How do you shift from a night owl to a morning bird?
February 16th, 2010 | 
Author: The early bird gets the worm. I’m a night owl. I do everything at night eat, exercise, study…etc. I dont want to be a night owl. But how do you change into a morning bird?>
The early bird gets the worm. I’m a night owl. I do everything at night eat, exercise, study…etc. I dont want to be a night owl. But how do you change into a morning bird?>
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go to bed on hour earlier each night and get up one hour earlier each morning. Soon you will be an early bird.
The one thing that works best for me is prob not the best, but i just stay up too late one day and make myself get up early in the morning. That will make you want to go to bed earlier than normal, and after that if you keep making yourself wake up early then you will change your internal clock!!
Good luck, its hard at first but stick to it!!
pull an all nighter then go to bed at 9 the following night, youll be tired enough to sleep and shouldnt sleep more than 10 hours, then make yourself keep to that routine for a while.
just stay up for a full day and go to sleep at a decent hour like 8pm. then if you sleep 10hours you will still get up at 6am. if you happen to sleep 12 hours its still only 8am. then repeat the cycle over and over for a week. it will become habit in no time at all.
go to bed at your normal time and set an alarm to get up what ever time it is you want to get up at…but put it in another room, so you actually have to get out of bed to turn it off. if you get tired before your night owl bed time, go to bed as you start to get tired. it’s not an easy transfer but you can do it. i used to go to bed at midnight and get up at 8…but my new job means i have to get up at 5.30am. i still go to bed at 11-12 each night, but after a month, getting up at 5.30 just seems normal now…its just a matter of getting used to it.
Good Question! I’d like to know myself! Some people have circadian rhythms that are really hard to change, like myself.
A few things I’ve read are:
Expose yourself to bright light during the period you wake up (or want to wake up) for atleast an hour or two (get one of those lighting systems for winter depression to use) and then be in almost darkness or really low light during the few hours before your desired bedtime. (A computer monitor is NOT really low light, lol).
Second is to avoid caffeine or stimulants and sugar 12 hours before your bedtime. Caffeine can have an effect up to 12 hours after consumption in some people. Do not drink alcohol.
Third is once you maintain your new schedule, you have to keep it DAILY INCLUDING WEEKENDS or you could slip out of your new pattern.
Also try to eat, exercise, and study during the day or morning if possible, or atleast move one of them to daytime, since you listed that you do all those things at night.
It is hard for some people to create a new sleeping pattern. It could take a month or two to even get to your desired sleep/wake cycle because it must be done slowly and gradually as others have listed.
Also part of you might NOT WANT to make the change due to secondary gains from the behavior/pattern. Secondary gains would be the positive benefits you get from your current schedule and believe there are some even if you deny them. If you are not 100% committed to changing, it won’t work.
Some people may not be able to change AT ALL. This is rare, (even though I believe it is common). In my humble opinion, I think it could be part of genetics, also. Make all your changes slowly and stick with them. People say always get up at the same time also, even if you only slept 4 hours due to poor sleep.
sleeping in the day isn’t healthy.
i am taking melatonin, which is a hormone, not a sleeping pill product.
it helps for my jet lags. take it a few mins before you sleep. the melatonin dr dual release is the best. releasing a fourth of it in the first two hours and gradually releasing the 3/4 part in the 6-7 hours.
some take it as a supplement too. melatonin is a hormone produced by the brain itself. it doesn’t MAKE you sleep, actually you can flight it and not get sleepy even after you take it, just like what we can do when we feel sleepy and fight the sleep and turning up not feeling sleepy at all. it HELPS you to fall asleep.
try not to sleep during the day no matter how sleepy and groggy you are. good luck!