There are many situations that can cause you to have to change your sleep cycle. Whether it is due to daylight savings time, returning from a vacation, moving to a new country or starting a new job, changing your sleep pattern can be difficult. This is because your body gets accustomed to starting the day at a specific time as well as ending it at a certain time. Fortunately, there are ways you can make the process of adjusting your sleep cycle a little easier.
Step 1
Do not eat food for between 12 to 16 hours prior to when you wish to wake up. A study performed by the Harvard Medical School discovered that food is essential to changing your sleep cycle. When you wake up in the morning, eat a nutritious and hearty meal to signal to your body that your day is starting.
Step 2
Get rid of distractions from the room you sleep in. Turn off the computer, your cell phone and the lights, as these things can prevent you from being able to sleep well. Your room must be free of distractions to enable you to relax deeply enough to be able to sleep.
Step 3
If you are trying to adjust your sleep schedule so that you wake up earlier, try to fall asleep 15 minutes earlier each evening. Instead of trying to dive into sleep, take some time to adjust your body to going to sleep earlier by winding down with relaxing activities like a bubble bath, reading a book or writing in your journal. Try to wake up 15 minutes earlier and notice if your body feels more receptive to the sleep adjustment
Step 4
Maintain your bedtime each night. If you go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time each day, your body will get used to any changes you make in your sleeping routine more easily.
Step 5
Darken your bedroom prior to sleeping. Make it completely dark when you fall asleep so that when you wake up, the light signifies to your body that a new day is now starting.
Tips and Warnings
- The National Sleep Foundation recommends maintaining your normal bedtime on Saturday night when there is a daylight savings time change (going back an hour) in the fall. Doing this can provide you with what feels like an additional hour of sleep the next morning, which can help you adjust more easily to the time change.
