Every month this year, I’m trying something new and documenting how it went. Check out what I’ve done in past months here. For the last month of 2018, I decided a little self-torture couldn’t hurt.
“How can we stop that feeling of things going too fast, of missing out on our own lives? It comes back to learning new things…Are you learning a new skill? Are you cooking something different? Introducing novelty into your life when you can will make the memories stand out and stretch time in a way.”
Patricia Costello, in this NBC News article about our perception of time
OK, folks, this is it.
The last month of the year.
If you’re just joining me, I made a resolution back in January to try something new at least once a month for every month of 2018. For some months, it was exciting and purposeful – like March, for example, when I tried seeing a movie by myself (all the candy for meeee!)
For others, it was still exciting, but my planning was less intentional. If you leave your apartment enough times, you’re bound to do something new at least once, and I did a fair bit of traveling to new places this year.
Looking back, I’m glad that I took on this challenge because I want to keep trying new things as often as I can in my life. That quote I mention above reflects my own feelings about time ever since I graduated from college and lost the structure that school had given me for the past 18 years.
I floated from task to task for awhile, trying new things (digital marketing! Working a full-time job!) that were not exactly novel, but became benchmarks on my squiggly line to who-knows-where.
This year, I moved to a city that’s closer to the nature fix I was severely lacking. I left my old job, took a seasonal role that took me out to Wyoming for the summer, and am now trying my hand at freelancing.
All of that was scary, and new, and super, super freeing. And I feel like 2018 has been a longer year than 2017’s dumpster fire seemed. I successfully slowed it down – and I chalk that up a lot to forcing myself into so many new situations.
Now, on to December.
Once More, With Feeling
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a night owl.
The night before my first day of high school, I stayed up until 2 AM finishing a science project my new teacher had assigned my class for the summer (I know, what a nerd.) This was the start of many late nights over the next eight years through high school and college, followed by sleeping in many mornings.
Mornings can be lovely, but today my body clock is well adjusted to a late-night schedule. As someone who needs a good amount of sleep to function (some might call this an understatement), that usually means sleeping in.
And even if I try to go to bed before 10 PM, oftentimes I’ll bolt upright from my pillow and scramble to write down five thoughts that I just came up with. Thanks, brain.
Now that I’m out of school and adjusting to the working world, though, I’ve realized that I need to nudge my body clock onto a regular schedule that involves being productive in the morning. Otherwise, it’s much harder for me to get anything done later in the day.
Enter this month’s challenge: waking up at 5 AM every day for a week. (Disclaimer: I woke up at 5:30 on Sunday to go skiing and ease my body into the shock, then set my alarm for 5 Monday through Friday.)
Waking Up at 5 AM
The thing about waking up early that people don’t seem to account for is that personally, success hinges on also going to bed early. I can wake up early all I want and continue going to bed at 11 or 12, but after a few days I know I’ll be a monster. If I want to wake up and be productive, I have to keep getting 8 hours of sleep every night.
Which I did – for the most part. Still, they say it takes at least 3 weeks to form a habit, so my brain was not quite adjusted after a few days of going to bed early. I would lie there in bed, trying to quiet my mind, and not always be successful till it was well past 8:30.
By Thursday, my schedule had caught up to me and I was starting to feel it. I felt exhausted by the early afternoon, so much so that I drank a cup of coffee after lunch at a poor attempt to boost my energy.
I’d gone to bed late the night before (9:30 – I know, I’m a grandma now) working on setting up my new laptop. This meant fewer than 7 hours of sleep since it usually takes me a little while to drift off – see afore-mentioned failure to quiet my mind. Eventually, I took a nap at 3:30pm because I just couldn’t function anymore (note: benefits of freelancing from home.)
The upside throughout the week was that even if I didn’t sleep enough and was tired the next day, that put me in a good position to fall asleep easily the next night. Naps snuck in when necessary, but I was determined to not hit snooze when my phone started jingling at 5.
It was pretty much the longest week ever. And I’m so glad I tried it.
When I woke up at 5, I worked out in the morning and still had plenty of time to make breakfast. I read several chapters of my current book before I started work. I drove hours through the cold New England morning to Plum Island, Massachusetts, to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic.
My mornings were way more relaxed and productive than they usually are, which set me up for more relaxing and productive days.
No, I won’t be waking up at 5 AM every day in 2019. But 6 sure seems doable.
—
Though the year is over, I’m planning to continue trying new things as often as I can, even if I don’t document them. I’m eager to slow down time and “live in the moment” more (apparently all that meditation has turned me into a yogi).
Learning something new from trying something I’ve never done before keeps life interesting.
And there are so many new things I want to try.
Cheers to 2019, and here’s hoping it’s a wonderful and fulfilling year for you!