For several months, I found myself in a rut of burning the midnight lamp. I kept crawling into bed plugging my ears and attaching my eye mask when waterfowls did their usual symphonic melody at the break of dawn. I enjoy the silence of the night. My thoughts tend to be structured without distraction, and my creativity flows. Still, I knew it was a bad habit that needed an imminent change.
Falling into routines can happen easily unless we take conscious efforts to analyse our actions to evaluate why we do the things we do, and if the things we do are valuable or needs to be changed.
They say humans are creatures of habit, however, I think that different personality types might be more prone to habits. Based on my psychological readings, my personality trait is regarded as that of an upholder, which makes me form habits easily. I set personal rules that I abide by, and I am also mindful and abiding by rules set by others.
Therefore, my habits tend to be deliberate in my personal life, with justifiable reasons as to why I do the things that I do, both good and bad.
Regardless of how many routine tasks I have on my agenda, I'm constantly analysing and prioritising my list of tasks. I always shuffle the order of my tasks if there is any external factor that might be restricting me from accomplishing an immediate task.
Yes, there are different kinds of habits that carry different consequences.
I would not class my bad sleeping habits as trivial, because I am one of those individuals who need proper sleep to function at an optimal. However, I think what kept me going for so long was the fact that I didn't stress over my bad habit; simply because I am aware of my innate ability to drop bad habits and change according to my goals and the rationality of my circumstances.
I consciously did what I thought was essential at the time, and decided I'd cross that bridge and make the necessary change at the right time.
Was it the smartest of decisions?
Probably not, but here I am.
I do take into consideration the temporary change from slow-living on the canals. The natural environment and closeness to wildlife were conducive to my sleeping habit. I felt like I was at one with nature.
However, I'm temporarily landlocked, and although I maintained that habit for several months, I have successfully dropped that bad habit overnight, and I've been adjusting better than I thought I would.
I'm happy to say that my circadian rhythm is supposedly balanced. So after several months of sleeping between 3 AM and 5 AM, and waking up between 9:30 - 10 AM, I've gone back to a routine of sleeping between the hours of 10 - 11 PM, and presently, my body shuts down if I am not tucked into bed by then.
I also find myself waking up at 6 AM naturally. Some days I feel rested, and on other days like today it's as if a truck ran over me, yet I'm still firing on all cylinders.
How locked are your habits? Do you struggle to change your bad habits?
One main challenge is that I'm struggling to write my blogs during the daytime.
Does anyone have that problem?
This is nothing new to me though.
The glare in the daylight has always affected my ability to focus because it makes me want to be outdoor doing activities.
To improve this, I do extensive meditative work for my attention deficient challenges, which works well.
I would say that I have many locks, but my mindset, my sense of accountability and responsibility, and my inner drive to succeed make me regard my own will as my master key to unlocking all my bad habits.
I was content and optimistic about my old bad habit, but I am feeling better within myself with my new sleeping habits. Still, I need to work on structuring my daily agendas, and also make little tweaks to improve my attention and focus, such as getting a good headset and listening to calming and concentrating music while working.
I'd like to hear your thoughts and if you have similar challenges, what are some of your coping mechanisms?
All photos are mine. Taken in Leamington Spa, UK
