Lifehacks for changing my bullshit biorhythm

February 1, 2018 1:27 PM

I am very clearly biologically inclined to be nocturnal, whether due to hormones or depression or whatever else. Give me all your tricks for changing this?

I seem to fight a regular “morning person” schedule with all my might. For example, last night my boyfriend and I went out and did trivia at a local restaurant, came home, and I felt quite sleepy, so I went to bed at 10:00 pm with high hopes of feeling rested at 6:30 am. I woke up to my alarm, felt great, but sort of panicked that it was so early and I didn’t know what to do... and went back to bed. Woke up when my boyfriend got up around 7:30, fell back asleep and didn’t wake until... 10:30. That’s over 12 hours of sleep!

My fix for this I’m toying with is to maybe have a weekly schedule so I know what needs to be done each morning and look forward to it, whether that’s a workout, making (and actually enjoying) breakfast, showering, whatever.

But regardless, it is VERY common for me to go back to sleep after my alarm wakes me up, even after several rounds. It’s 1:30 pm right now and I could probably fall back asleep if I wanted.

I don’t drink coffee (stomach problems and jitters) but I do drink matcha, Diet Coke and tea.

More background: my job right now means I have to be up by at least 8:00 am anyway, and I can get up around 9 on days with nothing else going on. But due to my commute, I spend a TON of time at work which is a bummer when I sleep the rest of my life. I feel best after 7:30 hours of sleep. I’ve noticed that when I sleep in and spend all day at work I get home and fritter my time away on devices, feel like shit, and usually stay up too late. Ideally I would wake up early enough to get ready without insane rushing, would workout almost every day, and have a schedule that makes things like getting to the farmers market on the weekend before noon not so impossible.

Things I’ve tried:
- drinking water before bed. I’m very capable of getting up, peeing, and going back to sleep.
- asking bf to crank some tunes in the morning. This works! But apparently I am very persuasive and can get him to turn them off about 50% of the time.
- alarm in another room. Our apartment is small— like, studio small— so this isn’t that helpful right now, and frankly if my bf gets annoyed and shuts it off, I can’t blame him, and it doesn’t help me.
- shame. Does nothing! I’ve overslept while visiting family a zillion times no matter how bad I feel. I’ve been late for meetings, etc.

Things I’ve considered:
- getting a pet. I want one anyway! But I’m guessing they would disrupt this thing I have going on, since we don’t even have a bedroom door. I fostered a rabbit for awhile and she woke me up every morning for hay.
- the obvious thing of being persistent and consistent as much as possible to develop a pattern. I’m working on this; they are both pretty hard!

Things that work:
- mostly drugs and alcohol. Drinking wakes me up early but probably disrupts my sleep. Ditto cold medicine and weed. Not sure yet about the weed connection as I only dabble but not very interested in smoking weed every day.

Another other tips, tricks, insights, etc into making this work for me would be much appreciated. In an ideal world I’d sleep around 10 and wake around 6:30, and a single night of drinking or whatever would not ruin my sleep schedule for a month. Don’t know if this is even possible but I sure hope so.

posted by stoneandstar to Health & Fitness (16 answers total)

A great book on these issues: "Why We Sleep" by Dr. Matthew Walker. Also worth reading is Arianna Huffington's "The Sleep Revolution."
posted by conrad53 at 1:40 PM on February 1, 2018

I actually have an appointment with a sleep doctor tomorrow for the exact same issue, so I'll be watching this thread!

One thing that works for me... sometimes... is to take melatonin at night - not right before bed, but like 2-3 hours before I plan to go to bed.

There are also a lot of tricks you can find recommended if you google around for information about delayed sleep phase disorder/DSPD. One thing I'd like to try is using a sun lamp in the mornings, which supposedly helps reset your circadian rhythms. Some people also wear orange blue-light-blocking glasses in the evenings, which I wasn't able to bring myself to do regularly.
posted by showbiz_liz at 2:01 PM on February 1, 2018

I am not a morning person, and I sympathize. You sound tired. Is it possible that you need a lot more sleep than you think you do? Like nine or ten hours a night, instead of 7.5? When I am snoozing the alarm a lot, it means I am trying to get by on less sleep than my body needs. You could try going to bed ridiculously early for a week to see if that helps with the getting-up-on-time aspect of things.

Things to try: I set a "go to bed" alarm on my phone that reminds me it is time to start getting ready for bed, no negotiations. I'm often just dinking around on the internet and lose track of time, and then it's 1am and I won't be able to wake up in the morning. Try setting a "time to sleep" alarm and see if that helps. Also, I leave the curtains partially open when I sleep so that the morning sun wakes me up. Is your bedroom really dark and cool and quiet? What happens if you stop drinking caffeine for a while? I've gotten to this sad place where if I have even a little bit of caffeine after 6pm, I can't sleep. But I don't feel super-caffeinated and revved-up, just awake enough not to fall asleep. Try completely cutting it out for a couple weeks and see if it helps.

