Help me phase shift
August 14, 2008 6:08 PM Subscribe
So I've suddenly got to get up four hours earlier than usual...
I'm a habitual late riser, and usually get into the office at 10 AM (it's a rather casual office that way). I asked for and received a new assignment at work and this afternoon found out that I need to show up on Monday at 6 AM. I'm totally psyched for my new role, but worried about fading during the day. I want to make sure that I'm alert as possible, especially since I expect to have to take in a lot of information.
Given my late-riser ways and the three mornings I have before now and Monday, what's the best way to make this happen?
I'm a habitual late riser, and usually get into the office at 10 AM (it's a rather casual office that way). I asked for and received a new assignment at work and this afternoon found out that I need to show up on Monday at 6 AM. I'm totally psyched for my new role, but worried about fading during the day. I want to make sure that I'm alert as possible, especially since I expect to have to take in a lot of information.
Given my late-riser ways and the three mornings I have before now and Monday, what's the best way to make this happen?
Don't go to sleep Saturday night. Go to sleep Sunday night no later than 10 (which shouldn't be a problem if you didn't go to sleep Saturday night). And don't take naps during the day, you'll mess up the intentional screwing over of your sleep patterns.
Note that this isn't the ideal solution at all, and it would have been better to gradually move your sleep habits. But you do what you need to do on the short notice.
And it wouldn't help to let people in the new office know about your change in sleep schedule. Just make sure you're doing it as an informational thing letting them know that you're not being rude if you seem sleepy and not in a way that makes it sound like you're trying to get their sympathy.
posted by theichibun at 6:25 PM on August 14, 2008
Note that this isn't the ideal solution at all, and it would have been better to gradually move your sleep habits. But you do what you need to do on the short notice.
And it wouldn't help to let people in the new office know about your change in sleep schedule. Just make sure you're doing it as an informational thing letting them know that you're not being rude if you seem sleepy and not in a way that makes it sound like you're trying to get their sympathy.
posted by theichibun at 6:25 PM on August 14, 2008
Best answer: I am a late riser and fight awful battles with jet lag, and my travel schedule makes it a 8+hour time changes a part of my life. There are two ways to do it. One is to have willpower of steel and wake up and go to sleep on a schedule. The other way is to just power through it. I wish I had the strength to do the first more often because when I do most of the time difference disappears in about two days. When I don't deal aggressively with it by just sleeping whenever, take naps, etc, it can honestly take more than a month to get straightened out.
Eat extra healthy for the next week. Your body will complain about being off schedule, so eating right can offset some of that.
No caffeine late in the day from now until you get adjusted. It'll mess with your already messed up sleep patterns.
Then set your alarm for 4:00 Sat morning. (Or an hour earlier than you think you'll need to get up on Monday) Get up, have your day. Do -not- nap. Under any circumstances. Don't even rest your eyes or nod off. Follow your normal bedtime routine, but move it ahead so you can get 8-9 hours of solid sleep.
Wake up Sunday at 5 or 6 and do the same. It should be much easier.
Get up with a little extra time Monday AM so you are not rushed and stressed. Eat a significant and healthy breakfast, do some light calisthenics to get the blood going.
I hide my clocks and wear my watch in my pocket for the first day or two so I don't think about what time it really is. ("There's a 5 o'clock in the morning now?")
I would avoid theichibun's otherwise good advice about staying up all night. After about 20 hours awake your sleep cycle will be deeply screwed up and you'll have a hard time getting a good night's sleep.
posted by Ookseer at 6:50 PM on August 14, 2008
Eat extra healthy for the next week. Your body will complain about being off schedule, so eating right can offset some of that.
No caffeine late in the day from now until you get adjusted. It'll mess with your already messed up sleep patterns.
Then set your alarm for 4:00 Sat morning. (Or an hour earlier than you think you'll need to get up on Monday) Get up, have your day. Do -not- nap. Under any circumstances. Don't even rest your eyes or nod off. Follow your normal bedtime routine, but move it ahead so you can get 8-9 hours of solid sleep.
Wake up Sunday at 5 or 6 and do the same. It should be much easier.
Get up with a little extra time Monday AM so you are not rushed and stressed. Eat a significant and healthy breakfast, do some light calisthenics to get the blood going.
I hide my clocks and wear my watch in my pocket for the first day or two so I don't think about what time it really is. ("There's a 5 o'clock in the morning now?")
