Habit forming

Conventional wisdom says that when you sent goals they should be SMART.  That is:
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Attainable
R - Realistic
T - Timely

I was going to say that none of my goals are SMART but I think one snuck in there when I wasn't looking!

3) Pick one habit a month to work on.


My habit for May is SLEEP!  I have a bad habit of getting caught up in the things I'm doing and going to bed way too late.  Which then causes me to hit the snooze button a few too many times.  Then I rush around the house trying to leave in the morning and NOT miss the bus.  If I'm lucky I rush out of the house with no breakfast, no lunch, no important item for the work day and make the bus!  Most of the time I've missed it along with all the other things that make my day better.  Then the late start to the day turns into a late start to the evening.  So, if I'm not rushing out of the house in the evening that translates to a choice - do I attempt everything I wanted to do that evening or do I put something off until tomorrow?  (Generally I try to do a little too much which causes staying up late and repeating the cycle tomorrow)

All of that from such a simple thing as staying up past my bedtime.  Who would have ever thought mum was right!? :)

Of course, telling myself that I'm going to go to bed at 10PM doesn't work all that well. (I tried that!)  It's too easy to ignore the clock.  So, this is what I'm doing to make things work:

• Alarm clocks & Timers are your friend
• I've set a timer to go off at 9:45PM each evening.  This is my notice to wrap things up and pack it in.
• Planning ahead
• On the bus ride home I'm taking a few minutes to figure out what I really need/want to do that evening.  This leads to actually starting the things I need to do before 10PM.

How is all of this working?  It's going pretty well so far.  I'm half way through the month and there was one lapse (when I thought I didn't need a timer to remind me).  I am discovering that Wednesday evenings and weekends are my trouble spots.  Wednesdays I get home from bible study around 10PM and then I don't feel like going straight to bed.  (Generally, I need a little time to wind down whenever I'm out at night.)  Weekends - well there is going out, parties, and the knowledge that I don't have to wake up too early the next morning.  I've decided that since late nights on weekends aren't causing me problems, weekends are now holidays from bedtime! :)