11 Tips to Help You Reset Your Sleep Schedule Today
Do you ever go to bed saying to yourself, “Tomorrow is the day that I’ll wake up when the alarm goes off”?
And then, the clock strikes six, the alarm buzzes, and you fumble around looking for the snooze button.
Maybe you even put the alarm across the room to encourage you to get up and stay up. But, for whatever reason, you can’t seem to bounce out of bed.
It could be that your body clock is out of sync, making sticking to a regular schedule more challenging than it needs to be. Whether you’re staying up too late, struggling to get out of bed in the morning, or you’re burning the candle at both ends, this article will give you plenty of helpful tips to fix your sleep schedule.
But first, let’s answer the question of how you got off track in the first place and why there’s no magical reset button.
Why Our Sleep Schedules Get Off Track
Many of our biological functions, including sleep, are controlled by our internal body clock, also known as a circadian rhythm. It’s a 24-hour cycle that gives the body cues about when it’s time to eat, sleep, digest food, etc. Just about every organism has one, though some species don’t have the same 24-hour schedule that humans do.
Two vital forces help set the biological clock:
The light and darkness in your external environment
A genetically programmed internal memory
So, if you’re binge-watching a show on Netflix, your body will at some point try to tell you that it’s time for bed, even if you have the lights on. However, override these messages long enough, and you’ll be on a whole new sleep schedule.
While resetting your schedule isn’t going to occur overnight, it might not take as long as you think. Here are 11 tips to help you get back on track.
Tips to Reset Your Sleep Cycle
1) Stick to a Routine
The most effective, and perhaps most difficult, thing to do is to have a set time that you go to bed each night. Then plan to wake up at the same time each day as well. So, if you decide that 10 PM is your desired bedtime, you should try to go to bed at that time every night.
Having a nighttime routine can help signal your body that it’s time for bed when you’re not feeling drowsy yet. It could be as simple as brushing your teeth and washing your face, or you may prefer to develop a more elaborate routine to train your body that the day is ending.
According to Heidi Connolly, MD, Chief of Pediatric Sleep Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, you should do an activity or series of tasks that cue your brain that it’s time for sleep.
2) Make Mornings Bright
If you wake up in a dark bedroom, then your internal clock may not register that it is daylight. So, first thing in the morning, make sure your room is well-lit. Look out the window or go outside so you can experience some sunshine. If it’s winter or cloudy, bright lights in the home can help brighten your morning.
3) Keep Nights Dark
Modern society makes this step to resetting your clock tricky. Most of us are used to screen time after dinner, whether it’s watching television, working on a computer, or browsing emails and social media on a smartphone.
The trick is to eliminate these lights when it draws closer to bedtime and keep these devices out of the bedroom.
4) Work Out
Exercise naturally makes you tired, as it expels energy. There is one caveat, though. Avoid activity too close to bedtime, or it will make you extra alert, causing the onset of sleep to be a challenge
If you feel the insatiable urge to do something physical right before bed so you relax, try a stretching session or a light yoga practice to prepare for sleep.
5) Watch Your Diet
Avoid large meals right before bedtime. Not only do they keep you up but they can also cause acid reflux and heartburn, which could wake you up in the middle of the night. If you’re feeling hungry, try a light snack that’s high in protein and low in sugar. A handful of raw nuts is satisfying without being overly filling.
6) Keep Naps Short
Resisting naps is hard, and some would say it’s unconstitutional to ban them. However, a long nap could signal the internal clock that you’ve slept for the night, and that makes falling asleep at bedtime a struggle.
Therefore, we suggest limiting naps to 20 to 30 minutes. That’s long enough to help you feel refreshed but not so long that they plunge you into a deep sleep.
7) Limit Caffeine
Some experts will say to avoid caffeine altogether, but that seems excessive. Instead, we say feel free to enjoy your regular cup of coffee in the morning or a soda at lunch, but taper off as the day continues, and stop your intake entirely within six hours of bedtime.
8) Right Sleep Aid
Prescription sleeping pills can be good short-term, temporary solutions for things like jet lag or a particularly stressful circumstance. However, when you’re trying to get your internal clock on schedule, they could do more harm than good.
If you find that it’s a challenge to fall asleep during this reset period, reach for something natural, like melatonin. As a supplement, it’s incredibly useful in helping people fall asleep. Plus, it’s made naturally by the body, so you’re not introducing foreign chemicals by taking it.
9) Adjust to a New Time Zone
For upcoming trips to faraway lands, you can set your biological clock in advance of your departure date. That way, when you arrive at your destination, you’re already acclimated and ready to have fun (or work).
To do this successfully, start shifting your bedtime a few days before your trip. For example, if you’re going somewhere that’s three hours ahead of your local time, go to bed an hour earlier each night for three consecutive nights. When you arrive at your destination, you’ll be on local time!
10) Stick to One Shift
Hopefully, your employer doesn’t make you work different shift schedules. A graveyard shift on one night and then an early shift a few days later is going to confuse your circadian rhythm. Do your best to make sure that your work or school schedule is relatively consistent.
If you have no control over the schedule and you sometimes work an overnight shift, one thing to try is wearing sunglasses on your way home. That will block out some of the brightness and make the transition to a dark bedroom seem more natural.
Read more: How shift work affects your natural rhythm
11) Go Camping
Grab your tent, leave your laptop behind, and head to the great outdoors. By going camping, you eschew most of the distractions (and bright lights) of modern society so you can reset your biological clock with relative ease. By going to bed when it’s dark, and you feel sleepy, and then waking up with the sun when you feel awake, you’ll be able to reset your cycle in no time!
Conclusion
There’s no pre-determined length of time that will predict how long it will take to fix your sleep schedule. It’s going to depend on how “off” it is and how long it’s been that way. Most experts say to plan for two weeks up to two months for your new habits to set in. Once you are back on cycle, follow the tips included here to stay on track.
