Hello,  

This is a booster on how to improve sleep one point at a time…this is about when you wake up. I want to take a moment to get specific about wake time, which is SO important in managing the 24-hour cycle of the day. 

Let’s start with resetting your body clock. What is the range of time you wake up in the morning? 6AM for work? Is it 10AM if you can sleep in on the weekend? If that’s the case then you have a 4-hour spread. 

What are the chances I can convince you to cinch that up?  I’d love a one-hour window, but I’d settle for anything better than where you are at now WITH a plan to improve it over time. In other words, if you are waking within a span of 4 hours I’ll take a span of 2 or even 3. 

Ultimately, I ask people to move to a 1-hour range to prevent what feels like a jet lag. In action this becomes a wake time of no later than 7AM if you are waking at 6AM most days. Think about how you have felt when you travel just one time zone from home. You might not really notice the difference. What about two? That is more noticeable. Three…that can really make you realize you are far from home.  Remember- The more zones, the harder it is for your brain and body to reset. This is one of the first interventions in calibrating your sleep…when you wake up.

Put simply, while darkness tells our brains and bodies to sleep, light tells us to be awake. Opening your eyes and exposing yourself to light at the same time each morning will result in you feeling more awake and refreshed at that time. No more jet lag. 

And, as you are awake throughout the day, something referred to as a “sleep load” will build up in your system and power you to sleep the following night. Sleep in on some mornings? Yep…that’s stealing sleep load from the next night. Sure waking up earlier than you want is going to hurt at first, but the longer you keep the schedule the more your brain will settle into a pattern, and then it won’t hurt so much any more. You might even realize that you feel more rested with less sleep than you thought you needed… all as a result of regulating your sleep schedule. 

Safety first! If you are feeling signs of sleepiness later in the day…heavy eyelids, lack of concentration, yawning, nodding off …then make sure that you do not drive. Being sleepy is similar to being intoxicated in that the more sleepy you are the less you realize how impaired you are. 

So what if you are hitting a wall because of this plan to wake up at the same time every day? 

Take a walk outside (or inside if you must). Take a nap if you can or even close your eyes for 10-20 minutes. If you do rest, use an alarm and do so late morning or early afternoon. Have some caffeine (a little!) late morning or early afternoon. It blocks the feeling of sleepiness due to sleep “load”. 

You are probably asking, well when is bedtime? It depends. But, I bet you are going to have a quick sense of what it should be in order to wake up by, oh let’s say 7AM daily. Good luck!