Lately, my sleep cycle has been out of whack and I’ve been asking myself how do I get my sleep cycle back on track. I am such a night owl. I have been I think ever since college. I would stay up and cram for tests and do my homework the night before they were due. Sometimes, I would stay up all night working on them. I kind of think that if you are a procrastinator, you might be more of a night owl and tend to have different sleep patterns that those who don’t.
I think the first step in working into a better sleeping routine would be to make sure that you get your work done during the day and stop putting things off. Then you won’t be tempted to cut back on your sleep and use that time to get work done. The other thing that I think would be important would be to try and get up at the same time each day.
I have set the goal to get up at a certain time many times and tend not to reach it. I do however think that if you get up at the same time each day, it’s easier to get that half of the equation in place first then work on going to bed at the same time each day as well.
There are many days that I will stay up til 3:00 am in the morning and then sleep til noon. I could have just as easily done all of the things I wanted to do during the day, it’s just more peaceful to do them at night when everyone else is sleeping. Sometimes it’s tough to get my real job done because of this type of sleep cycle.
The other thing that I think is important is not to take naps. Many times, I’ll do that and then when bedtime rolls around, I am not sleepy and then you stay up. I love naps, gotta quit taking them.
I guess that one other thing that affects my sleep is that I do have to do some work with people who don’t start working until 11:00 or midnight and this tends to keep me up late as well.
With the new year approaching, I am going to work on the following things to get my sleep cycle back on track.
- Set a specific time to get up early. If I want to get up eventually by 7 am in the morning. Start by setting my goal at 9:00 am and gradually move it up.
- Don’t take any naps.
- Make a goal to get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night.
- Go to sleep when I am tired. If I am geting up early, then I’ll probably be tired early.
If any of you have problems getting yourself to go to bed, but don’t have problems sleeping, you’ll probably want to try and get into a better pattern of sleep for yourself. It’s healthier and better for your overall quality of life. Good luck and leave any tips you may have.
Night my friends,
The Night Owl
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