I would avoid theichibun's otherwise good advice about staying up all night. After about 20 hours awake your sleep cycle will be deeply screwed up and you'll have a hard time getting a good night's sleep.
posted by Ookseer at 6:50 PM on August 14, 2008
Go to sleep 4 hours earlier.
But seriously, wake up early this weekend when you don't *have* to get up early and enjoy the earliness. And tire yourself out so you will feel sleepy earlier.
Yeah, no caffeine after 2pm. Seriously.
posted by gjc at 7:05 PM on August 14, 2008
But seriously, wake up early this weekend when you don't *have* to get up early and enjoy the earliness. And tire yourself out so you will feel sleepy earlier.
Yeah, no caffeine after 2pm. Seriously.
posted by gjc at 7:05 PM on August 14, 2008
I would avoid theichibun's otherwise good advice about staying up all night. After about 20 hours awake your sleep cycle will be deeply screwed up and you'll have a hard time getting a good night's sleep.
I have to agree there... if I go too long without sleep I get exhaustion headaches which makes it even harder to fall asleep no matter how tired I am.
posted by Kellydamnit at 8:02 PM on August 14, 2008
I have to agree there... if I go too long without sleep I get exhaustion headaches which makes it even harder to fall asleep no matter how tired I am.
posted by Kellydamnit at 8:02 PM on August 14, 2008
Best answer: Hi, my name is mdonley and last year I lived in a place with pretty much as little sunlight in the winter as is allowed under the Geneva Conventions. Being from a place twenty-five degrees of latitude further south, it was like getting up at 4:00 every day for months. But I made it!
Tips for early rising/rising in the dark/just plain rising:
1. Routine, routine, routine! If you always turn off your alarm with your right hand at 4:00, thrust yourself from bed, get in the shower right away, and finish your morning ablutions around 4:30, you've totally got enough time for...
2. Breakfast. OMG, breakfast saved my tuckus last year, and was always inside ten/fifteen minutes. A few pointers:
• you want as much energy as possible in as little time as possible, so go for things like eggs (and super-quick omelets [2 eggs + bit of cheese + splash of milk + accoutrements, stirred: hell, stir it all together the night before and leave it in the fridge!] made with last night's leftovers are usually awesome!), fibrous cereals (Shredded Wheat! Total!), whole-grain toast, and fruit juice or milk instead of a protein shake
(• egg addendum: I didn't have a microwave last year, but you could throw together a quiche or something on Sunday nights and then reheat that, and have that be your breakfast main dish through the week...yum!)
• I found I was getting pretty dehydrated at night from the heat (gotta love those centrally-heated Brezhnev-era concrete towers...), so a glass of water to finish everything off somehow made me feel a bit better as I left
• set the table; you need to sit down and actually enjoy what you're eating, in all seriousness - starting your day stressed from rushing breakfast, I convinced myself, was way way worse than missing ten minutes more of sleep, which I didn't remember anyway
• breakfast dishes are in the dishwasher/rinsed/wiped/whatever before you leave: it mentally "completes" the meal well and leaves the kitchen nice for whoever's in there next (including you!)
• there is no coffee in my breakfasts, because I found myself crashing around 11:00 and Latvian coffee wasn't the greatest; tea works if you have an electric kettle that you can set as you exit the shower and get dressed as it'll be ready right around the time you get to the kitchen
3. Launch. Spend five minutes each night tidying your work affairs and essentials for the next day: do you have Document XYZ, the file from Client ABC, yadda yadda. Keep your bag right next to the door, where you have also left your work shoes - that way you put on shoes, grab the bag, and go. Keys, phone, etc: always in the same pocket. Out the door at ten to five, let's say; maybe earlier - 4:45.
4. En route. Maximize your comfort. Leave earlier or take a slightly more circuitous route if it means less traffic. Take public transit if it's possible. Incorporate a bit of a walk into your commute if you can; even five minutes will get the blood flowing. I hope you're not going too far, but by this time, you can trust your body to be processing all that lovely breakfast and you won't have to worry about being too groggy. If you're in a car, try listening to some more "awake" music: not necessarily scream-metal, but something that you aren't going to nod off to. News is good, but talk radio is too easy to tune out. If you're on a bus/train/subway: people-watch! And please remain standing until the vehicle has come to a complete stop: if you're going less than fifteen or twenty minutes, tough it out for alertness' sake. In this scenario, if you always give yourself an hour to get there - and I have no idea how far from work you are - you're at work well before 6:00.
