As my “alone” time is coming to an end in a few days I’ve been thinking about these past few weeks and my hobbies; I sure as hell miss my family, but also the last few weeks have been a mental and physical reset in many ways. I have explored hobbies, did random stuff in my free time, ate well and got things done around the house that had been pending for months if not years. All this while I kept thinking its not that I did not have the time to do this while my family is around, and if anything I technically should have more time, not less considering me and wife split up most daily chores. Fortunately, unlike our friends with multiple kids, we do not lead ultra busy lifestyles where our life moves from calendar event to another, so we can make the time if we wanted.
But as I thought more I realized the single biggest thing that has led to more productivity and sense of content is sleep. Last few weeks I’ve gotten an absurdly good amount of sleep. I’ve slept at normal times and woke up much later than I usually do. There is no pressure or background process running about school work next morning. I’ve had time to take extended afternoon naps because, why not? But what I’ve realized is my brain is fresh and ready to do things. Its almost like even after a day of work, walk with dog, playtime with him, cooking, laundry every few day etc, my brain has been asking for more. Hence the turn to new hobbies and learning new stuff. Every single thing I’ve done in the house or new things I’ve tried in last few weeks can simply be attributed to getting a very good night’s sleep and being well rested.
So my resolution for 2025 is to find ways to be less stressed and get more sleep whenever I can. I like this well rested well slept me that is able to do more things creatively - and if I have to give up a few things or sleep earlier, so be it, but I must put effort into getting more high quality restful sleep. This means some minor changes to my lifestyle that luckily will not require drastic lifestyle changes.