Changing Your Sleep Cycle

[denise]

I used to be an early morning riser, but slowly became a mid-morning person while being out of the job market a couple years. Now I work full-time, and need about 9 hours of sleep per night to not feel tired during the day at work. I go to the gym 2-3 times per week, lift weights, and walk to and from for cardio. I don't drink coffee, and do not wish to start, although I have tried energy drinks (Bawls), but now they just make my heart rate increase, so I gave up on those.

Eventually, I'll talk to my doctor about this, but does anyone have experience in changing their sleep cycle to sleep less, and yet still function optimally? I used to function perfectly on 7 hours!

[BRUTE]

the human circadian clock is entrained by sunlight. getting 15-30 minutes of sun exposure in the morning will shift the rhythm early, whereas bright lights after dark will shift it later. for some it's enough to avoid bright/blue lights in the evening ("dark therapy"), others get very early sun exposure. both can be combined. if the sun doesn't rise early enough in a certain time/place, there are very bright (10,000 lux @ 30 inches) lamps called "lightboxes" for light therapy. brute can not vouch for their effectiveness, but he can vouch for the sun.

due to the way the human circadian clock works, earlier waking times usually also mean less sleep in total. this is probably just an evolutionary "mistake", like the fact that it entrains mostly to blue light instead of all frequencies. sleep duration also increases when sleep quality is bad, which can be caused by going to bed and waking up at times unsynchronized with the circadian clock.

thus, entraining denise's internal clock to get tired and wake up earlier will likely reduce the length of sleep as well.

[Dragline]

Yeah, I vote for early sun, too. This also works for jet lag.

Policing your sleeping space can also help -- basically make it as cool and dark as possible and don't have any electronics in the room.

If you want to go crazy on light sensitivities, look up irlen filters and glasses. I have no need, but some people swear by these things.

Part of it will change as you grow older. I wake up when it gets light now without an alarm. Even if I went to bed after midnight.

[denise]

Thanks for your replies. I'm fortunate that I can rise with the sun, so I'm going to try and go for that and adjust the times I go to bed. Hopefully I can change the cycle gradually.

[jennypenny]

Some of the tips for changing to a polyphasic sleep cycle might help you. We talked about it in this thread ... viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5820

[denise]

Good info. Last night I went to bed at 9:30, fell asleep around 11, and woke up at one something, then woke up wide awake at 4:48AM. It must have been all I needed because I felt great today. I'm also thrilled about the extra time I had to put-put around. I'll just stop going back to sleep; apparently I don't need 'regular' sleep hours. Thanks!

[BRUTE]

if denise takes 1.5 hours to fall asleep, she's going to bed way before her body clock requires it. ideally, she would go to bed and fall asleep within 5 minutes or so. if waking time doesn't matter, she can just go to bed later until she's about to fall over. if early waking time is required, using early morning light therapy (sun, lightbox) will push the body clock earlier over time (about 0.5-1h per day of light therapy) can help.

[Noedig]

I am 51, male. Over the years my sleep pattern has changed to introduce a waking time in the middle of the night, of 1-2 hours. I then go back to sleep.

It's fine in some ways: it can be a very productive time. My sleep afterwards is good and I don't feel a tired drag on waking.

But it does not fit the pattern of a 9-6 working week. I am now returning to work after a break when my alternative pattern has established itself.

My alternatives: go to bed much earlier to allow my new cycle time to work; or change my sleep pattern to the conventional one; or end up yawning my way through the day and yearning for sleep, as before.

Not looking forwards to it, TBH.

[BRUTE]

3 is not sustainable, so it depends if Noedig prefers to have more evening hours or more night hours.

[denise]

I have never in my life fallen asleep within 5 or even 30min. It usually takes an hour. Even when I'm exhausted and sleepy. That's just how my body is.

[BRUTE]

rephrasing "how the body is", denise could have a biological clock that, under her living circumstances, doesn't match up well with her lifestyle.

this is true for almost all humans. the human body is made for rising with the sun and spending the day outdoors in the sun. it entrains to sunlight. spending all day indoors and in cars, humans never adapt their body clock to their waking hours, and consequently, never go to bed at the "right" time or wake up at the "right time (wherein "right" is defined as matching their biological clock).

[enigmaT120]

When I'm backpacking I sleep like Brute says. I'm not interested in bothering with artificial lights so I generally sleep from dark to dawn.