My struggles with sleep as a programmer

Sleep is obviously a very important thing. It's something we can all agree on. One thing I find to be super helpful is whenever I've a consistent sleep schedule. Going to bed the same time every night and waking up the same time every morning. It's something that's easy to do but hard to maintain.

It's hard to be consistent. Like every day. I find myself going “I'll fix one more thing before going to bed”, and then I stay up for another 2-3 hours and mess up my sleep schedule. Another common one: “I’ll wrap this up, then go to bed.”

The times I've made it non-negotiable for myself to not mess up my sleep schedule is when I've been able to consistently do well. Every day. Not just in programming, but in other areas of my life, such as the gym.

I think just having it as a non-negotiable rule for yourself is key. This is something I need to remind myself of regularly. And remembering that it's a marathon, not a sprint. Whatever ambitious goals you're trying to accomplish. Good sleep and consistent performance compounds over time.

Plus you always feel better when you're well rested.

I'm excited though, today I'm going to bed at the time I want to. And honestly, going to bed the same time every night is WAY more important than waking up the same time every morning.

Sometimes you need 7.5h of sleep. Sometimes 9h. It depends on the day. But going to bed the same time every night makes sure you never oversleep and miss things.