Welcome to the final post in this seven-week blog documenting my journey to regrasp my sanity in the civilized woods. To recap, the last six weeks have alternated between the mind (walking, socializing, learning) and body (housework, cardio, food). I am proud to report that each phase of the strategy is fully active, and I plan to keep it that way in 2025. Maybe add more.

For the concluding post of this blog, I want to focus on something that impacts both mind and body. Sleep. Or for me, time spent in bed whether it is spent sleeping or not. I have worked hard over the years to maintain a consistent bed (not sleep) schedule. This means going to bed at the same time every night and getting up at the same time every morning, except on weekends.

I say bed schedule instead of sleep schedule because, for me, sleeping is not the same as being in bed. There have been many nights during which I have spent eight hours in bed but have slept for only four to five of those hours. This started happening more regularly over the last few months as I became less active and started to feel the civilized woods closing in on me.

Instead of getting out of bed when I ended up awake for longer than an hour, I decided to remain in bed to give my body consistent time to rest. I started using silence and darkness to think about problems I needed clarity to solve before getting up and letting the devices take over. I have come to value the power of thinking this way, with zero audio and visual distractions.

This strategy has allowed me to eliminate naps during the day as well as time “resting” on the couch. It has also allowed me to bring my coffee consumption down to one cup a day. During the week, I now drink one cup of coffee in the morning to fully wake up and a cup of tea after lunch. I still manage to remain fully functional during the hours I am awake every day.

Combined with the other mind and body efforts over the last seven weeks, I am happy to report that I have returned to sleeping for most of the hours I spend in bed every night. Most valuable lesson over this journey? It was not one single thing on its own that made the difference. It was the combination of all the things I did that helped me regrasp my sanity.

Thank you for reading my posts and for your encouragement and support. It has meant a lot to me, and I hope that this blog has been helpful to you. Please leave a comment and do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or suggestions.

Look out for the expanded eBook version of this blog, soon on Amazon. Subscribers to my monthly newsletter will receive it for free. Not a subscriber? Sign-up today!

Disclaimer: This content is neither advice nor instruction, medical or otherwise.