Clar.me

Sleeping In

At home, for the longest time I’ve been known as the one that always slept in. The one who got out of bed in the middle of the day. The one who exchanged breakfast for an extra hour or two of sleep.

Not anymore.

In fact, nowadays, I’m actually the first one up on weekends. Of course, this is with the exception of my little brother who we force to wake up at 6 AM everyday (he doesn’t really mind), just to make sure his sleep schedule doesn’t get messed up on school days. My dad also gets up pretty early most, but not all, days to get to work.

Regardless, 2nd or 3rd awake is still a huge leap from 5th.

It’s strange that I’m waking up so early now, even on the weekends. I used to think of sleeping in as one of, if not the greatest feeling in the world.

Why do I wake up so early now then?

I’ve been thinking about productivity a lot recently. With all the schoolwork they’ve been giving us, the extracurricular activities, the all too important hobbies – I’m struggling to find time. And I don’t like struggling.

For the longest time I thought sleep was the solution to these problems.

I actually still do. The thing is though, for the past year, I’ve just been doing it completely wrong. My sleeping patterns were all messed up. Instead of helping me, it just ended up causing me more problems.

Sleeping in is time-consuming. The important thing really isn’t getting extra sleep; it’s getting enough sleep. You can do so much with just a couple of hours more awake every week.

Sleeping in prevents me from sleeping early. Obviously, if you sleep longer in the morning, you’ll feel awake longer too. I started to sleep late because I was too awake to sleep earlier. It eventually became a habit – a terrible, terrible habit.

Sleeping in is bad for my health. I’m practically a stick already; I don’t need to get any thinner by skipping breakfast too often. If I’m already getting enough sleep, why add to it if it’s only going to make me unhealthy?

I used to associate more sleep with a happier life.

Here’s my new philosophy: sufficient, consistent sleep = productive, healthy Clarisse.

Do you like sleeping in? Or are you a morning person? How important is sleep to you? Feel free to tell me about it by commenting below!

I’d also appreciate it if you subscribed to this blog’s feed or followed me on Twitter; it’d be a huge boost in my self-esteem either way, and it will cost you absolutely nothing.

There’s actually this study that says that if you get roughly 6-9 hours of sleep, it’s a lot better. If you get any more or any less, it’s not very good for you. Those that sleep in more actually are normally “bigger” as in, they’re heavier than those that sleep a normal amount a night.

I’ve been trying to sleep earlier so that I can wake up earlier & be more productive. I have work M-F at 9 AM, so I’m forced to wake up early to go to work. I also have school. It’s why I love school & work though…because I’m not sitting at home all summer playing games! Woo, & it’s good that you’re picking up on this too even though sleeping is so nice haha.

Comment by Tiff • August 19, 2011 • 12:44 pm

Honestly, I haven’t been giving value to sleep lately. The earliest I’ve slept for the past month is 10 PM, and I’d wake up at the earliest of 4:30 AM.

However, I do believe sleep is one of the major keys to success. You can’t ever have results if your body is in bad shape. One way to keep it in good shape is through sleep. It’s the best and EASIEST way!

You don’t have to skip breakfast. I guess. You just need to adjust your schedule? There’s time for everything. ;)

Comment by Clauie • August 19, 2011 • 9:50 pm

ahh, sleeping in. I used to be bad for this (still am, just not AS bad) because I’d stay up all hours of the night talking to my boyfriend back when I was in high school and end up being so tired for school (obviously). The things I’d do for that guy… LOL.
I too associated more sleep with a better life. The more you got the more energenic you got. But that’s not true at all. Sleeping in is good once in a while, or if you consider one extra hour sleeping in one day on the weekend isnt so bad. It doesn’t really throw you off schedule.
Now that I’m older I find waking up at a decent time, lets say 8, really does help you to get a lot more done in the day and at the end of the week you feel accomplished.

Comment by Kayt • August 19, 2011 • 10:08 pm

I think a lot of my problem with juggling school and life and the world is with my sleep pattern, too. I don’t sleep in, but I take naps. Last year I had to be up at 5 AM for school, and I would nap for who knows how long when I got home. Granted, I think it was tough to work a way around that crazy schedule without missing sleep and feeling really tired, but I could have handled it better. Thankfully, I don’t have to be up until 6:30 this year. So, no naps. Not if I could help it.

I’ll never be the first one up in my house. My mother is automatically awake at 7 AM or earlier every morning unless she had wine the night before. Even then, she’s up by 9. But I’ll usually be up before my dad and brother…especially my dad, since he works nights and is just getting home when I get up. >.<

Comment by Gabi • August 20, 2011 • 12:45 pm

I used to sleep in when I was 7 and 8 as school started at 12.30 p.m. But after I began my third year at primary school I had to wake up at around 6 so as to be early for school. It was a huge change but I’ve gotten used to it and now I wake up even earlier than my second brother.

Me too! I used to think sleep would help me work better. But it made me laze in bed more. I now wake up at around 6 during weekdays and around 8/9/10 on weekends. But considering I sleep at 12/1 on weekends, it’s probably okay.

Actually, skipping breakfast will make you fat and unhealthy. Having breakfast won’t make you skinny but it sure will give you more nutrients and you’ll be in the pink of health.

That’s a good philosophy. gth

Comment by Dorine • August 20, 2011 • 1:03 pm

Hello Clarisse! I love your website. It’s great that you have started to adopt a healthier sleep schedule. I go to bed at ten and wake up at six or seven (depending on whether it is a weekend or weekday). I always get eight hours of sleep a night which makes it easier to go to school, plus since I don’t sleep in on the weekends it makes it easier to wake up early on the weekdays. I think if people knew how much easier it is to have a schedule like that everyone would do it! I wish you the best of luck sticking to your new schedule and staying healthy and productive.

