Help with sleeping habits!

af_thefragile · 07-08-2008 6:21pm #1

Wasn't quite sure where to put to so i chose this place!

Well, so lately i've become completely nocturnal and its not working quite good for me. I can't get myself to sleep before 5am and i end up waking up at 3pm or something. Even if i try to go to bed earlier like at 3am or something, i just lay there till like its after 4am and only then can i go to sleep. Sometimes i end up sleeping at 6am or even 8am and end up waking up as late as 5pm.

Now this has completely screwed up my day plans. I've got this really messed up sleeping cycle and i'm not able to do all the things i've gotta do in the day. And considering i've got 7 major repeat exams to do in 3weeks, i'm gonna be pretty seriously screwed if i continue on this way...

So can anyone help me with how i could sorting out my sleeping patterns and bringing myself back to normal diurnal from my nocturnal state?...

Thanks...

HalloweenJack · 07-08-2008 6:35pm

Do you drink alot of tea or coffee? If so, don't drink any after 6pm.

Only other advice I can think of is to set your alarm clock for the morning, say 10am. When it goes off, get up and start your day. Don't go back to sleep, even if you've only had a few hours sleep.

Slowly, but surely, your patterns should change.

Deadeyes · 07-08-2008 6:46pm

Routine, get into one and stick to it. Go to bed at the same time every night even if your not tired and get up at the same time every morning.
What is your daily routine, are you just hanging about? Try doing some exercise going for a brisk walk or a run if your up to it.

af_thefragile · 07-08-2008 6:46pm

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Do you drink alot of tea or coffee? If so, don't drink any after 6pm.

Only other advice I can think of is to set your alarm clock for the morning, say 10am. When it goes off, get up and start your day. Don't go back to sleep, even if you've only had a few hours sleep.

Slowly, but surely, your patterns should change.

NOpe, don't drink any tea or coffee or anything like that...
And i do set up my alarm for like 8am every day. Never woke up when my alarm went off!

:(
But setting it a little later than that might help...

Deadeyes wrote: »

Routine, get into one and stick to it. Go to bed at the same time every night even if your not tired and get up at the same time every morning.
What is your daily routine, are you just hanging about? Try doing some exercise going for a brisk walk or a run if your up to it.

Lately my daily routine is that i wake up at around 3-4pm. Wash up, have lunch, do some of my daily stuff, have dinner then end up watching tv or on the internet till like 4-6am (i can't go to sleep anyway), then i start to feel the sleep at around 5ish... so i finally go to bed and repeat!

I do sorta wake up at about the same time everyday. Except its not the morning, its evening!

jellie · 07-08-2008 6:53pm

8 am is a little adventurous if youve been getting up at 3 or 4pm. try setting the alarm for 12 or 1pm. then youll be tired a little earlier that night & get to sleep a little earlier. then 11am, 10am, etc.

if youre still not sleeping earlier try doing something tiring during the day - long walk, swim, anything active thatll wear you out - so youre sleeping earlier then make sure you get up at a certain time.

its amazing how youre body gets into it. whod have thought my body would now be waking me up at 6am when i was used to 1pm. i miss 1pms..

Fol20 · 07-08-2008 7:03pm

Ok i know how you feel..i was in the same situation as you,iv got a few suggestions...You could first try and do an allnighter and go to bed again around 12ish the following day...ie stay up all day between monday and tuesday and go to bed at 12 on tuesday night..That usually put my sleeping schedule back in order.Secondly i always found that if you do an active hobby you like for a few hours such as gym,soccer,swimming etc it will make you wrecked and naturally go to bed earlier.As the other op said i wouldn't take any coffee of red bull after a certain time as its bound to keep you awake through the night.I suppose if you stopped having fizzy drinks and chocolate,that may help as well.Finally if you wanted to go the extreme method you could take sleeping tablets,but personally i always prefer reviving myself,be it headaches or sickness the old fashioned way.Btw the latest i ever got up was 8 pm...lol i know its extreme and it ruins the day but you will eventually get out of it...hope this helps

af_thefragile · 07-08-2008 7:16pm

I tried the all nighter method... Managed to stay up till 12 noon and then i decided it was pointless. My brain was going numb and was screaming for some sleep so i had to go to bed... ended up waking up at around 7pm that day...

