Fixing my sleep schedule

[hinakiba777]

Okay so for a while my sleep schedule was really messed up with me going to bed at like 10am and waking up at 6pm. I was starting to get closer to a proper sleep patter before I came home for Christmas.

Then this past Tuesday I was forced to get up at 7am after going to bed very late the night before. By 6pm I was so tired I could not stay up if I wanted to, I just desperately needed to crash. So I did, and ended up waking at 4am. Wednesday evening I decided to take a nap from 5pm to 7pm so that I wouldn't be so exhausted, but I would still be able to stay up until I normal decent time. I ended up sleeping until 4am again, despite setting up alarms. Today, Thursday, I was already starting to feel groggy around noon, so I decided to go to bed around 3 or 4pm, sleep until 11pm or midnight then go to bed again from around 5am to 11am. Then go to bed at 2am and be back to a relatively normal sleep pattern.

However, my older brother needed me to do something in the afternoon which he kept insisting was mandatory but kept pushing back. So now it's 7pm and I am so exhausted it's nearly painful. But I helped the family out and i can sleep. However, due to the time, I am definitely going to be asleep until 4am again.

So I need a way to quickly reset my sleep pattern, but I don't know what tactic to take. So please help me. I need to be sleeping normally by Christmas Eve.

Note: Do not suggest just staying up from 4am until a decent time like 10pm or midnight. I physically cannot stay up for 18 to 20 hours at this point. So that is not an option.

[Aethian]

The way that animals turned nocturnal is by their eating pattern. So that would probably be the best way for you. It's going to be damn hard but if you can fight sleep and eat at what should be normal times, even if you have to set a alarm. It might be the easiest then fighting to stay awake alone.

[TheSHAD0W]

To reset your sleep schedule, begin fasting at least 16 hours prior to the time you wish to get up. Then have breakfast normally. Your sleep schedule should be reset.

[Chanlin]

Being someone who likes to do their own thing I tend to stay up really damn late during those times when I don't have to be up for anything.

http://lifehacker.com/5548150/how-to...st-you-deserve

This link has been my bible for sleep so to speak. It really helps.

The TL'DR version of the link:

1: Sleep does not = 8 hours at one stretch. If you wake up and can't get back to sleep, or just can't get to sleep "when it is bedtime", do something light and not very "brain" active. Eg: Don't read anything complex, don't study or play video games. Do: Light exercise, eat a light snack (nothing with caffeine). Something boring but productive: eg pick up your room, take out the garbage.

2: List of absolutes: Do not drink caffeine after dinner, do not play video games or watch TV or anything that requires very bright light an hour before "bedtime." Don't nap while you're in the process of resetting, no matter what. "bedtime" is "bedtime." Your body associates light with "wake up" so remove anything with bright light from your bedroom. Get a blackout mask if you need help with the light thing.

3: Figure out your routine: Not everyone needs 8 hours of sleep. Not everyone has to avoid caffeine after dinner. Not everyone needs x to do y when it comes to sleep. Find out what works for you and what does not. Me: I always wake up anywhere from 2 to 4am. Can't help it, I just do. I usually read a book for an hour and then crash again.

[Gizmo]

If you are into meditation can you try that?

I'm thinking specifically if you can split the next day up into a couple of segments, say 4am to noon or so; set an alarm for a couple of hours, get up between 2-4 and then go to bed at normalish time.

I find if I can get myself to do a meditation at a point when I *don't* want to sleep because I haven't been up enough hours I can then clear my body of the 'ready to do stuff'ness, get it to relax and usually (eventually) sleep. It can be enough to break a bad cycle for me.

I really don't have much of a normal sleep pattern though. The only consistancy for me is that I will wake up about 5-6am no matter when I went to sleep - bad after a party night when I only hit the sack at 4am to start with!