[Darin]

Hi,

Should I be waking up at 4:30 am every day, even if I go out some nights? I want to have an optimum sleep routine. Will it help or should I sleep in to replenish the necessary sleep hours?

Thanks,

Darin

• This topic was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by Darin.

[kobalap]

Darin,

Normal sleepers are different than people who are in midst of chronic insomnia.  At least, this is what I experienced for myself and what I observer with my family.

All of us have a body clock (a.k.a circadian rhythm).  This body clock helps tell us when to sleep, when to wake up, when to eat, etc.  One of the strongest anchors for your body clock is the time of day you wake up.  If you wake up at a consistent time of day every day no exceptions, then you will feel sleepy roughly the same time every night.

If you go out on Friday night and sleep in on Saturday morning, as a normal sleeper, you will likely tolerate it reasonably well.  You will be able to go to sleep at close to normal time on Saturday night.

Do this occasionally and likely, you will barely even know the difference.  Do it a lot and you will find it more and more difficult to go to bed early at night.  Why?  Because your body clock is adjusting to a later wake up time and is shifting your go to bed time accordingly.  This is the same experience you feel when you travel to a different time zone.  We call that jet lag.

As a normal sleeper, I used to want to get up at the same time every morning.  But it wasn’t at all easy.  I did the best I could but some mornings, it was just tough to get out of bed.  My personal recommendation, if it is not at all inconvenient, keep pretty close to the same get out of bed time + or – 1 hour on the odd occasion that your go to bed time shifts.

As someone who is in the midst of chronic insomnia (which I myself am currently working my way through again for the 2nd time), I would recommend to keep your wake up time the same.  I don’t know if it is easier to throw off the body clock of someone with chronic insomnia but I do know that mentally, there is a lot more going.  For me, it is not only best to get up at the same time every day, it is also easiest.

One thing to note, I went from someone who was going through chronic insomnia back to a normal sleeper again about 12 years ago.  I found that when I became a normal sleeper again, my sleep became every bit as robust as it was before I experienced chronic insomnia.

 

 

• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by kobalap.

[Martin Reed]

Hello Darin

How is your sleep at the present time? If you generally sleep just fine, then you probably don’t need to worry too much about getting out of bed at 4:30 am after a late night. If you are struggling with sleep, it’s best to make sure you are following a relatively predictable sleep schedule.

Does this help?

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[Darin]

Thank you both for your good advice. You have been really kind & helpful.

[Author]

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