Then i guess 8am is quite ambitious. I tried 10am once too, but didn't help... I was just enough awake to turn off the alarm and go back to sleep...!

Its just the thing summer does to you... No college, no obligation to wake up early, somehow the most exciting time of the day seems to be the night... end up becoming nocturnal!

But yeah, i'll try the exercise and i'll set my alarm to 11am for tomorrow morning. That should hopefully work...! Then try 2hr increments everyday...
I so miss the 6ams!!!

Deadeyes · 07-08-2008 7:42pm

When you get up in the morning make sure to pull all the blinds your body and mind need to see the light. If you have coffee or tea for breakfast take it to the balcony or back garden so you get some fresh air. Finally walk to the shop to get a newspaper or something by this time you should be wide awake.

irishpacker · 07-08-2008 9:13pm

I'm the exact same at the moment. Cant seem to get to sleep until around 3am, just stay up reading. Then cant get out of bed until around 1 or 2 in the afternoon.

I usually do that during the summer though because I have no routine, or need to get up at 6 or 7am as I usually do during the year. I've spend the summer rennovating my house so I dont have a 9-5 job as such. No routine messes up sleeping patterns purely because you dont have to get up.

I agree with the others, get a routine, even if it means getting up at 9 am to watch spongebob squarepants, just get a routine and you'll be fine!

Phlann · 07-08-2008 9:29pm

The all-nighter really does work. You just need the will-power to stay up until around 10pm that night. If you just cannot get yourself out of bed early it's the only way to do it.

Trust me, many long years of studenting and debauchery taught me this lesson.

You'll be knackered for a couple of days after it but that's all part of the plan - means you'll have no difficulty getting to sleep at night.

Above all, resist the urge to take naps in the evening. They'll screw you up all over again.

af_thefragile · 07-08-2008 10:02pm

irishpacker wrote: »

I agree with the others, get a routine, even if it means getting up at 9 am to watch spongebob squarepants, just get a routine and you'll be fine!

Yeah, i think this is really what i need to do. Find a rigid routine and stick to it. Just pretending like i've gotta wake up every morning to go to college or something.
I'm gonna try waking up at 10-11am tomorrow instead of my usual 2-3pm.
And i'll keep waking up an hour or two earlier every day... so hopefully by the start of next week i should be all up by 7am again!!

And i'm not trying the all nighter again. It really did make things worse for me than any good. I was absolutely wrecked that day. Even after taking a good shower. There was nothing i could do to keep me awake past noon!

LegacyUser · 08-08-2008 12:28am

i had this problem recently and now i have just re balanced it,basically i just allowed myself to do it i am an artist so i like being an night owl.i just accepted that i wanted to stay up late and eventually i balanced back around to a normal pattern,stress and anxiety doesnt help so i tried to just go with it,it happens at christmas for me-strange feelings come up for me like i should be out enjoying the day etc. but i just said to myself feck it il stay up late if i want and create and enjoy it.

sometimes we are programed to live a certain way but there are no rules as far as i am concerned

Enigma365 · 08-08-2008 12:45am

The all-nighter really does work. You just need the will-power to stay up until around 10pm that night. If you just cannot get yourself out of bed early it's the only way to do it.

I agree. Also I find the key thing to doing this successfully is to not stay at home while you are trying to stay awake after a night of no sleep. i.e. get out and spend the day doing something non taxing (even if its just catching a few films at the cinema). As long as you're not at home, you dont really have the option to fall asleep and you will find it a lot easier to get through the day. Also, when you are out and about your brain is a lot more engaged, compared to when at home, and so you are not so much distracted by your need to sleep.

