Each of us a unique chronotype – our body’s preference for when we prefer to wake up and go to sleep. That’s why we have terms like night owls and early birds.
Having different chronotypes is typically not a problem. But sometimes, our body’s preference for when we wake up and go to bed might not be a good match with needing to go work in the morning. For example, a night owl might prefer to go to bed at 2:00 am and wake up at 10:00 am, but they have to get up at 7:00 am for work. When this mismatch causes problems in our lives, we can be diagnosed with delayed sleep phase disorder.
There are a lot of night owls out there who want to sleep earlier and adjust their schedule. My first recommendation is to see if there’s a way we can accommodate our night owl lifestyle. It’s easier to follow our body’s clock rather than fight it. For example, you might get your clothes out and breakfast set up before sleeping so you don’t have to wake up as early.
If that’s not possible, there’s a way to shift our schedule little earlier so that we can get up and out of bed earlier based on sleep science.
Below, I discuss six strategies to shift your internal clock earlier and turn yourself from a night owl to an early bird (or at least closer to one).
Strategies to fall asleep and get out of bed earlier
1. Get up earlier with an alarm: Super obvious but we can’t get to bed earlier if we don’t wake up earlier. By getting out of bed early, you’ll build up more appetite for sleep because you’ll be a little bit sleep deprived. It’ll be hard at first, but do your best to get out of bed at your desired time using an alarm. You can set an alarm further away which forces you to get up. Afterwards, do something activating to get your body going (take a walk, splash yourself with cold water, listen to music, call a friend/family member).
2. Get some sunlight: Getting light early in the morning signals to our brain and circadian rhythm that it is time to get up. If we do this on a consistent basis, our brain will start sending alerting signals earlier in the day, which makes us feel more comfortable waking up early.
3. Avoid naps: Naps are a like a sleep snack and will take away some of our appetite for sleep. If we take a daytime nap because we are sleepy, it makes it much harder to fall asleep later at night. If you’re feeling sleepy, try your best to stay the course (unless there are safety risks).
4. Plan a winddown period at night: It’s important to make a distinct break between work time and resting time. For an hour or two before your planned bed time, it’s helpful to keep the lights a little dimmer and do something relaxing and enjoyable. This can be whatever you enjoy, such as watching re-runs, doing crossword puzzles, or yoga.
5. Address obstacles that could get in the way: For some people, they constantly have something else that needs to be done. By the time they are ready for bed, it’s already 1:00 am which will make it hard to wake up the next morning early. Therefore, it’s helpful to think about what would get in the way of going to bed and getting out of bed at the desired time. Think about how to plan your life so that you can keep to your new schedule.
6. Don’t go to bed if you’re not sleepy: It’s a little counterintuitive, but we don’t want to go to bed early if it means going to bed when you’re not sleepy. Otherwise, we end up in a situation where we might start associating the bed with being awake. Instead, it’s helpful to wait until you are sleepy before going to bed at night (though you should still try to keep to the desired wake-up time with an alarm).
Best wishes,
P
Simply mental health 