I asked this question years ago, and there is some good advice there, check it out!
posted by zoetrope at 2:36 PM on February 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

I vote for a walk or jog a few minutes after you get up, outside, where hopefully the sun is already up. This will help reboot your system to awake at your early, need to be up for work time. If this seems crazy, you could try a sun lamp as soon as you get up, to help tell your body this is an awake time.

Also, no caffeine after lunch helps me sleep earlier and feel more rested.
posted by Kalmya at 2:59 PM on February 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I became a morning person by going to the gym before work. Now I am an obnoxious person who is cheerful and bouncing off the walls before 7am at least 4 days a week.

My alarm goes off at 5:45, and I turn it off, use the bathroom, put on gym clothes (picked out in advance), grab my work clothes (again, prepared in advance), pick up my keys and work badge, and get in the car. No thinking required.

At the gym, I get coffee, say hi to the morning manager (so glad my gym opens at 6!), get on the treadmill for 10 minutes, do a little stretching, then either start climbing or do yoga, depending on the day.

I start watching the clock around 7:45 so I can do my cooldown, take a shower, and start driving to work.

Things that make the routine work:
- I don't have to think before leaving the house.
Pre-packing my clothes was incredibly helpful. After I do laundry, I can put together about 10 days worth of outfits. Gym clothes get rolled up and stacked in a cubby. Work clothes (including socks and underwear) get put in ziploc bags and stacked in a different cubby. Even though i wear a lot of dresses, I'm pretty non-finicky about my clothes and can wear whatever outfit is on top.

- I have friends who will notice if I don't show up.
The same person opens the gym 3 days a week, so I always chat with him when I get in and say goodbye when I leave. I tell him, "see you Tuesday!" and on Tuesday, I will feel a tiny amount of guilt if I don't show up. Also, the community of people who go to a climbing gym before 8am on weekdays is pretty small, so I saw the same people over and over, got friendly with them, and now I have a few phone numbers that I can text the day before for accountability. Even though we belay each other for climbing, there's plenty to do at the gym and nobody's SOL if they get stood up. Probably a little teasing, but such is our social climate.

- Other helpful details
My gym is on the way to work, so my commute goes down a lot when I break it up into the 6:05 leg (no traffic at all!) and the 8:20 leg (skips the part that usually the worst!)

Also, I really like rock climbing! Even though I'm getting up before 6am every day to work out, I'm also heading out to engage in one of my favorite hobbies. Even better bonus, the gym is waaaaaaay less crowded in the mornings than it is in the evenings, so there's less waiting around for routes to open up.

I give myself a lot of leeway to suck or phone it in or be terrible, as long as I show up. Some weeks, I hate eeeeeeeverything before I get my heart rate up and coffee in my system. But I still show up, walk on the treadmill till I can power walk, and then the endorphins take over.

It took a few months to get consistent with even 3 days a week at the gym. I did a bunch of experiments, paid attention to my thought patterns, tried a bunch of grab-and-go breakfast solutions, and let it be a gradual process to become the morning-person powerhouse I am right now. But after just a couple weeks I noticed that if I skipped more than two days at the gym, my depression would start creeping back. That was hugely motivating. (Similarly, after I figured out that I need a significant amount of protein before lunch on workout days, my anxiety became way easier to deal with)

Also, considering I used to be a night person, I LOVE that I get up before sunrise in winter. (I live in LA, so "winter" is relative)


Overall, what works for me is not having to think immediately after waking up. Having a plan and making succeeding at that plan as easy as possible. Leaving the house is great, but if not, a series of things to do not related to getting ready for work, is key. Right now my plan is that when I'm unemployed, if it doesn't make sense to keep my gym schedule, I'm going to use the first 30 minutes of the day to do some kind of cooking or meal prep.
posted by itesser at 3:09 PM on February 1, 2018 [16 favorites]

I switched to a 5am wakeup for my kid's school schedule from being someone who loved to sleep at 2-3am. Critical has been rigging a sunlight alarm (I have a cheap knock off of the philips sunlight LED alarm) that basically hangs over my head at night. When my phone alarm goes at 5am, there's a gentle warm light on already and I'm awake but it's not a wrenching awake, just eyes open. I get up and make tea, brush my teeth and start a routine that includes exercise.

Another key thing had been scheduling far fewer night activities. If something happens after 8pm, I have to pre- nap or I will be exhausted. Then by about 8-9 pm, I'm in bed so I get a solid 8+ hours of sleep. I gave up on eating dinner late regularly and try to eat a big lunch instead. Sometimes I'll have an early dinner if I'm lucky, but you have to accept you'll be out of sync with a lot of people on different schedules. You'll probably sync up with morning schedule people though!
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 3:47 PM on February 1, 2018

Having a sunrise alarm (actually a Phillips Hue smart light system that I have configured to work as a sunrise alarm) worked wonders for me. I was in a very similar boat, but I find my body is way less inclined to fall back asleep if the lights are on.
posted by Itaxpica at 5:56 PM on February 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

Get a sleep study to rule out (or not) sleep apnea. I was like you until I got my CPAP.
posted by Napoleonic Terrier at 6:07 PM on February 1, 2018

Fellow late chronotype here. Melatonin and bright lights on a timer (set to an hour or so before my alarm) help somewhat, but this is still a constant struggle for me so they obviously didn't fix it entirely (also you have to remember to take melatonin at a consistent time).

