Help Going From "night Owl" To "morning Person"?

[Herbie]

I was going to sleep after midnight waking up at 10am when I was waiting to start the current job and now I get up at 3-3:30am and go to sleep at 7pm ish. I’ve adapted to it and it’s easy to go to sleep becuase I’m tired from working all day and am fine waking up and feels good to see the sunrise.

I trialed different start and finish times due to freedoms of the job and found that I’m fine to get up early and finish before sunset but if I start later and work into the night as soon as it’s dark I am tired and concentration wanes quickly. I work outside and get all the sun light of the day and realize the seriousness of circadian cycles regulated by the sun.

I’ve found if I’m not working I slowly end up going to sleep later and later, I hold the glowing computer screen responsible for altering the endocrine system and natural cycles.

 

[olive]

Injectable SR-9009. Take it at night, once only. It will reset your cycadian clock.

 

[Cirion]

Thanks for the replies. I think for me the hardest thing is simply having the discipline required, and I have no good excuses for not just going to bed other than I just need to do it. Discipline and re-wiring habits can be a hard thing. It's so easy to get engrossed in Netflix, video games, or just mindlessly browsing the web that you don't wanna go to bed early. I think the biggest requirement for being a morning person is getting to bed early, not actually waking up early (because waking up early follows naturally, if you go to bed early). Early to bed, early to rise... wasn't it Benjamin Franklin who said that? I may try that small dose of melatonin out too. Where do you even find dosages in the 300 mcg range? I have like 5 mg pills. And yeah, I have a light alarm I think I'm gonna use again after being inspired by comments.

And yes, I agree that I'm unhealthy for needing more than 8 hrs of sleep. But for now, I have to get more than 8 hrs, until I can get healthy. Basically, sleep as long as my body wants, and the hope is that eventually it will naturally crave less as I'm better. After all, following the RP protocol is about feeling better, and if you don't feel better, then time to change something.

 

[lollipop]

I have five (5) 200 watt incandescent bulbs in my small bedroom. The lamps are plugged into remote-controlled electrical outlets. When my alarm goes off, the first thing I do is reach for the remote control and turn all those lights on. The result is so glorious and stimulating that within a matter of seconds, I am wide awake and do not want to go back to sleep. I have found this to be at least as important as my morning coffee when it comes to promoting wakefulness.

Melatonin also helps, IN THE APPROPRIATE DOSE. A team from MIT found a good old U-shaped curve when they reviewed the effects from a range of different doses, with 300 MICROGRAMS being the optimal, and capable of restoring sleep in fifty year olds. This dose works really well for me, too, in spite of the horrific experiences I had with the doses you’ll find being sold at a typical drug store, which are usually in the range of 3-5 milligrams. It blows my mind that these doses are still the norm.

Still, I only use melatonin ocassionally...

I was a night owl my whole life, too, but in the last month I have been waking up at 5 every morning and going to bed at 8 every night. I hope I can keep this up, because I feel much better living this way.

I was inspired to make the change, despite having tried and failed several times in the past, after reading some of Ray’s writings on the stressful nature of darkness. I realized that it’s best to minimize exposure to darkness, but the next best thing is to front load darkness at the beginning of the day, because in the morning there are so many different tools I can use to counteract its effects, tools which are not available to me in the evening, because they interfere with my sleep.

@GAF did you read this?

 

[Blossom]

@GAF did you read this?

It’s brilliant!

 

[Ulysses]

It’s brilliant!

Thanks! Some of the anti-stress tools I was referring to in the last post, but didn't mention because I was running out of time, are high-dose aspirin, moderate aerobic exercise, a large, healthy meal, caffeine, and intense artificial light. All of these things will keep me awake or otherwise reduce the quality of my sleep if I use them even a couple of hours before bed, but in the morning, I have the whole day ahead of me, and there is no such problem, so I can be much happier and more productive in morning darkness than I can in evening darkness.

 

[Ulysses]

I’ve found if I’m not working I slowly end up going to sleep later and later, I hold the glowing computer screen responsible for altering the endocrine system and natural cycles.

Yep. The way I know this is true is by watching what people do when there's a power outage. I become irresistibly sleepy as soon as the sun goes down.

 

[Blossom]

Yep. The way I know this is true is by watching what people do when there's a power outage. I become irresistibly sleepy as soon as the sun goes down.

So true, I noticed this when our power was out a couple days ago. It came back on about 8:30 pm and before that I was ready for bed. As soon as it came back on I was pretty energized and stayed awake for a couple hours doing housework.

 

[Mufasa]

I think for me the hardest thing is simply having the discipline required, and I have no good excuses for not just going to bed other than I just need to do it. Discipline and re-wiring habits can be a hard thing. It's so easy to get engrossed in Netflix, video games, or just mindlessly browsing the web that you don't wanna go to bed early.

I would not try this with “discipline” in the night, but take more proactive measures in the day. For example, put no electronics in your bedroom. Use apps like focusme. I have used focusme with great success. It is “impossible” for me to use my laptop after 21:00 until 06:00.

