Changing Schedules

Hmmm....

I have to change my sleeping schedule. I have to get up earlier...however,
I am a night person. I seem to really thrive creatively staying up, and sleeping in later.

I have shifted my schedule in the past and it never ends well. I am always grumpy, I don't sleep well and caffeine and I are really not a strong coupling (makes me crash very hard).

My first thought was to sleep in small bouts. 3-4 hours at night and then 2-3 hours during the day. However, upon reading about it, this can lead to a lack of true REM sleep which can then cause the rest of the body to go all wonkey. But I have read things to the contrary as well.
What sucks is I finally beat a vicious case of insomnia that struck me for a few months, and I have no idea how to go about this.

Anyone else have suggestions to smoothing out the transition? I would really appreciate it.

Pele

Yeah. Phototherapy. Make sure that you have bright lights in your room first thing in the morning. Get ready in them. Do your morning routine under bright light. It will shift your body clock.

After vacations (where I can give into my insomniac night owl instincts), I usually pull an all-nighter to exhaust myself into falling asleep earlier the next night. That helps to re-set my clock.

I'm having the same problem. I'm a night creature and I have to get up early right now. That phototherapy sounds painful though is there another way or am I going to have to do the all nighter?

I use Regyt's technique. I'm generally a late night person too. my mind seems to calm down at night and I can actually get work done.

I keep trying the all nighter but I normally pass out around 7 am and I have an 8 am class...

oh bugger this program is making my head hurt. In the imortal words of Lidster it can "Smag off!"

I have 2 ways that work for me (although i am more of a natural morning person so these may not help)

1. set your alarm 1/2 hour befor you have to actually get up so you have genuine lie-in time

2. try meditating every morning just for 10 mins - it really wakes you up, it's amazing!

I've never tried melatonin but have heard it's good for sleep stuff.

And meditation is great - Tao's spot on. Tho I find setting the alarm early and snoozing makes me more tired.

Heya Pele,

I had to go through the same sort of thing - am naturally nocturnal and sleep the deepest from an hour or so before dawn, but for the last year I have been waking up at 4.30am 5days a week. It really wasn't as much as a struggle as I thought it would be, although it is a bit of a drag in winter.

I guess it's mostly psychological, but some nights I take valerian to make me more inclined to sleep. I also take great pleasure in being able to see the sun rise and the sun set each day; dawn is such a sacred time and I get a moment's peace in this busy city.

Anyway Pele - it won't be so bad. You just need to make sure you don't eat too heavy a dinner at night and make sure you finish eating at least 2 hours before you go to bed. If you go to sleep slightly hungry you will be able to get out of bed much easier.

love n light
flash