5. Arrival. Let's say you've arrived at work ten minutes before go-time, at 5:50. Go directly to the same place you do every day: a desk, an office, a cubicle, whatever. Put your stuff down (in your same-place-as-always), get a cup of something to drink - ice water worked wonders for me!, glance at the (e-mail) inbox so you know what you'll have to work on later - and, boom, you're aliiiiiiive and kicking!
6. Through the day. Listen to your body: do you need a walk, some sunshine, a frothy cup of something? Go! Get it! Five minutes outside works wonders. Nutritious, fresh lunches (lots of advice here on AskMe for that one). Try to tie up loose ends as soon as you encounter them so at quitting time, you're outta there.
7. Evening. As mentioned above, create places where things just go: work bag, work shoes, keys, phone. Avoid TV if you can as it's a definite time sink (with a schedule like yours, the payoff for time invested seems rather low!); use your "shortened" evenings to cook, do some light exercise like yoga or a quick jog around the neighborhood, and hang out with your kids/SO/whoever. These things save you time in the mornings, which means your time - the most valuable thing you have! - is still yours. Prepare anything you have to get ready for the next day right before turning in. I put myself to sleep - yes, you may still need help falling asleep! - by reading for as long as it takes for my eyes to droop once; at that point, it's lights out!
8. Weekends. Still rising early, but now it's to your advantage: get all the errands done before noon, and your weekend is yours.
In the long run, you might actually really like this lifestyle, because you'll feel more effective, even if you're still putting in the same length shift as everyone else. Before transitioning to getting up early, I found myself without energy in late afternoons and into the evening; now with healthy breakfasts and lunches and little/no caffeine, I'm happily ready for sleep, have my ducks in a row, and am definitely not exhausted, at the end of the day. Good luck!
posted by mdonley at 8:07 PM on August 14, 2008 [8 favorites]
Tips for early rising/rising in the dark/just plain rising:
1. Routine, routine, routine! If you always turn off your alarm with your right hand at 4:00, thrust yourself from bed, get in the shower right away, and finish your morning ablutions around 4:30, you've totally got enough time for...
2. Breakfast. OMG, breakfast saved my tuckus last year, and was always inside ten/fifteen minutes. A few pointers:
• you want as much energy as possible in as little time as possible, so go for things like eggs (and super-quick omelets [2 eggs + bit of cheese + splash of milk + accoutrements, stirred: hell, stir it all together the night before and leave it in the fridge!] made with last night's leftovers are usually awesome!), fibrous cereals (Shredded Wheat! Total!), whole-grain toast, and fruit juice or milk instead of a protein shake
(• egg addendum: I didn't have a microwave last year, but you could throw together a quiche or something on Sunday nights and then reheat that, and have that be your breakfast main dish through the week...yum!)
• I found I was getting pretty dehydrated at night from the heat (gotta love those centrally-heated Brezhnev-era concrete towers...), so a glass of water to finish everything off somehow made me feel a bit better as I left
• set the table; you need to sit down and actually enjoy what you're eating, in all seriousness - starting your day stressed from rushing breakfast, I convinced myself, was way way worse than missing ten minutes more of sleep, which I didn't remember anyway
• breakfast dishes are in the dishwasher/rinsed/wiped/whatever before you leave: it mentally "completes" the meal well and leaves the kitchen nice for whoever's in there next (including you!)
• there is no coffee in my breakfasts, because I found myself crashing around 11:00 and Latvian coffee wasn't the greatest; tea works if you have an electric kettle that you can set as you exit the shower and get dressed as it'll be ready right around the time you get to the kitchen
3. Launch. Spend five minutes each night tidying your work affairs and essentials for the next day: do you have Document XYZ, the file from Client ABC, yadda yadda. Keep your bag right next to the door, where you have also left your work shoes - that way you put on shoes, grab the bag, and go. Keys, phone, etc: always in the same pocket. Out the door at ten to five, let's say; maybe earlier - 4:45.
