This is an I-Heart podcast.

Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of IHeart Radio.

Good morning. This is Laura.

Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

Today's tip is to get ready for bed a while before you actually intend to go to sleep.

This makes it much easier to get into bed on time.

It's a truism of time management that everything takes longer than you think it will.

This is doubly true with things that occur when you're tired,

such as getting ready for bed. And sadly, the more tired you are, the easier it is to delay

what will actually solve the problem, namely going to sleep. This problem became clear to me

a few years ago when my husband was traveling a lot and my then-toddler-aged

fourth child was popping up at 5 a.m. every morning. I made sure that my eldest child was in bed with

the lights out around 9.45 p.m. Now, theoretically, this meant that I could be in bed at 10 p.m.

And in general, I do fine with seven hours of sleep. But night after

night, I would find it almost impossible to be asleep before 10.30. Somehow, taking out my contacts,

brushing my teeth, washing my face, getting my pajamas on, and so forth, would stretch out,

probably because I'd look at my phone while setting my

alarm, or look at the mess in my bedroom, and start picking it up. It's hard to do anything

in a focused and efficient manner when you're tired, and this includes getting ready for bed.

Then I discovered that I didn't actually have to wait until right before bed to get ready for bed.

I could change into my pajamas and switch my contacts for my glasses earlier in the evening.

Since I was completely ready to sleep, I could walk into my bedroom at 9.45 p.m. and read for 10 minutes

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