5 Healthy Ways on How to Change Your Sleep Schedule

Does this sound familiar: every night you tell yourself you’re going to go to bed early and follow a strict sleeping pattern but every night you find yourself wide awake at 2am reading the latest mind-numbing Donald Trump tweets. As you know, following a proper sleeping pattern is ideal for you to have a good night’s sleep. Our bodies love routine and going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning will help you set your internal biological clock. So toughen up, face the challenge on how to change your sleeping pattern healthily. Employ these techniques into your lifestyle to help you develop a proper sleep schedule and have you feel in tip-top shape everyday.

How to Change Your Sleep Cycle in a Healthy Way

1. Make it a gradual process

Don’t jump into a new sleep schedule, that will only make things worse. You’ll throw your entire system out of whack and you’ll find yourself feeling groggy and drowsy throughout the day. Rather than jump into a new sleep schedule, it’s better to make it a gradual process. You want to gradually introduce the most effective sleep readiness strategies to build a solid new, regular sleep schedule into your daily routine. Begin by adjusting your sleep time by 20 minutes each day until you hit the optimal time that’s best for you. This gradual process will reduce the effects you feel from your change in sleep schedule.

2. Wake up at the same time each day

You didn’t think this was just about the time you go to bed at right? You also have to make sure you’re waking up at the same time as well. Try some smart sleep apps that monitor your sleep throughout the night and wake you up when your body is naturally ready to wake up  (within 20 minutes of the latest time you need to be up). The ideal nightly sleeping time is recommended to be roughly 7-8 hours per night. Make sure you stay within that window for optimal mental and physical health and for quality of your waking life.

3. Keep a journal

It may seem tedious at first, but keeping a written journal that you update on a nightly basis has many benefits. For one, writing down your thoughts, feelings, goals, things you’re thankful for helps you relax and provides peace of mind before shutting off the lights. Once in this calm state, you’ll have a much easier time falling asleep and adjusting to a new sleep schedule. On top of the relaxing nature of this exercise, it has many other benefits such as increasing your IQ, evoking mindfulness, raising emotional intelligence, boosting memory and more.

4. Avoid physical activity before bed

You’re already facing a difficult challenge of developing a new sleeping schedule so you want to do everything you can to ease the process of actually falling asleep when you’re supposed to. An important element to watch out for is the amount of physical exercise you perform before going to bed. When you engage in activities that increase your heart, you have a much harder time falling asleep later. As a rule of thumb, avoid doing strenuous activity at least two hours before shutting off the lights.

5. Put down the phone, shut off the TV, turn off electronics

Again, you want to do everything you can to increase your chances of actually falling asleep. One of the most difficult, but more effective, things to do on how to change your sleep schedule fast, is to completely eliminate the use of all electronics before bed. The blue light from your devices blocks melatonin production, leading to a poor night’s sleep. Turn your devices on do not disturb while you sleep so they don’t light up throughout the night and keep your electronics far away from your bed. Blue wavelengths boost attention, reaction times, and mood, but they are the most disruptive at night, even without you noticing them, according to the Harvard Medical School. We know this one is tough, but to effectively change your sleeping schedule, it’s critical to reduce exposure and usage of electronics before bed.

Bonus Tip: Buy Amazing Sheets

Really. An investment into a high quality pair of bedsheets will make all the difference in your sleep quality. You spend a third of your life sleeping, might as well make sure you fall into the most comfortable bed sheets when your tired body hits the sac at night. Once you try our premium, eco friendly, bamboo bed sheets, you won’t know how you ever slept without them!