4. En route. Maximize your comfort. Leave earlier or take a slightly more circuitous route if it means less traffic. Take public transit if it's possible. Incorporate a bit of a walk into your commute if you can; even five minutes will get the blood flowing. I hope you're not going too far, but by this time, you can trust your body to be processing all that lovely breakfast and you won't have to worry about being too groggy. If you're in a car, try listening to some more "awake" music: not necessarily scream-metal, but something that you aren't going to nod off to. News is good, but talk radio is too easy to tune out. If you're on a bus/train/subway: people-watch! And please remain standing until the vehicle has come to a complete stop: if you're going less than fifteen or twenty minutes, tough it out for alertness' sake. In this scenario, if you always give yourself an hour to get there - and I have no idea how far from work you are - you're at work well before 6:00.
5. Arrival. Let's say you've arrived at work ten minutes before go-time, at 5:50. Go directly to the same place you do every day: a desk, an office, a cubicle, whatever. Put your stuff down (in your same-place-as-always), get a cup of something to drink - ice water worked wonders for me!, glance at the (e-mail) inbox so you know what you'll have to work on later - and, boom, you're aliiiiiiive and kicking!
6. Through the day. Listen to your body: do you need a walk, some sunshine, a frothy cup of something? Go! Get it! Five minutes outside works wonders. Nutritious, fresh lunches (lots of advice here on AskMe for that one). Try to tie up loose ends as soon as you encounter them so at quitting time, you're outta there.
7. Evening. As mentioned above, create places where things just go: work bag, work shoes, keys, phone. Avoid TV if you can as it's a definite time sink (with a schedule like yours, the payoff for time invested seems rather low!); use your "shortened" evenings to cook, do some light exercise like yoga or a quick jog around the neighborhood, and hang out with your kids/SO/whoever. These things save you time in the mornings, which means your time - the most valuable thing you have! - is still yours. Prepare anything you have to get ready for the next day right before turning in. I put myself to sleep - yes, you may still need help falling asleep! - by reading for as long as it takes for my eyes to droop once; at that point, it's lights out!
8. Weekends. Still rising early, but now it's to your advantage: get all the errands done before noon, and your weekend is yours.
In the long run, you might actually really like this lifestyle, because you'll feel more effective, even if you're still putting in the same length shift as everyone else. Before transitioning to getting up early, I found myself without energy in late afternoons and into the evening; now with healthy breakfasts and lunches and little/no caffeine, I'm happily ready for sleep, have my ducks in a row, and am definitely not exhausted, at the end of the day. Good luck!
posted by mdonley at 8:07 PM on August 14, 2008 [8 favorites]
Start transitioning now, moving back a matter of minutes every day until you get up at 5 a.m. (or whenever you need to rise in order to get to work by 6). My partner does transitions like this periodically- he likes to stay up until 3-4 a.m. and get up at 10-11 a.m. and the best way for him seems to gradually phase into it rather than doing it "cold turkey"
Second or thirding or fifthing no caffeine after 2 or 3.
Good luck, the first few days will suck.
posted by arnicae at 8:12 PM on August 14, 2008
Second or thirding or fifthing no caffeine after 2 or 3.
Good luck, the first few days will suck.
posted by arnicae at 8:12 PM on August 14, 2008
Isn't this exactly what happens to most teenagers once school starts up again? I'd say don't worry too much about it. If you'd be more comfortable practicing waking up early this weekend, do so. Otherwise, wake up on Monday, go to work. You'll probably get sleepy in the late afternoon, and unless you have an overly sensitive relationship with caffiene, have a Coke or a coffee. It'll wear off by 9 or 10, which is when you'll want to (and should!) go to bed. Rinse, repeat. After a while, you'll adjust.
posted by coppermoss at 7:26 AM on August 15, 2008
posted by coppermoss at 7:26 AM on August 15, 2008
(I've somewhat cross posted this on another sleep question)
Here is something that might interest you. I came across it on boing boing a while ago.
This lends credence to those suggesting breakfast will help.
The short and skinny of it.....
There is a researcher named Seth Roberts who is well known for self experimentation. He was an early riser, but found that if he held off on eating until 11AM, the problems were significantly reduced. The idea is that early waking is an anticipatory behavior. If you habituate your body to early morning nourishment, your body will wake up up even earlier to get ready for the incoming food. He has also found supportive results from other studies.
In addition, he found (surprisingly) that changing lighting did NOT have the anticipated effects on rising patterns.