Some people I know take a caffeine pill (or their prescribed stimulant) at their first alarm and then go back to sleep until the second alarm. I have coffee on a timer that I set up the night before, but I think it really has to be right next to your bed and easily slammable in order to work.
posted by en forme de poire at 10:03 PM on February 1, 2018

I also think this is like a thousand times harder if you're running a significant sleep debt, which sleeping for 12 hours suggests. If you keep sleeping ad libitum for a while, your sleep needs should eventually plateau to the amount you really need per night. Not that I ever do this because you know, life!
posted by en forme de poire at 10:07 PM on February 1, 2018 [2 favorites]

I would naturally sleep from about 3-11 a.m., if I could. I wish I could! itesser‘s comment reminded me that when I used to go for either a run or a bike ride first thing every morning, I would hop out of bed nice and early, and be excited to get up. So I guess I’m agreeing with the exercise advice (and maybe going to start going to the gym in the morning instead of the evening—hope we both succeed!).
posted by Edna Million at 11:02 PM on February 1, 2018

Best answer: About 15 years ago I read a book called "The Promise of Sleep" by a sleep researcher. Cross between science and self help. I'm sure new research has been done since then but the principles remain similar. He suggested taking 2 weeks and going to bed early. Make sleep your 100% priority. Set your alarm as late as possible. Aim to get at least 10 hours a night. This helps you get rid of a sleep debt. After that time you will have a good idea of your natural rhythms and they may be what you expect or they may not.

After you aren't tired overall then you can work on adjusting your rhythm.

Personally I found I became much more sensitive to caffeine and I really noticed when I had good sleep hygeine and when I didn't. Life became a much nicer place overall.
posted by kadia_a at 1:05 AM on February 2, 2018 [4 favorites]

Best answer: If you can take a vacation, take a week to go camping. One (small) study suggests that being away from electrical light (and spending time in bright outdoor light during the day) will reset your circadian rhythm.
posted by pinochiette at 5:50 AM on February 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

your circadian rhythm doesn't change overnight - it takes a while for it to get adjusted to a new environment which is the reason why jet lag operates the way it does. common knowledge says that taking melantonin at the time you want to sleep until you get adjusted to your new sleep schedule works - just don't start forming a dependency on it

if early gym doesn't work for you, there are Youtube channels like Fitness Blender and Yoga with Adrienne that make for good, short morning workouts. if your apartment is above someone else's, the ones that are low-impact are fairly noise free. padding your feet with yoga mats for that purpose works too

also, you might try investing in one of those mood lights - I have the blue one by Philips that isn't horribly bright and searing to the eyes but it gives me pep in my sunlight free office in the morning and keeps me working. I'd echo Itaxpica's suggestion for a sunrise alarm - mine starts going 20 minutes before the alarm and it does a good job of gently waking you up. just make sure it's close to your face - I had mine set across the room for a while and it wasn't doing a whole lot
posted by runt at 8:26 AM on February 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

If left to my own devices, I will sleep from 4am-10am and feel very happy; that's the delayed sleep phase syndrome talking. A lot of "night owls" live with this undiagnosed, I think — worth looking into, and seeing if applies? People with DSPS tend to find it very, very hard to stick to a regular schedule, even with all the willpower + good routines + failsafes in the world.

If it does, according to my sleep doc, the most effective things for DSPS are what showbiz_liz mentioned: melatonin, bright light therapy in the morning, and blocking out blue light at night. You might want to look up up microdosing melatonin (it's packaged such that most people take ten times more than they need to) and bright light therapy. For that, you need half an hour or more of time sitting in front of a light box (rated at 10,000 lux), as soon as you wake up, and consistently — I don't find that it's a fix on its own, but when combined with limiting blue light exposure at night, it helps shift your sleep and wake times a bit towards "normal."

I can't manage to wear the blue-blocking glasses at night, either, but you can do a lot to reduce blue light around the house: f.lux, seriously dimming your phone using Zoom accessibility settings, dim lights everywhere. I put 10-40 watt light bulbs in certain lamps and use only those for three or four hours before bed.

I am worried about the sleeping 12 hours thing, though — sounds like something else might be going on there. Are you exhausted all the time just because you can't fall asleep when you want to? Or are you always able to fall asleep, even when you've slept enough?
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 11:42 PM on February 2, 2018

So! The sleep doctor confirmed that I have 'classic' DSPD and prescribed this regimen for me:

-Every day, set my alarm for 8am and then put on a pair of light therapy glasses, like Luminette. Wear them for half an hour. Stay in bed if I want during that time, but get up at 8:30 if so.
-At 8pm, take 1mg of melatonin and turn off all screens and put on blue-blocking glasses. She also recommended using a pinkish-orange light source like a salt lamp.
-Get in bed at midnight.

I am to do all this for three months before a follow-up appointment. I'm excited to try the light therapy glasses! The Amazon reviews are full of people saying they noticed a difference almost immediately.
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:29 AM on February 3, 2018