Jason A. Belt

Adults need a bedtime too – It’s all about routine.

As I have gotten older, my desire to do really cool things has not diminished, but the windows of time I have to do them definitely have. That is the opportunity cost of raising a family and choosing to chase professional goals.

One of the specific windows of time that I and many other people like me would sacrifice is the time spent sleeping. I mean, I love to sleep, but when faced with doing something awesome, in the free time I finally have, is hard to pass up. I would say to myself, ‘Self, I really want to see what happens next in Season 4 of Ozark, but it’s approaching 11:30 pm and I need to get to bed’

-Enter Netflix autoplay-

I hold my breath and think hard. 

‘Ok, just one more’ 

Then I settle into the couch for one more episode and a much later bedtime.

Not only does a later bedtime and less sleep have a negative impact, but so does the consistency in the window chosen. So, getting more sleep is better, but then the consistent bedtime plays into the level of restfulness and how we feel after.

In this article published on HBR by Laura Vanderkam, She clearly outlines why adults need a bedtime, that is consistent, and the positive results from her study. It is a great read and I suggest you read and consider a consistent bedtime that also includes more than 7 hours of sleep. 

I have been using my Apple Health reminders for just over 2 years reminding me to approach bedtime in the same window and I have set a sleep goal of 7 hours each night. Also, I have been pairing this routine with an Oura Ring to track my sleep and this has really helped me see the impact of my choices during the day and leading up to bedtime that negatively impacted my sleep. This also helped me see the connection between that consistent bedtime, the amount of sleep, and how I felt the next day. 

This change and being a data person, seeing the data to understand the inputs and then the outputs have increased my quality of life.

So, when I am faced with the next episode of Battlestar Galactica set to autoplay, or the prospect of keeping my consistent bedtime, 90% or more I am choosing my bedtime routine. I mean, I would be lying to you if I said that I didn’t want to watch one more episode of that SciFi classic, but at my age and with my goals, I need to sleep. Have a great weekend and happy sleeping! So say we all!