[everythingswan]

I had to learn to love those boring things for the positive outcomes I got from them. It's nowhere near perfect, but I know if I do all the right things during the day, I will get a decent sleep. There are some things that help more than others. There are also things that I can't always commit to since I have a lot on my plate (I'm still balancing whether I need all these things).

For me, these boring things are: * Making and drinking herbal tea (just don't get _obsessed_ with tea) * Doing dishes * Organizing my physical space (mail, books, backpack, papers, clothes, shoes, et al get moved during day) * Talking with partner * Catching up on texts before 930 * Reading fiction (or non-work non-fiction) * Listening to music (sometimes I listen to audiobook/podcast at night but rarely) * Sometimes making food for next few days or making grocery list

We had to talk about not having stimulating conversations before bed and are working on that. It's a real challenge, especially if you end up not seeing each other all day. You have to talk about it with your roommate or partner and talk about the problem you're trying to solve, offering that as a solution.

My day is designed to get me to bed having checked off my list of important things and feel tired for bed. It's essentially designed to add in good habits and take away bad habits so that I sleep better. I've worked on it for a few years and it has paid off.