How to go to bed earlier?
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Anonymous
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My news years resolution is to go to bed earlier and so far it's not working out well. Typically we like to go to bed around midnight and wake up at 7:30am. I'm always tired and often get less than 7 hours of sleep. On the weekends we easily sleep in until 9:30/10am.
I had a trip to London last month and LOVED going to bed at 9pm and waking up at 5am, but it only lasted a week when I got back. I've tried laying in bed and reading starting at 9:30pm, but I get lost in my book and don't go to bed. When I don't read, I just lay there in the dark trying to sleep and actually go to bed later than I would have normally. It was almost 2am last night. My iron and vitamin D are excellent. Do people take sleeping pills to start going to bed earlier? Any tips? |
Anonymous
| A sleep mask. Totally black out mask. Made a big difference for me. |
Anonymous
| Don't read in bed. Read in a different room, then do your whole bedtime routine after you finish reading - set yourself an alarm if needed. No screens once in bed either. |
Anonymous
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You're sleeping too late on the weekend, for sure.
What adult sleeps until 7:30 M-F? Are you retired? Even working at home, I'm up at 6:30. |
Anonymous
OP here. Not retired. DH takes the kids to school in the morning and I'm at work at 8am. I have a short commute. We've been sick since Christmas, so feeling extra run down now. |
Anonymous
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Agree you can't sleep in that much on weekends. Your deviation should be an hour, max.
Wake up earlier. You'll get tired earlier. Rinse, repeat. |
Anonymous
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Make it 11:30 for a while then once you're used to that move it up in increments. It would be very hard to go from midnight to 9:30 all at once. I've gone from around 11:30+ to 10:00 like this.
Cut out caffeine. |
Anonymous
| Eh, take a hot shower and crawl into bed at 8pm. You’ll definitely fall asleep before 11pm. You can probably train yourself to fall asleep between 9:30 and 10:30. But the trick is to start relaxing around 7:30 or so. |
Anonymous
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If you like to relax with a book before bed, try a podcast. You can fall asleep to it since you don't have to turn out the light and put the book away.
I've always just put one earbud in, but for Christmas DH bought me a sleeping mask that has built in bluetooth speakers over the ears. I love it. |
Anonymous
The morning people often need to be reminded: there are no prizes for early rising and it does not make you a better/more mature person. As a highly productive and successful adult, I hate getting up in the morning and only get up before 8:30 or 9 because I have to. |
Anonymous
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You need to wake up earlier before you can go to bed earlier. Set your alarm for the time you want to wake up, and just get up regardless of when you went to sleep. Pick an activity you enjoy getting up for - a cup of coffee and a book, or a workout, whatever. You'll be tired that day. Don't nap. Don't drink caffeine after a certain time (for me its 2 pm). Go to bed early. I second the call for a sleep mask - it really helps. I also set my coffee pot on a timer so I smell it when I am waking up. I know there's a lot of advice about limiting screen time before bed, etc., but I don't do it. I began waking up at 5:15 this spring to make a 6 am exercise class and I had to just begin by waking up earlier. It was tough at first, but now it's second nature. Last night I forgot to set my alarm and I still woke up at my usual 5:15 time!
For me the hardest part is not taking a nap on Sunday afternoon. I always make dinner extra early Sundays so I can get my young kids to bed and crawl into bed early and unwind (for me, that's watching TV). Good luck! |
Anonymous
Hah, I wfh and wake up at 8am during the week. And definitely later on the weekends. |
Anonymous
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You need at least a couple days of torture unfortunately.
Wake up earlier, no coffee or caffeine. You'll be exhausted by 7 and should be able to crash by 9. Personally, I can't just randomly fall asleep early, so these things help reset my system. |
Anonymous
| Google how to develop good sleep hygiene. |
Anonymous
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I really think it’s your body and rhythm and it’s going to do what it wants. I get up M-F at 5:30 and can often sleep in on the weekends until 8 or even 9. I just adjust. Today, I naturally woke up at 4:30 and could not fall back asleep. Occasionally I take a single Benadryl if I have a few nights of waking up way to early for the day, the 4am hour or 3am hour.
DH has a different work schedule and sleeps in until 8-9 during the week and often until 10-11 on weekends. Yes, we have separate bedrooms. |