Behavioral Change

In my self-directed behavioral change project, I encountered a lot of difficult challenges and obstacles in reaching my ultimate goal: a better night’s sleep. My goals for this behavioral change project were to establish a proper sleep and bedtime regimen, getting a full-night’s rest and ultimately feeling more alert and energetic through the day. My main goals were to improve my sleep cycle/regimen by getting the necessary eight hours of sleep I need every night and waking up in the morning feeling fully rested and not sleepy, tired, or groggy at all. This is what I set out to do and I recorded all the times I went to bed, times I’d fall asleep, times I’d wake up in the middle of the night, and times I’d wake up next morning. I recorded all of my observations and occurrences for two weeks and noticed some positive change in my bed-time pattern. I was able to get the necessary eight hours of sleep every night and felt a difference the next day. My behavior change didn’t come so easily for me in the beginning, nor is it still easy for me now. I wanted to make things easier for me in doing my behavioral change, so I sat down and wrote out a list of pros and cons in doing this project. My pros included regulating my sleep, feeling more energized during the day, increasing brain activity, being well rested and alert, not having to drink too much coffee or energy drinks through the day, and not having any more headaches. With my behavior modifications, it sometimes becomes difficult maintaining my new behavior due to the fact that I don’t have a set schedule as far as school and job go. My week is very unpredictable and I never know if I’m going to be able to get the necessary amount of sleep I want during the week. I still maintain my set bedtime at 11 and/or 11:30pm to get my proper rest. With doing so, I’m able to wake up every morning around the same time, and no matter how badly I want to go back to sleep still, I make it a habit to get out of bed so that I