Comment by Juniper • August 20, 2011 • 11:40 pm

Do you like sleeping in? Or are you a morning person?
I’m def not a morning person although I used to think I was. Like for the longest time I thought I was but then I realized that I hate waking up early even though when I wake up I am awake (as opposed to people who take that extra 5 min to wake up)
How important is sleep to you?
Sleep is #1 and should always be. :)

I like what you do about sleep. That’s a good idea.

Skipping breakfast is unhealthy but you wont lose weight just by skipping breakfast. Trust me, take it from someone who NEEDS to lose weight to be happy about herself. :)

Comment by Erin Nicole • August 21, 2011 • 12:34 am

This summer has been so exhausting to me to the point that I have gotten to where all i ever do is just sleep in. But my allergies are getting in the way of my trying to get my sleeping pattern – and habits – back to normal. Blah. Good luck with school and getting back to normal and everything! :}

Comment by Liz • August 21, 2011 • 6:13 am

I used to sleep in all the time; I mean, most days when I was about 16 I wouldn’t wake up until 3am in which I missed breakfast AND lunch. I had such horrible sleeping patterns then, nowadays I rarely ever wake up after 10am.

I usually wake up around 8am-9am, but that seems like a lay in to me now because when I work, I have to get up at 5am so. I tend to wake up earlier on weekends for some reason, not really sure why. Like today, I woke up at 7:45am. :S

My mum is weird, she’s always awake at like 6am even though she doesn’t work. IDK how she does it to be honest. :|

For some reason, I feel guilty when I wake up late because I feel like I can’t get as much done as I would if I woke up earlier. IDK. I like being productive even if I don’t work all year round. :B

Sleeping in is definitely time-consuming.

Comment by Vicky • August 21, 2011 • 7:27 pm

I think you’ve summed it up pretty well. I used to love sleeping in because I loved being able to wake up and feel rested enough to get out of bed without a struggle. For the past year or so I’ve made an effort to get up earlier on weekends. I used to sleep in on weekends to make up for feeling so tired on weekday mornings but I soon realised I was only tired during the week because my sleeping hours were so irregular. I have less difficulty getting up for school now.

The amount of time that is freed up too is amazing. I’m most productive early in the morning and late at night so I often get my homework done after I wake up on weekend mornings. Then I have the rest of the day free. :)

But I’ll admit, sometimes I can’t escape lying in. It’s still such a great feeling to wake up naturally and in my own time.

Hmm, I’ve never had an interest in buying an eReader. I’m quite against books becoming digitalised. Physical music is already dying out to make way for digital, I really don’t want a printed book to die out either. I don’t think it’s going to because there is still enough love for books out there, but digitalized things are just becoming increasingly popular.

I don’t like lending people money either, but I’ve been in too many situations where I’ve had to borrow a few quid or an extra tenner off one of my friends I can only repay the gesture. I try to make sure I get my money back though.

Comment by Aileen • August 21, 2011 • 11:52 pm

I need 7 hours, no more, no less. Any more then that I am mush and then I get sick. And if I am sick, I sleep 24 hours or more. I love my sleep I admit, but I know too much is not good for me so I don’t sleep as much as I’d like.

Comment by Ms H • August 23, 2011 • 5:56 pm

I’m definitely the one in my family who sleeps the day away. In the summertime, I don’t even get up until 12-2pm. xD I love sleep, and I don’t really mind that I’m losing some of the day, because I’m not missing out on much. But sometimes I like it when I get woken up earlier, because I feel like I can get more done if I want to. The problem is that I’m such a night owl. I stay up until 2-3am every night, which means that naturally, I sleep more.

I know I get too much sleep, but when school starts, I’ll be back to normal. :P

Comment by Karlee • August 24, 2011 • 7:47 am

Your brother is quite the trooper. For a lot of people, myself included, they would probably be pissed off if they were forced to get up so darn early when it is not a school or a work day. haha :D

Not sleeping in really does wonders for you in terms of giving you back so much more time. Ever since I’ve had to wake up early without any breaks (school year + summer school), my body has been conditioned to wake up early, so I can’t sleep in very often anymore. I DO sleep in now and then when I end up sleeping *super* late the night before (we’re talking like 5+ AM). That’s when I can sleep till past afternoon without interruption!

Even though I wake up much earlier than I used to, it doesn’t mean I sleep earlier, though. So it’s a bit of a problem for me. It usually means I’m either perpetually tired or I take really long naps in the day. Honestly I love night life, so I don’t mind it. But I certainly can’t argue with the fact that I feel amazing if I sleep early and wake up early :)

Comment by Kim • August 25, 2011 • 10:25 am

Haha your last paragraph reminded me of a quote I read from Eva Longoria (I think?) who said she didn’t know why she was so fit since she really doesn’t work out all that much. And in another article, it said she gets about 13 hours of sleep which means she misses a meal each day. Well, there’s your answer Eva!

Sleeping in is so bittersweet. I LOVE sleeping in, I think it feels soooo good, at the same time, I know I’d feel really guilty, shitty disgusting for sleeping and walking up so goddamn late.

I try not to do it so much, but sometimes I feel like there’s so much stuff that still needs to be done and it can’t wait the next day. :-/

Comment by tiff • September 1, 2011 • 3:00 pm

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