BrokenArrows · 08-08-2008 12:58am

i used to have a similar pattern.

its just a matter of going to bed earlier. you may not sleep till later but you will be resting.

set an alarm for a reasonable time. you say you usually get up around say 3pm.
well set the alarm for 2pm and make sure you get up.

the next night make it 1pm and 12 the next.

try and get into the habbit of going to bed at roughly the same time. between 11pm and 1:30 am. thats my range of sleep time and im usually up at 8am for work, sometimes 6am. on my days off i go to sleep at the same time but i can easily sleep till 1pm.

you will have to force yourself out of bed at a reasonable time and before you know it you will no longer me the person who sleeps till 5pm.

LegacyUser · 08-08-2008 2:09am

Stuck in the same boat myself.

I work freelance, so I don't have any routine.

I tend to be full of energy when it's dark and quiet, but when the day comes and the city is noisy, I close the shutters and hibernate.

It's an extremely unhealthy way to live, and one can never sustain a decent diet in this situation, I find.

The thing is, I have no problem with routine, it's just a matter of setting down my own rules, which I'm terrible at.

For me, the only way around it is to exercise for at least 20 mins at a set time every day, be it 10am or 10pm. Set your alarm for 9am and have a bowl of bran/muesli and a piece of fruit as soon as you wake up, and at least one portion of veg in your main meal.

Instead of watching TV or playing video games, go read a book, play an instrument, anything that will keep your brain properly stimulated.

As long as you are keeping healthy, both physically and mentally, you should have no problem sticking to 'normal' sleeping hours.

cHaTbOx · 08-08-2008 3:29am

Hi Op,
A lot of things can wreak havoc with your sleep , but it can boil down to 2 things , physical and mental stresses . I am one of the most nocturnal people you could ever meet and i don't need as much sleep as many people i know.you have to ask yourself , how much sleep do i really need?lets face it you're off with no obligations at the moment , so instead of getting up you hit the snooze . Now you are aiming to get up by 8.what are you going to do when you get up?if you can i would in swimming at that time . It really gets the blood pumping and at that time hardly anybody is there so it is lovely and quiet . Look at what needs to be done around the house. It's not just about getting up , it's about getting a routine. Also, if you eat at night ,stop.

At the end of the day , if you need to get up you will get up. It may mean being shattered for a couple of days when you start , but it is suprising how you can adapt into a routine.

Claire121 · 08-08-2008 9:23am

First of all, how do you have the option of staying in bed all day? Don't you have a job? If you have no reason to wake up early, it's going to be practically impossible to do so. Could you maybe find a job or some sort of activity that means you HAVE to get up in the mornings?

Otherwise, maybe try drinking a hot milky drink and force yourself to go to bed at 11pm. Even if you don't sleep at first, you'll get into a routine that way. And absolutely NO naps in the day or evening! I know how bad it is to get into this rut, I ended up becoming nocturnal in college because I'd write my dissertation at night when it was quiet and I could concentrate, took ages to get my sleeping patterns back to normal!

af_thefragile · 08-08-2008 5:35pm

So i went to bed at 7am last night...errr... today morning, and ended waking up at 12pm, just to turn off my alarm to take a little nap for an hour.
Ended waking up at 5pm.
I'm ashamed!!!

:(

I really need to try harder n get more will power.
I've got no college, no jobs. This is the reason i've become this way. No obligation to wake up early. I really need to find something to do in the mornings. I've just become too damn lazy!!! Argh!!!

LegacyUser · 09-08-2008 12:52am

op enjoy it while you can it wont be long before life gets busy!

when you have to go back to college youll snap out of it xx

Geo08 · 10-08-2008 5:48pm

Hi OP, I used to have a similar problem. Ive found two things help - sleeping with the curtains open (which at first I hated!).

The other thing thats works for me is make an appointment that you cant get out of e.g doctors, salon - anything etc early in the morning say 10 am (on a monday is good).

This means you have to get up a bit before that to get ready etc & have no choice but to go. Then right after your apt stay out, get some fresh air, do the shopping etc till lunch, then you will be busy making lunch, afternoon/evening can be internet/tv time then you will be tired by later evening (hopefully

).

And repeat.

I now on average go to bed 1ish up at 10ish, I am gradually bringing this forward to lead up to college.

ps having cats jumping all over you is also a help on waking :rolleyes:

Help with sleeping habits!

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