want. This new schedule consists of me ending my day around 11pm and beginning my day around 6am. It’s been almost 2 weeks since I started applying this Life App, and I see the difference. I still have my tendencies to stay up late and sleep in some days, but I see the change in how I feel and how productive I am when I do apply this Life App. For example, I have more space to get more done, and I’m able to complete almost an entire workday before 2pm, which was when I usually get up.

Here are some take-aways if you’re interested in applying the Sleep App to your life:

1. Identify and write down your current sleeping habit and schedule.
2. Identify and write down how this habit and schedule is affecting your life.
3. Create a new sleep schedule that consciously fits into the lifestyle you want.
4. Practice this new schedule for a week.
5. If it works, stick with it. If not, change and repeat until you find one that fits.
6. Journal! Journal! Journal! Write down what you learn and experience from this.
7. And finally, tell and encourage some else to apply this Life App. Pay it forward!

“Trust me, this is something most of us overlook. We’re not proactive about how we can maximize our day. There’s so much more we can accomplish and experience if we only began rethinking how we sleep first.” -Antwon Davis

I hope this helps.