How easy is it to change your sleeping patterns?

mistercrabb

mistercrabb

mistercrabb

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I've been thinking. Dangerous I know.
I have decided that my current sleep pattern is very inefficient.

I have a 9-5 Job, and my typical day goes like this:

7:30 = Alarm wakes me. (tired)
8:30-17:00 = Work. (tired all day)
17:00-23:00 = At home (wide awake)
23:00 onwards = Go to bed, try to sleep

Now, annoyingly, I can't seem to get to sleep until some point between midnight and 1AM. This is not good for me, I seem to need loads of sleep and it makes me really tired at work (it might just be that I'm really bored - I can't tell)
That part where I'm trying to get to sleep seems to be a needless waste of 1-2 hours of my life every day.

Is there an easy way to change my sleep pattern so I go to sleep straight away when I go to bed at 10PM (this is when the rest of my family go to bed) and then wake up at 6AM? 8 hours sleep and an early start.

The reason I'd like to get up so early is because I'd like to go to the gym while it's empty at 6:30, the problem with going in the evening is that I get back home at 9 and then I can't sleep for ages (I get really restless no matter how hard I worked out).

Bit of a random question I know, but it's bugging me now.
 
I'd love to know too as I've had this issue forever... It seems like some people just need 1-2 hours to get to sleep at night.
 
I don't see what the problem is with your current sleep pattern. Your getting loads of sleep per night....maybe its a dietary thing if you feel tired 'all' day. I'm generally very tired when I wake up for work but after being at work for about an hour having had a cup of tea or two and breakfast I'm fine. My pattern is something like -

7am alarm for work (snooze till 7:30ish..)
7:50 leave for work
8:45 arrive at work
between 5 and 6pm leave work.
Then I either go home, gym or out for drinks with friends/ colleagues.
Normally go to bed at about 1am and watch tv for an hour then sleep.

Not exactly much sleep but weekends (fri/sat night) I get like 10 to 12 hours.
 
Avoid all technology for an hour or so before bed.

Don't watch TV, browse the internet or use your phone.

Read a book until you can't keep your eyes open.

Listening to music might help but I find it distracting, I prefer an audiobook or Radio 4/World Service.

Finally, if you still struggle, try herbal/normal Nytol. I went through a patch where I couldn't 'turn off', I'd just lie in bed and over-think everything.

A month of Nytol really helped me return to a normal sleeping pattern.
 
You should also leave at least 2 hours between exercise and bedtime. I try to leave 4 hours as I need that long, otherwise I'm too energised to get to sleep in under 15 minutes.
 
OP - you are in the EXACT situation I am in. Even your timings are the same.

I dont drink, I dont have tea/coffee at night yet I can EASILY stay up ALL night no problem. And not on the computer. I can do it just by reading. Ive blasted through entire books on weekend nights. Just cant get tired. I work out 4/times a week...but on the days I work out I arrive home with even MORE energy.

When I go to dance events my mates are sleeping in corners by 3:00am...Im out there dancin till 8:00am - and I can keep going till well past midday. And yes this is *without* taking "stuff".

Its really annoying and now Im trying everything to change it. I do find a blisteringly hot shower for about 10mins helps. And turn off all computer, tvs, stop playin with smartphones etc.

Also consider white noise in your bedroom. I keep a fan humming in mine. No need to point it at yourself just in a corner of the room so it gives a hum. It can help. Experiment.

I agree that a routine can help because there was a (brief) time I stuck to one. Going to bed and awaking at same time every day (EVEN WEEKENDS..this is important) gets you into a routine.
 
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You're getting loads of sleep op'r, you feel tired at work because you're bored! I reckon you need a more stimulating job, here's a couple of examples of jobs which you may find less boring than your current one.

Professional Prostitute tester?

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Jaime Rascone is no different than the rest of us in that the erstwhile DJ needs to grab the occasional odd job to make ends meet. But the Chilean lothario has beat all of us by holding the type of fantasy job that just sounds too good to be true: Quality Control in a brothel.
Rascone, an occasional male model and DJ, first happened upon Fiorella Companions in Santiago, Chile while working on a story about the country's sexual revolution. He was offered the gig by Madam Fiorella, who needed somebody to provide that final “interview” in her hiring process. It goes like this: girls who are interested in working as VIP escorts for Fiorella have to undergo interviews, psychological testing, and a photo session. The applicants are whittled down to a final six, who are then ****ed one after the other in a single day by Jaime. He takes diligent notes on, say, how they moved their hips and whether their groans were adequate, and makes recommendations to the madam. There is even paperwork involved. The strain of the job is actually such that he can only do it once a month, testing around seventy girls or so a year.
Click to expand...


Resort water slide tester?

a96855_a527_7-waterslide-tester2.jpg


Surely the envy of any desk-bound office worker, Tommy Lynch has travelled over 27,000 miles this year for his job, testing holiday resort waterslides. Mr Lynch, 29, works for holiday giant First Choice, checking the height, speed, water quantity and landing of the flumes, as well as all safety aspects. In 2008 Mr Lynch tested waterslides at holiday villages in Lanzarote, Majorca, Egypt, Turkey, Costa Del Sol, Cyprus, Algarve, Dominican Republic and Mexico. This year he will quality control First Choice's new splash resorts in Greece, Turkey, Florida, Jamaica and Ibiza.

Liverpool-born Mr Lynch, whose job title is lifestyle product development manager, was recruited to identify the very best pools to be featured in First Choice's new Splash Resort collection. He also ensures potential new resorts are up to the company's standard.
Click to expand...
 
before i had a job, my pattern was all weird so what i would do is not sleep at night or only have few hours sleep so next evening i would get tired early and thus would re-adjust my pattern...

what do you do between 5-11? may be its because of weekends, my pattern gets a bit messed up during weekend as i sleep late/wake late so monday is always hard for me..
 
Go to bed an hour earlier and listen to soothing music on low with a sleep timer of 3 hours or whatever. Just make sure it's music that isn't annoying or music you like to sign along to, you want it to help shut your brain down, rather than keep it active. Give it a go, it could work. Alternatively have a couple of cans of beer each night and drink them slowly over the course of the night, will make you drowsy.
 
if you could, would you stay up more in the night than you would in the day?

because you might be a night owl (person)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_owl_(person)

i have this but i dont stay up all night im just really tired and bored all day until the afternoon the everything just seems to feel better and im wide awake.
i dont think there is anything you can do about it either.
 
IndigoGorilla said:
Simple, if you get up earlier you should be able to fall asleep earlier. Once you've done this for a few days it should become routine.
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Exactly, I don't see why this is so hard to understand. I usually go to bed around midnight and since I mostly work from home I can afford to wake up later. However, sometimes I have to get up really early (freelance pilot) and work all day, and then I sleep like a baby around 9 or 10pm. Maybe I am lucky to be able to adapt relatively easily, not sure.
I agree with the suggestion to ban all technology an hour before going to bed, that helps a lot.
 
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