Picture
This copyright, image from the art work of kathy Shell is available to purchase from the fridgemagnet.art web site, see side bar, or 'direct from the artist', from the caravan awning studio, while she is on tour.
I tend to spend insufficient time in bed because I love creative work, nature, my fitness workouts, life and awake hour activities in general, so there never seems quite enough hours in the day to fit it all in, so I have a tendency to crib on my sleep time.   I get so used to managing on brief sleep hours, when I do have an important event in the morning and I go to bed early in preparation for it, I find it hard to settle, and I have always used natural sleep aids to help relax myself. One of my favourites is to use a combination of bergamot and lavender oil, just a drop on a tissue or on the edge of my pillowcase.

I think workaholism and sleep deprivation, is a trait of many artistic people.
I think we love 'doing things', so much we resist stopping and allowing our bodies to rest. I know it s an important part of my learning to respect and care for my body, that I must overcome the sleep deprivation,  I inflict on myself, largely by personal choice. That is the problem, I see more advantage to cutting short my sleep hours than I find advantages. I need to read more about the benefits of sleep, I think and make an educated decision that I need to care for myself better.

‘I know I am not alone in depriving myself of sleep in preference to being creative, and I am wondering, what other people do to train themselves into better habits.  I would love to hear your comments.’

I know they say it takes 21 days to form a new habit or to break an old one, so theoretically if I commit to 21 days of being in bed by MN, after that is will become easier to maintain a healthy sleep routine.