Member-only story
This Is Why You Can’t Get To Bed On Time
And how to change, if you want to
I have an acquaintance. She’s a parent of elementary aged kids. She has a full time job. She has many friends that she enjoys spending time with when she can, and she enjoys working out in the morning.
And she’s exhausted all the time. Beyond exhausted.
And yet, as she explained to me before the start of my 2nd grader’s class play, she cannot get to bed at a reasonable hour every night. She truly wants to. She knows that a reasonable bedtime will make her entire life better, more manageable. But she can’t do it.
She starts each day with the best of intentions. Tonight I am going to get into bed by 10:30pm. This time, I mean it. But then evening rolls around. She managed her small team all day, she dealt with her demanding boss. She got home in time to make dinner for her family. She helped her older son with his homework. And then the kids went to bed. And once again she decided that evening is her time. Or, that she has too much stuff to catch up on after a busy day — bills, reading, life. Or, she deserves time to sit on the couch and watch Netflix after all the stuff that she has to deal with all day.
And then she regrets that time, every single morning.
