At least Marge is getting shit done at 2am I'm just scrolling on my phone and watching episodes of Frasier.
Frasier? You sherry swilling, opera loving, armini wearing, elitist!
Damn you Frajer!!!!
Groening*
How does one fix your sleep cycle?
Some easy things to implement:
- Get at least 30-60 minutes of sunshine/natural light a day
- Get 30 minutes of exercise daily (even if it's just a walk)
- Hydrate
What the meme is referring to is actually called Circadian rhythm, it's the different stages of sleep that is referred to as the sleep cycle. In a nutshell, you usually go from lightest sleep, to deepest, then back again every ~90 minutes.
If you respect this cycle, you will be able to retrain your circadian rhythm fairly easily.
Your brain is flooded with the chemicals that make you feel "tired" during the deep part of sleep, so if you use a traditional alarm clock and get woken up at that time you're going to feel like shit.
Either wake up "naturally" (no alarm), or you can use one of those sunrise alarm clocks that emulate the light from the rising sun in your room and allows your brain to "warm boot" vs a jarring "cold boot".
This clock seems to be popular, but you get the idea: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074NB5TNW
Source: insomniac for many years. Trust me, bro. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Great advice! There is also the possibility that
you're just a night personsomeone may just be a night person. There's a syndrome called Delayed Phase Sleep Syndrome which is a fancy way of saying your body prefers to sleep during the day and be active at night. If we didn't live in a society that operates mostly during the day it wouldn't be a problem, but that's not how it works. There are people who I've worked nights with who I swear had this. They were happier and healthier on nights, they wanted to work nights. If that's you, maybe look for a night shift job.What about going out at night? Serious question, as I tried to fix my sleep cycle but failed because of weekends with friends staying up until late, or my kids waking me up in the middle of the night.
Gentle Wakeup app does a better job on any Android phone, costs $5. I have been using it for over 5 years, I think? The app is made by a doctor.
Sleep schedule is probably what you want fixed, there are a multitude of things to aid, in addition to the aforementioned it is also vital to have sleep hygiene if you have problems with sleep.
Sleep hygiene is a lot of things, but the main things:
- The bedroom and, most crucially, your bed is for sleeping, if you have a habit of scrolling or watching videos etc in your bed, it will be a lot harder for your brain to be like “well, im in bed now, guess ill sleep”.
- Destimulation period before bed, 30-60 minutes before bed get rid of stimulating activity. Some light reading could be okay, better would be meditation, some conversation, a slow walk.
- Sleep environment - blackout curtains, low noise or white noise (substitute sounds could be wind, rain, ocean, but not music or generally other sounds)
- Actually rigid schedule, especially for bedtime, but also wake-up time.
- Got into bed at the time but not sleepy? No screens, no reading. Darkness and your mind - meditate, count sheep, fantasise, think up a novel. Personally i love meditating on the actual process of my mind falling asleep.
- Consider short term melatonin to adjust to a sleep schedule or to change a sleep schedule.
LPT: have your last meal 16 hours before your breakfast. It's going to reset your cycle in one day and you're going to be able to go to bed and get up more easily the next day.
For example if you want to wake up at around 8am, eat dinner at 4pm, set an alarm at around 7:45 and eat breakfast at 8am.
Also what everyone else said are good tips to keep a consistent schedule, what I said is more like a soft reset, but you gotta practice not using screens at night, not drinking caffeine / not using nicotine (or any other stimulants that disrupt sleep) in the evening.
Workout for 45 minutes at any point before 6pm
Week for week. Every week half a hour earlier/later. Daily didn't work for me.
Some people are just more night active. I recommend getting a night shift if possible
Me but I'm also tired at 2 am
Pretty much sums up my life rn, and I wish it didn't...
So true.
Wait that's me
Wait that’s me
Sencha keeping you up? 😏
Complementing @funkajunk@lemm.ee 's comment, here is mine I shared few days ago on a post about lunchtime sluggishness. I got fuckin tired of it over the past 2-3 years, and researched and devised a solution.
The combination of:
- getting (half)naked sunbath for 30 minutes twice a week
- exercising
- proper sleep with unbroken 90-100 minute cycle phases (not waking up between a cycle, no erratic shitty alarms)
- no nocturnal peeing (do not overload with water before sleeping, pee before you sleep)
is the ultimate formula to a healthy, active and long lasting life.
Add a 10-15 minute power nap during midday/early evening and you are golden.
Also, use a proper alarm clock, not the shitty ones you have, or the builtin alarm on your phones. Even if you have an iPhone, get yourself the cheapest Android phone, buy and install Gentle Wakeup alarm app on your phone, changes your life for $5. Made by a doctor, it is THE alarm clock everyone should use.
Why the gentle alarm thing?
