Our new puppy Riley has brought something to our household that’s been missing for the first 5 years of our early retirement: a regular bedtime.

Related: Daily Schedule In Early Retirement

I haven’t really gone to bed at a consistent time since I was working. Sometimes it’s 10:30p, sometimes it’s way after midnight. On vacation in Florida the last two months, that stretched to 1am.

We created a schedule for pupper and his bedtime is 9:30pm. In his first week in our house, that bedtime has been followed by up to 20-60 minutes of yapping, yelping, barking, and howling from his kennel. Thankfully, it is getting shorter each night.

To minimize the howling after we put him to bed, we are trying to be as quiet as mice after the kennel is closed. This means that we are hiding in our bedroom or afraid to go into the kitchen for fear of setting him off. Dogs hear 40x better than humans. I actually snuck downstairs last night to our emergency supply shelves to quietly sneak a granola bar!

As a result, I’m going to bed much earlier, at a much more consistent time, and my iPhone reported screen time was -43% in last week. No more sitting up in the living room at night watching Sports Center and surfing on my iPad!

Now I’m getting to bed before 11pm each night. (And also waking up at 3am to take him out!). Thanks, Riley!

How consistent are you about getting to bed at the same time each night?

Obligatory cute dog photo …

Moon Image Credit: Pixabay