When I Go to Bed, When I Get Up
For years I went to bed after midnight. Then I tried going to bed between ten and eleven, and tried getting up later too. The result was the same every time.
For years I liked going to bed after midnight. Mornings were hard and I felt worn out, but for a long time I saw that as part of my day, not as a consequence.
Why I tried it
In the Vedic way of living, the ideal is to be in bed around ten and up before six. I was curious whether that mattered for me, or whether it was just a nice principle. So I started experimenting: first with going to bed between ten and eleven and getting up before six, later with the reverse, getting up later in exchange for staying up longer. I was looking for the loophole.
What happened
Two very different mornings took shape.
When I went to bed between ten and eleven, getting up before six was easy. There was time to meditate, to move, to have an unhurried breakfast with my family. The morning had more drive, and the creative work landed where it belongs: in the sharpest hours of the day.
When I went to bed at midnight, I didn't get up before six, or only with real effort. The meditation went, the time for myself went, breakfast got quicker and getting to nursery turned into a rush. If morning meetings piled on top, I pushed the creative work into the afternoon, and from there everything slipped: the afternoon meditation, the workout, the walk. In a word: chaos.
Getting up later didn't give back what I hoped either. My energy always responded best to being in bed between ten and eleven.
What surprised me
That I'm not the only one who pays. For me, a late night isn't one tired morning. It's a rushed family: everyone feels it when the routine breaks.
And that hours aren't all the same. It matters when I sleep, not just how much. I wrote a separate note about that: Not All Hours Are Equal.
What I'm taking from this
I protect my evening first, not my working hours. One late night takes a whole day with it, and not only mine.
If you want to try it: don't push your wake-up later, bring your bedtime earlier, for one week. And don't watch the evening. Watch the next morning.
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