So, the idea would be, get into the habit of eating breakfast after you have had a chance to wake up and in time, you body will naturally switch to early rising. You don't want to eat right away, otherwise you might start waking up too early.
posted by NormandyJack at 9:12 AM on August 15, 2008
Here is something that might interest you. I came across it on boing boing a while ago.
This lends credence to those suggesting breakfast will help.
The short and skinny of it.....
There is a researcher named Seth Roberts who is well known for self experimentation. He was an early riser, but found that if he held off on eating until 11AM, the problems were significantly reduced. The idea is that early waking is an anticipatory behavior. If you habituate your body to early morning nourishment, your body will wake up up even earlier to get ready for the incoming food. He has also found supportive results from other studies.
In addition, he found (surprisingly) that changing lighting did NOT have the anticipated effects on rising patterns.
So, the idea would be, get into the habit of eating breakfast after you have had a chance to wake up and in time, you body will naturally switch to early rising. You don't want to eat right away, otherwise you might start waking up too early.
posted by NormandyJack at 9:12 AM on August 15, 2008
i should also note there are other things you can do that he mentions in the paper (first link). the breakfast thing didn't work 100% and its effects wore off over time.
posted by NormandyJack at 9:14 AM on August 15, 2008
posted by NormandyJack at 9:14 AM on August 15, 2008
I regularly start work at 0600. My tips: 1) drink a glass of water when you arise, and then a cup of tea with some fruit when you reach work; 2) breakfast at 0800 and then eat healthily through the day.
posted by Huw at 1:27 PM on August 15, 2008
posted by Huw at 1:27 PM on August 15, 2008
There is an *error proof way* to make sure you get up.
Don't eat anything, and drink only water for 16 hours before you have to get up.
Doesn't matter if you don't get a lot of sleep the night before, the human body can easily handle one short night of sleep. The night after, you'll get sleepy a lot earlier.
The not eating anything will wake you up, and you'll be hungry hungry hungry. Eat some cereal or something, and head on in to work.
This works exceptionally well for travel in different time zones.
posted by gte910h at 2:12 AM on August 16, 2008
Don't eat anything, and drink only water for 16 hours before you have to get up.
Doesn't matter if you don't get a lot of sleep the night before, the human body can easily handle one short night of sleep. The night after, you'll get sleepy a lot earlier.
The not eating anything will wake you up, and you'll be hungry hungry hungry. Eat some cereal or something, and head on in to work.
This works exceptionally well for travel in different time zones.
posted by gte910h at 2:12 AM on August 16, 2008
Response by poster: Ok, here's what ended up happening:
(1) I did my darnedest over the weekend to get up early - this resulted in my getting up somewhere around 7 AM, instead of 9 AM Friday-Sunday
(2) I panicked and got anxious about it Sunday night. Ended up being so anxious about it that I woke up at 2 AM and didn't actually get back to sleep
(3) Brute-forced it through the first day (Monday), crashed for about an hour and a half when I got home. Woke up for dinner, forced myself to stay awake until later.
(4) Was exhausted, went back to bed at 11 PM on Monday (last) night
(5) Got up at 5 AM today, felt great on six hours of sleep.
So apparently to some extent, everyone's answers worked, except for the ones where people suggested not eating. Heaven's sake, I definitely haven't got that kind of resolve.
posted by universal_qlc at 5:58 PM on August 19, 2008
(1) I did my darnedest over the weekend to get up early - this resulted in my getting up somewhere around 7 AM, instead of 9 AM Friday-Sunday
(2) I panicked and got anxious about it Sunday night. Ended up being so anxious about it that I woke up at 2 AM and didn't actually get back to sleep
(3) Brute-forced it through the first day (Monday), crashed for about an hour and a half when I got home. Woke up for dinner, forced myself to stay awake until later.
(4) Was exhausted, went back to bed at 11 PM on Monday (last) night
(5) Got up at 5 AM today, felt great on six hours of sleep.
So apparently to some extent, everyone's answers worked, except for the ones where people suggested not eating. Heaven's sake, I definitely haven't got that kind of resolve.
posted by universal_qlc at 5:58 PM on August 19, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
It's not an easy transition. I think getting out of bed and exercising (waking up even earlier, ugh!), with trying to go to bed earlier, has helped me.
I'm interested in seeing what others post.
posted by toaster at 6:23 PM on August 14, 2008