 

[YourUniverse]

Grounding is said to have a circadian rhythm normalizing effect. Walking barefoot, lying on the ground, swimming in lakes/ponds/river/the ocean can do this.

 

[REOSIRENS]

I think the dopamine thing is a good point. My problem is I look forward to relaxing at the end of the day far more than I look forward to work (work is not awful, but I definitely prefer my personal time over work), and so this is where I get my "dopamine rush", making it difficult to want to go to sleep early. I think I should try going back to blue light blocking glasses after around 6-7 pm. I do have plenty of coffee in the morning and get some sugar/salt etc.

Check copper and thiamine deficiency

 

[GAF]

@GAF did you read this?

I did. Back in the olden days, when the kids were tiny and I had to commute 45 minutes to work, I was a morning person. Now, in the post kids, no commute, became a dancer era, I feel great at 930pm.

I have thousand times more fun per day now than I did then, that's for sure.

I am still trying out melatonin. At first, it was helping with the morning mucus, but now, the mucus is back to previous levels. But, the melatonin definitely reduces the reflux without question.

 

[lollipop]

I did. Back in the olden days, when the kids were tiny and I had to commute 45 minutes to work, I was a morning person. Now, in the post kids, no commute, became a dancer era, I feel great at 930pm.

I have thousand times more fun per day now than I did then, that's for sure.

I am still trying out melatonin. At first, it was helping with the morning mucus, but now, the mucus is back to previous levels. But, the melatonin definitely reduces the reflux without question.

Interesting. Nice that it is helping

 

[Ulysses]

I did. Back in the olden days, when the kids were tiny and I had to commute 45 minutes to work, I was a morning person. Now, in the post kids, no commute, became a dancer era, I feel great at 930pm.

I have thousand times more fun per day now than I did then, that's for sure.

I am still trying out melatonin. At first, it was helping with the morning mucus, but now, the mucus is back to previous levels. But, the melatonin definitely reduces the reflux without question.

What doses are you using? I’ve been taking 300 to 600 micrograms and have noticed some improvement in reflux, but it still isn’t perfect. I know someone else has said in a other thread that they cured reflux with much higher doses, 10 milligrams I think, but given how awful I have felt with just 3 or 5 milligrams I’m a little hesitant to try a dose that large.

 

[baccheion]

See topic. most of my life I have struggled with being a "night owl". I have noticed during my healing process I need a LOT of sleep (like 11+ hours), but it's been difficult to get this sleep because I often can't get to sleep until 11+ PM, and work a day job. Only on weekends can I manage to get enough sleep to feel rested (because I can sleep in until like noon), but I know I have to change this and try to get my bedtime to like 7-8 PM if I can. I tried going to bed at like 8:30 last night but ended up just laying there for like 3 hrs before finally actually sleeping, so I still woke up tired.

What supplements are you taking? Do you have any nutrient deficiencies? Resveratrol (in the AM) and melatonin (before bed) resets circadian rhythm.

I wonder if you're trying to (on average) adjust yourself to being the fabled ideal rather than what makes sense. For example, wanting to wake up earlier is usually an emotion-driven ambition existing as a result of being bombarded with BS during schooling/upbringing.

 

[GAF]

I have been trying the higher doses. Haven't had time to source lower doses. After reading about all the hormonal functions of melatonin, I wonder how much a person really needs. I am less worried about sleep than the other things it is supposed to be doing. My research has barely begun. I dont feel bad on 5mg or 10mg either. Can't tell a difference.

 

[thomas00]

I had what would be regarded as 'delayed phase sleep disorder' for a decade plus. Awake all night, asleep a lot of the day. Still happens from time to time.

Lisuride solves it in a couple of days of use. Highly effective

 

[Epik]

I had what would be regarded as 'delayed phase sleep disorder' for a decade plus. Awake all night, asleep a lot of the day. Still happens from time to time.

Lisuride solves it in a couple of days of use. Highly effective

How did you take Lisuride to fix it? When throughout the day? Before bed?

 

[abady]

what works for me that i only drink my coffee in the morning before 9 AM.
and i stop taking anything caffeinated after that
caffeine can stay in your body the whole day and its a big mistake for people to drink coffee every 5-6 hours to boost metabolism or whatever, they don't know that caffeine is still in their system from the morning cup they drink.

plus after 6 pm i don't eat heavy fatty meals or proteins. i eat fruits they relax me plus a cup of hot cocoa with skim milk.

i also walk throughout the day and stay active, being sedentary gives me insomnia and fatigue during the day.

hope this helps.

 

[Warrior]

Every day go for a 30-45 minute walk when the sun rises and again when it sets. Install dimmer switches at home and something like f.lux on your computer whilst turning your TV down to its lowest brightness setting. In a nutshell your body is synced to incorrect rhythms. Fix this by doing the above and within 21 days you'll notice a huge difference in your sleep patterns.

Also to change anything you need discipline. Without that you don't actually want what you say as you're unwilling to make the change and thus only complaining. To get well one must be willing to give up what made them sick.