How do you change your sleep patterns quickly? I'd like to become a morning person and go to sleep earlier instead of staying up late and being sleepy in the morning. When I try to go to bed earlier now I feel tired until I'm actually in bed, then I'm alert again. Prefer a non-medicinal/narcotic method.
Changing sleep patterns
- Thread starter whobee
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Work out, or run in the morning before going in to work (assuming you're a 9-5'ver). By the evening, you should be pretty tired considering you're waking up earlier than usual, and your body will want to be shutting down due to the early physical exercise. Consider your diet through the day, but especially in the evening as well.
Exercise in the morning might be a challenge (due to not really being awake enough to do much) but I'll give it a shot. I usually exercise after work, but since it's many hours before bed didn't think it was an issue. I'll try the melatonin as well, although I don't consider myself elderly as yet. 
Thanks for the suggestions.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Wake up every day at the same time regardless of how late or early you sleep every day. Have a full breakfast and lunch, works for me. I get up at 7 every morning, sometimes I run on 3 or 4 hours of sleep and feel fresh all day.
4 hours of sound sleep is better than 8 hours of broken sleep.
4 hours of sound sleep is better than 8 hours of broken sleep.
Basically, you are asking to change your circadian rhythm (google it).
Vitamin D, melatonin supplements, be active (even a 30 minute daily walk will do wonders) and develop something called sleep hygiene.
Sleep hygiene is a particular routine you'll do religiously before going to bed. Be sure to avoid bright lights about an hour before you sleep. TV's, lamps, computer monitors, tablets and smartphones. The bright lights fuck around with your melatonin production, this hormone is used to regulate your sleeping patterns. You start to get tired as your body makes melatonin. And the opposite is true, make sure you are exposed as much as possible to sunlight during the day to ensure your body doesn't make it, thus making you unnecessarily tired.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm_sleep_disorder
Vitamin D, melatonin supplements, be active (even a 30 minute daily walk will do wonders) and develop something called sleep hygiene.
Sleep hygiene is a particular routine you'll do religiously before going to bed. Be sure to avoid bright lights about an hour before you sleep. TV's, lamps, computer monitors, tablets and smartphones. The bright lights fuck around with your melatonin production, this hormone is used to regulate your sleeping patterns. You start to get tired as your body makes melatonin. And the opposite is true, make sure you are exposed as much as possible to sunlight during the day to ensure your body doesn't make it, thus making you unnecessarily tired.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm_sleep_disorder
Yeah, that is probably doing more harm than good. You can use this routine as a trigger to start your sleep hygiene. So, check your sport scores and your PC until you hit 45 minutes before bed. Then off they go as you start your new established routine before bed.
Take a quick shower, brush your teeth, play some soothing background music, etc.
Thanks, I'll look into that one. I have trouble falling asleep if it's not quiet. The exception would be rain, that seems to be a relaxing sound for me.
Sounds like I'll have to start a new sleep routine. Didn't realize the radiant screens could keep one awake like that.
been in your shoes.... It might be hard to not go sleep during the day when starting out. I suggest going out during the day the first week or so to get your body adjusted.. that way you aren't at home and drawn into bed during the day. My problem with staying up late has always been pre-occupations - I had something to take care of, book to read, movie to watch etc. If you really want to get back into the morning rise routine and stick with it, you must make it a point to leave aside anything you're doing an hour or so before bedtime. Make it a point that going to bed on time is more important than working on whatever pre-occupation an hour more or so.
In many cases that wouldn't work because one's body is in the habit of sleeping during the day. Skipping sleep for 24 hrs would be offset by one sleeping for 15 hrs or so.
My advice is to take a nap during the day instead. I'd say a short one of 2 or 3 hours. That way your body is sleep deprived enough to want to go to bed early but not too sleep deprived that it would make you sleep for 12 to 15 hrs.
it would be my dream to go to bed beside a girl moaning and screaming in pleasure
yeah what he said... try not doing something that excites you an hour or so before you plan to sleep. Instead, do some light reading or watch tv or just relax in bed. I had a problem of saying 1 more hour to work, another half hour etc etc.. the next thing I know a few hours have gone by and i'm too pumped to fall asleep right away after.
No, ereaders like the Kindle have no backlight period. So, they can't interfere with melatonin production. The only exception to this is the Kindle Fire which uses a screen like a smartphone or iPad, hence bright light.
About unable to sleep in silence, do you have a smartphone? I have an alarm clock app that comes with a sleep timer (ex. for the next 30 minutes, play something while I drift into sleep) which I use with MP3's playing various soothing sounds (light winds blowing, light rain or the sound of a tide at the beach).
Whobee, another thing you can do, depending on how much you choose to invest is purchase a blu light lamp. They're designed to help you wake up by exposing your body to bright light that will help you wake up and feel rested. Immediately after waking up, open your blinds (as well as every window in your house as you move around), soaking in sunlight for about 30 minutes.
This is the model I use - http://www.amazon.com/Philips-goLITE-BLU-Therapy-Device/dp/B001I45XL8
Another technique you should use is something called the caffeine nap. Caffeine takes about 30-40 minutes to impact your body. So, how it works is, you drink some coffee before a power nap (total time including dozing off is 30 minutes) and just as you're waking up, the caffeine is kicking in. You'll benefit from both being recharged from the nap and the extra push from the caffeine.
This is the model I use - http://www.amazon.com/Philips-goLITE-BLU-Therapy-Device/dp/B001I45XL8
Another technique you should use is something called the caffeine nap. Caffeine takes about 30-40 minutes to impact your body. So, how it works is, you drink some coffee before a power nap (total time including dozing off is 30 minutes) and just as you're waking up, the caffeine is kicking in. You'll benefit from both being recharged from the nap and the extra push from the caffeine.
The light sounds very useful. From what I read it is emitting a wavelength from natural sunlight that you might not otherwise get inside. I don't really get why it works though, is it a source of vitamin D?
I've tried power napping but it takes me 15 mins to get into nap mode. With the caffeine I'd only get 15 mins of actual rest.
