Day 25 Progress update

Wow, I can't believe I am on day 25.  I sort of disappeared from the internet for a bit and also stopped actively tracking my habitspark progress.  I just filled it out for the past 1.5 weeks.  The good news is that I've still been getting up every day at 6 AM (besides a couple days where I had alarm trouble).  I've also been exercising every morning, although I've started to have more trouble with my feet (plantar fasciitis) and my back, so lately I've been concentrating on stretching & rehab moves.  I've been sticking to my very small work goal, but haven't gone much further than that.  However, I really haven't been following the nighttime routine.  I don't know why I have so much resistance to going to bed at night!

Here is my progress so far:

	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon
Goal	5/20	5/21	5/22	5/23	5/24	5/25	5/26	5/27	5/28	5/29	5/30	5/31	6/1	6/2	6/3	6/4	6/5	6/6	6/7	6/8	6/9	6/10	6/11	6/12	6/13
Get out of bed at 6 AM	.	1	2	!	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	.	.	18	19
First thing in morning exercise 20 min+	.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Second thing is to get started work 5 min	.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Nighttime routine starting at 8 PM								1	2	3	!	!	!	1	!	!	!	!	!	!	!	!	!	!
Healthy Breakfast																								1	2

I'm starting the habitspark diet foundations as well, so far so good with breakfast.

Major milestone: Update day 11

Wow, I feel almost like a new person.  I haven't had a regular sleep schedule since I was 15 or so, and I've been having trouble falling asleep & at times pretty awful insomnia for about ten years.  Well last night, I went to bed at 10 PM, and I think I must have been asleep within 10 minutes!!  I don't think I have once fallen asleep so quickly in 8 years (outside of when I've stayed up till 3 in the morning or pulled an all-nighte the night before).  It feels amazing. 

What's the difference?  I started working with a psychologist, and I think having that support & help in planning good goals has helped hugely. I'm also really focusing on small steps.  Here's my habitspark progress:

	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon
Goal	5/20	5/21	5/22	5/23	5/24	5/25	5/26	5/27	5/28	5/29	5/30
Get out of bed at 6 AM	.	1	2	!	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
First thing in morning exercise 20 min+	.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Second thing is to get started work 5 min+	.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Nighttime routine starting at 8 PM								1	2	3

However, I'm foresee a potential problem today and tomorrow.  I have a big project due & won't be able to work on it tomorrow.  But today is a holiday, I don't feel like working on it, and I'm having trouble getting started.  However, if I don't get started soon I'm going to have to stay up late to work on it...

Progress report, Day 8

First of all, I want to thank everybody who has commented here and on twitter with supporitve words, it really does help. I think things have been going very well.  I've done very well on getting up in the morning (which is huuuuge for me), exercising, and getting started on work.  It feels fabulous to start the day so early.

	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Goal	5/20	5/21	5/22	5/23	5/24	5/25	5/26	5/27	5/28
Get out of bed at 6 AM	.	1	2	!	1	2	3	4	5
Get in bed, lights out, by 10 PM	1	2	!	!	!	!	!
First thing in morning exercise 20 min+	.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Second thing is to get started work 5 min+	.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Nighttime routine starting at 8 PM								1

However, the habit I have not been keeping is going to bed by 10.  This means that I've really not been getting enough sleep, so I am tired all of the time (except first thing in the morning and when with friends).  I am proud of myself for getting up and exercising despite not having enough sleep, but I don't think this is sustainable.  However, I either have trouble falling asleep at 10 or I have resistance to stopping whatever I am doing to sleep.  So I've decided, for now, to let go of that particular goal.  I "retired" it.  Instead, my new goal is to have an everning routine in place that will make it easier to get to bed.  At 8pm every day, I plan to shut off the internet.  This will make me less likely to spend time on the computer, and I've noticed that the light of the screen really keeps me up, plus I tend to stay up late browsing on the internet.  This also means trying to get my work done earlier in the day.  After brushing & flossing, I'll engage in actiities that help me to relax but don't keep me awake, like TV, reading (non-ficiton), and lying in bed listening to podcasts (I like "this american life" and language podcasts). 

So far so good.  I fell asleep around 10:30 last night.

My next goals are to increase social time & adventures.  Also, I am thinking about doing Habitspark Diet Foundations starting June 6th http://www.habitspark.com/forums/threads/habitspark-diet-foundations.54/

Progress, Day 5

Well, I had a bit of trouble with my goals these past couple of days. 

	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue
Goal	5/20	5/21	5/22	5/23	5/24
Get out of bed at 6 AM	.	1	2	!	1
Get in bed, lights out, by 10 PM	1	2	!	!
First thing in morning exercise 20 min+	.	1	2	3	4
Second thing is to get started work 5 min+	.	1	2	3	4

 I stayed up way too late on Sunday night and then had insomnia to boot.  So I let myself sleep in an extra hour.  I didn't have time to exercise before a left for work, so I was starting to feel pretty down on myself.  But then I realized, I could exercise at work. The first chance I had, I went for a walk and stretched.  I'm very proud of myself for not giving up even though I was tired and had made some bad choices.  I stayed up too late again last night, but I got up right at 6 and started my exercise.

Day 3 Progress update

	Fri	Sat	Sun
Goal	5/20	5/21	5/22
Get out of bed at 6 AM	.	1	2
Get in bed, lights out, by 10 PM	1	2	3
First thing in morning exercise 20 min+	.	1	2
Second thing is to get started work 5 min+	.	1	2

Hi, above you can see my progress.  I started Friday night, which is why all the morning things weren't done that day.  So far so good!  The only thing is that I couldn't fall asleep at 10 on Friday and ended up falling asleep at maybe 2 in the morning, so I was really tired Sat and still tired today.  This morning I meant to take a short nap, but it turned into about an hour 20, and I've resorted to coffee because I need to get a lot of work done today.  Both things aren't great ideas for getting my sleep on track, but as long as I keep getting up at 6 AM, I think I'll see improvements.

New set of goals

Hello... again... world!

I have been pretty busy with travel, projects, etc. and unfortunately let my initial goals go.  However, I have done some major thinking & planning and have a new set of goals.  These are ranked by priority:

1. Get out of bed every day at 6 AM (actually have an alarm on my phone to wake me up within a 20 min window at 6 AM)
2. Get into bed every day by 10 AM (I will consider it okay to make 1-2 exceptions per weekmake for social occasions, emergencies, if I still get in bed ASAP)
3. First thing in the morning, get moving & exercising at least 20 min
4. Next get started on work, at least 5 min, as soon as possible.

Thanks for all the support on twitter!

Starting goals

Hi, I've decided to try out the Habitspark system (http://www.habitspark.com/) & see how it goes.  It recommends setting small habits.  Usually I set big goals for myself & then give up when I start to feel rebellious or get discouraged after a few days.  Hopefully this system will work better for me.  Here are my starting goals:
1. Whenever I first get on computer or watch TV, start work (for now, using the 5/5 system.)
2. No matter what, get into bed, shut off lights, & put away computer & any other distractions at 10:30 PM
3. Take my medication as soon as I remember it in the morning.