February Slow Growth Challenge - Go to bed earlier

Hey there —

It’s 7:00 a.m.The sun is shining. The birds are chirping. And you are…

• A.) Hitting the snooze button (again) ⏰

• B.) Chugging your first cup of coffee in an attempt to be a functioning human ☕

• C.) Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to take on the day after 8 full hours of sleep 😃

If your answer was C, ignore the muttered, pre-caffeinated curses of your less enthusiastic morning-goers. (And read on, because we’ve got a sleep fact that might surprise you.)

But if your answer was A or B, then this month’s Slow Growth challenge could definitely be for you.

For the month of February, it’s time to go to bed earlier.

Before your inner child starts to protest or beg for *just one more* story (aka one more Netflix episode), it’s time to admit that your parents were right about this one.

Getting sufficient sleep is a key foundational habit because it impacts every area of your life — from your physical and mental health to your career and relationships.

But just because it’s good for you, doesn’t make it easy. As an adult, you no longer have someone ordering you to go to bed — you can watch TV and play video games as late as you want!

Unfortunately, that makes it easier to fall prey to “revenge bedtime procrastination” — staying up late to try and claim back the leisure hours that were stolen from you during the day.

But then hitting snooze the next morning leaves you running late to work (now you’re tired AND stressed).

Brain fog slows your productivity so you over-caffeinate to try and compensate (now you’re wired AND anxious).

By the time you clock out, make dinner, and finally take care of that pile of laundry, you’ve definitely earned the right to chill on the couch and rewatch Parks and Recreation for an hour (or two or three)...

…and the cycle continues.

As great — and even “restful” — as it may feel to binge that show or scroll social media while the clock ticks toward midnight, you only shoot yourself in the foot when you don’t get adequate sleep.

And if you can’t relate to the example above and are certain you’re doing just fine on only 6 hours of shuteye…that doesn’t mean you’re actually rested. Unless you’re a rare “short sleeper,” it simply means this mode has become your normal when you could be functioning at a much higher level.

Sleep scientist Daniel Gartenberg calls this “the fish and the fishbowl phenomenon”:

“The fish doesn’t know that he’s in the fishbowl, nonetheless that he’s in water. Also, when you’re sleep deprived, research has shown that you’re really bad at being able to tell that you’re sleep deprived.”

And there’s one more note that might burst your “but I’m already getting enough sleep!” bubble.

When it comes to getting “enough” sleep, we’ve all heard the magic number for most adults: 8 hours. But what often doesn’t get factored in is the amount of time you need to actually fall asleep (or fall back to sleep after nighttime interruptions).

According to Gartenberg, extra factors like this mean you need to be in bed for a total of 8.5 hours to get your full allotment of rest.

And by making sure you’re catching enough Zs, you’ll improve your performance, protect yourself against illness, boost your ability to manage stress, and more.

So do yourself a favor and for the next 28 days, go to bed earlier. Not to keep sounding like your parents, but…you’ll thank us later. 😉

Participate in the challenge!

Daily action: Go to sleep 30 minutes to 1 hour earlier every night for the month of February.

To help you track your progress, download this printable Habit Tracker to mark off each day you complete your reading.

And after you’ve finished the challenge, fill out this Challenge Reflection to look back at your experience, take note of what you learned, and decide if this is a habit you want to make a permanent part of your routine.

Tips for success

⏰ Set a bedtime alarm. First, determine what time you need to wake up, then subtract the 8.5 hours you need to be in bed, plus another 15-30 minutes to brush your teeth, throw on some PJs, and complete any other bedtime rituals. Then set an alarm for the resulting time as a reminder to head to bed. (Your smartphone might even have a built-in health app with a setting that will do the math and set the reminder for you!)

☕ Implement a caffeine cut-off time. Caffeine works by blocking your adenosine receptors, a crucial chemical that promotes sleepiness. One study found that consuming caffeine even 6 hours prior to bedtime reduced sleep by more than an hour!

Since it takes around 5 hours for your body to get rid of half the caffeine in your system, if you want to get better sleep, cut yourself off from caffeine 10 hours before bed. This will give your body a chance to diminish the effects of the caffeine before you turn in for the night.

📵 Put away your phone at least one hour before bed. Using screens before bed delays your body's internal clock, suppresses the release of sleep-inducing hormones, and makes it more difficult to fall asleep. And night mode won't save you — studies have found that brightness has more of an impact than color temperature, so that glowing screen (blue or not) will still confuse your brain into thinking it's daylight.

Bonus tip: If you find yourself struggling to break up with your nightly screen time, your phone likely has a built-in digital wellbeing setting that can automatically kick you off certain apps at a set time.

Bedtime routines of the rich and famous Slow Growth team

“I’ve taken a cue from last month’s challenge and swapped out screen time for reading a book at least 30 minutes before getting ready for bed. Then it’s brushing teeth, followed by a simple skincare routine before turning off the lights so my cat can begin her new nightly routine — stealing one of my shoes and carrying it into the bedroom while meowing at the top of her lungs.”
— Ashley, Content Writer

“Before bed each night, I've been stretching for about 25 minutes. It's a great way to tell your body "it's time to calm down" and obviously it comes with health benefits as well. For a while I was taking quite a bit of melatonin each night, but now this stretch routine helps knock me out pretty quickly!”
— Zach, Video Editor

“I usually read at night until it’s time to take our dog outside, then give him his meds. Getting into bed is survival of the fittest. The winner, every night: our 11-lb dog who instantly hogs his favourite spot, snuggling into me until I’m about an inch from the edge. After 12 years, that’s still a small price to pay for his affection…”
— Kerstin, Freelance Editor

“Since the reading challenge began, I’ve been trying to be really strict in the way I use screens the few hours before bed. I leave my phone in a different room till morning and swap it for my kobo e-reader and a tea, and that has become my new wind down routine.”
— Spencer, Video Editor

“I have 3 kids so we try to establish predictable routines around bedtime. After dinner the kiddos get about 45 minutes of play time to (hopefully) release some of their extra energy. We then set a visual timer for 15 minutes and everyone helps clean up the house. Then comes pajamas, potty, brushing teeth, reading a book, and getting into bed — it’s a highly choreographed dance that can go wrong at any moment. 😅 Our 1-year-old is our wild card right now and it can take anywhere from 30-60 minutes to get her to sleep. It’s usually between 8-9 p.m. when the house is finally quiet and we melt into the couch and watch some reruns (currently re-watching Seinfeld). By 10-11 p.m. our 1-year-old is awake again and we tag team getting sleep as she inevitably wakes up at various points in the night. My wife and I alternate sleep-in days, so despite the long nights, we are still able to get solid sleep most days of the week.”
— Mark, Product Development

Written by Ashley Martin

Edited by Matt D’Avella & Kerstin Sheppard